TMK Construction - Restoration & Conservation

TMK are proud to offer a comprehensive service, catering for a wide range of restoration and conservation requirements. We have a good working knowledge ranging from specialist roofing such as sand cast and milled lead, natural slate, copper and stainless steel, through to structural timber repairs, joinery and stone masonry.

Our experienced tradesmen are used to working on many different types of buildings from Grade 1 listed properties, Cambridge colleges, Parish Churches and many other historic buildings. Our objective is to carry out repairs using the most sympathetic techniques, where possible we will repair rather than replace, this helps retain the historic character of the buildings we are trusted to work with.

We are well practiced in working alongside Conservation Officers, English Heritage and Architects. Staff members are trained by the SPAB and have attended a number of courses to enhance our knowledge. Courses include; the use of lime mortar, structural timber repair, flint work and stained glass repair and conservation.

If you would like to speak to us about the services we offer or would like any advise regarding the repair of your historical building, please feel free to call or email. We will be happy to assist and advise, as always an initial site visit and quotations are free of charge. Please find below a few examples of projects carried out by our team:

Cast Iron Rainwater Good Repairs

A combination of years of neglect and poor installation left the cast iron guttering and down pipes on this building in a very poor condition, suffering from large cracks and severe rust in certain areas.

Although the cast iron had peeling paint and attack from rust, following shot blasting there was sufficient solid, un-corroded metal on many of the components allowing them to be re-used. An application of a specialist coating system will provide suitable protection for many years to come.

Due to the very unusual dimensions of this particular Ogee guttering, replacement components were not an option because specialised moulds and castings would have had to be made, entailing increased costs of over 600% compared to 'off the shelf' items. For this reason all cracked and damaged items had to be repaired, using specialist welding techniques carried out in house. All items were carefully repaired leaving the splits and cracks fully welded and fit for use, this offered large financial savings to our client and allowed us to use original materials rather than replacing with modern reproductions.

Lime Render Repairs

During routine maintenance, a decorating contractor uncovered an area of unstable lime render on this residential home, knowing specialist skills were required to provide a repair of suitable quality, the client was recommended to contact TMK to rectify the problem.

Once all the lose material had been stripped back, repairs were underway, a base coat of haired lime render was initially applied, after a couple of days curing time, we returned for the application of the top coat, in this instance a steel floated lime plaster was applied to match the existing finish of the material still in place.

Coping Stone Re-bedding and Pointing

Although a very basic job, we were asked to carryout re-pointing works to stone copings adjacent to a small flat roof, after years of exposure to British weather, the lime mortar used to bed and point these copings was in very poor condition. Had these repairs not taken place, the walls below would have suffered severely over the next few years. Because the coping stones provide protection to the head of the wall, any failure can allow water to penetrate the wall creating problems with damp and frost attack.

Timber Door Repairs

These particular doors, on a house dating back approximately 110 years, are believed to be original. In the past repairs have been carried out to the mullions and cills of the adjacent windows, but due to a lack of ongoing maintenance, these repairs have now suffered from wet rot themselves.

TMK were approached to repair the doors to ensure many more years of use and to retain a key original feature of the building. Initially all rot was removed and cut back to expose sound timber, this allowed the extent of the repairs to be revealed. Next, treated oak sections were spliced in to replace all decayed material. Following the installation, all timber was sanded and decorated to match the existing finish of original timber.