Listed Building and Traditional Solid Wall Building Surveys

Adrian is passionate about traditional buildings, a master craftsman bricklayer/StoneMasonry/Lime Plastering and a traditional building surveyor. Specially selected to receive an award presented by Nottingham Trent University and The National Surveying Company for his conservation approaches on surveying.
Praised by listed building inspector, commending Adrian on such remarkable conservation on his own grade II Listed property. 
Adrian is regularly appointed by local authorities to advise them on heritage structural building problems a recent heritage surveying project includes Bolsover Council Model Village a £10 million Heritage Project in Derbyshire (Midlands). The heritage Lottery funded the restoration.
Adrian surveyed the chimney/roof water ingress. The problem had developed after the 50+ heritage buildings had reached completion.
Find out more visit...
​the roof chimney surveys page and repointing 

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Building Surveyor, Master Craftsman & Solid Wall Specialist

It is vital when engaging a building surveyor for Listed Buildings that the appointed surveyor has a comprehensive understanding of heritage buildings and traditional building craft methodologies because undertaking work on traditional buildings often works in reverse to that with modern buildings.

Why Start with a Listed Building Survey?

Listed Building Surveys and advice on Listed Buildings.

Listed Building Survey

£890.00

The Listed Building Survey

is a comprehensive investigation to collect information relevant to advise the homeowner of the Listed Building or Traditional/Conservation Building

What's Included: This Listed Building Survey is for 1 residential property

Why? Excellent value, flexibility and choice at a competitive price

Some clients require a survey only.

Why pay for a written report if only a survey with only verbal advice needed?

Why pay for 10 hours when your property only needs 5 hour report?

Report Guide: Some reports take less/more time to write varying between 5-10 hours

Client Variations:

1. Survey Only - No Report - Verbal Brief
2. Digital: Typed Standard Report (5 hours)
3. Digital: Comprehensive, detailed report (10 hours)

Hourly rates: for report writing is a fair method of charging and allows flexibility and property variation. Please give us an indication of your needs so we can produce the type of report that assists you.

Report costs: invoiced separately to the survey cost and after the survey has taken place.

What's not included: The Additional Report Writing where the Building Surveyor produces a photographic typed Digital Report which as described is a separate charge at £60+ VAT per hour depending on the extent of the detail required.

Please Note: Most clients only required digital reports: A bounded printed copy of the report (posted) is an additional charge on top of the hourly rate, which can be ordered afterwards. There is no binding or postal charge for a digital copy therefore emailing the report will not incur an additional charge but posting and printing is chargeable. Please let us know if you need to order a hard copy

Need more information about the survey/Report give Adrian a call on 07449944628 or complete the form at the bottom of the Renuntiowebsite page

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Heritage, Conservation and Traditional Listed Buildings require a sympathetic building method that differs to modern building methods.
Engaging an experienced conservation surveyor is part of the process when purchasing a Listed Building. Surveyors will need a comprehensive understanding of listed buildings, conservation and traditional building craft methodologies for solid wall buildings. Listed Buildings are often referred to as needing to breathe which may sound absurd to some. It means that these traditional buildings need an open approach in terms of hygroscopic activity.

​Property owners are often confused about their damp problems or brick efflorescence.  But it's really quite simple, and is purely down to whether the building needs an open or closed approach.
Open approaches are needed for traditional solid wall properties pre 1920's (breathability)
Closed approach is adopted for modern buildings such as cavity wall post 1920's (insulated)
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Sealing a building and preventing moisture movement (osmosis) is the wrong approach to resolve damp problems for a traditional building. An open approach is crucial to over come damp which helps explain why chemical injection is completely useless in traditional buildings.

It makes more sense to owners when they understand the two approaches and the purpose of capillarity function of mortar 'the lungs of the building', allows 'breathability' and therefore preserves the bricks/stone. Interfere with this process at the peril of the building and damp problems can be extreme and forever present and bricks/stone will degrade over time with water and temperature fluctuation. The science is quite simple. It should be enough to explain why a Building Surveyor, bricklayer, stone mason skills possessed by one person Adrian gill is an asset and truly unique find. ​We have not come across any one else with this unique skill set that Adrian possesses. Clients who engage Adrian quickly understand that Adrian can save them thousands of ££'s by avoiding chemical injection (sinful in a traditional building) instead 'conserving' their property for now and future generations at a much lower cost using traditional approaches than modern promises of chemical injection (sealing, closing) the building.
​The starting point is a Listed Building Survey.

Sacrificial brick vs Sacrificial Lime

Mortar is the mix between the bricks and must never be harder than the bricks.
​Sacrificial brick occurs when hard mortars have been used the brick becomes the softest area and is forced to absorb the movement and becomes sacrificial.
Sacrificial lime is what should occur and is the ideal. Mortar (in between the brick) must be more porous than the masonry brick material to allow moisture to move through the mortar (Speweik, 1997)

Traditional buildings built with lime and sand mortar joints (breathable) allow breathability referred to as the lungs of the building  (Speweik, 1997).
​Repairs undertaken using modern materials such as cement based mortar (sand and cement) prevents breathability of the building through the mortar joints (in between the brick) therefore the outcome is highly likely to damage the brick structure (Speweik, 1997).
Cement changes the dynamic because no longer is there permeability and sacrificial lime. Instead the hard cement based mortar is impermeable which forces the water/moisture through the brick, this is called sacrificial brick which can deface the bricks and damages the structure and integrity of the building. (Speweik, Old House Journal 1997)
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Sacrificial Brick (using the wrong mortar damages the brick)

Sacrificial brick on chimney

CONTACT FORM

Call adrian