Lime has been used to craft buildings in Britain for centuries; this blog post will look at how it is used and why. It will also note the benefits of using lime in buildings and why it should still be a choice.
Here at Limebase we specialise in the production and supply of a variety of lime-based products, which makes us the perfect company to explain the history of using lime in British buildings.
The history of lime
Did you know that lime has been used in the creation of buildings for thousands of years? There have been reports indicating that lime plaster was used in buildings dating back to approximately 12,000 BC. Just like most research though, there are debates on exactly when it was first used.
Lime is used as the binder in plasters, renders and mortars.
Hydraulic lime was used by Romans in different construction projects. The Romans were the ones that developed the use of cement, motor and concrete, while they used lime as the binder.
Lime was also used as paint, for tanning leather and in mixtures to create glue or putty.
Benefits of using lime in British buildings
Now that we have gone through the history of using lime in British buildings, we want to move onto the benefits of using lime. There is a long list of benefits; however, we will focus on the main ones. The main benefit of using lime in British buildings, especially since we have such unpredictable weather is that lime reduces the potential for water penetration. This also means there is less chance of your house developing damp.
Added durability and frost resistance is also a key benefit of lime.
What lime products we offer
We currently offer several lime products including lime putty, which is compatible with historic buildings and traditional building materials, for example, brick, stone and timber. We also offer lime mortars which are softer than stone, as well as lime paints which can provide colour to your building exterior and interior.
Contact us today
We specialise in the production and supply of a variety of lime-based products for use on historic and traditional buildings. If you have any questions about our products or queries, do not hesitate to contact us today.