Craig Frew

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A photo of The Stables building at Falkland Estate

🔨 Excited to announce our next one-day seminar and workshop: Repairing Historic Buildings: Traditional Masonry & Joinery

🗓️ Monday 9th June 2025 | 📍 The Stables, Falkland Estate, Fife

🎟️ Book now: www.tickettailor.com/events/frewc...

Drone image courtesy of LimeRich of one of our consultancy projects in Kintyre…more pics later. The castle was needing a new jacket - it’s now got a lovely new limey one…

I seem to be inspecting more churches than any other building type at the moment…not that I’m complaining! Thankfully the inside of this tower (in Fife) isn’t running with water like the two I’m investigating in Dunoon!

Back in Dunbar today assisting with Dunbar CARS grant funded building repair projects (mortar sampling, analysis and harl specification). Lovely day for admiring recent lime work undertaken by The Ridge project the-ridge.org.uk

Wemyss Bay Station, built 1903-4, Category A Listed Building…

Does anyone have a copy of Judith Lawson’s ‘Building Stone of Glasgow’? I believe there is a reference to Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum being built of Locharbriggs. A photo or scan of that reference would be greatly appreciated 🤞

Pointing, 1885, Glasgow city centre, rear courtyard elevation. A very common finish, largely ignored in ‘conservation’ repointing work. One exposed to weathering for 134 years, the other previously protected within the roof space of adjacent building now exposed.

Rare to find such an intact terrace of original Scots slated roofs…

On-site stone cleaning sample trials with Thermatech superheated water system to remove impermeable ‘Linostone’ type coatings and biological staining.... positive results so far without the need for any chemicals

North Uist from the sky. Loganair flight from Stornoway to Benbecula #worktravel

Ongoing project on the Isle of Cumbrae to resolve water ingress problems. Working with ZM Architecture & Go-Wright Ltd.

Throwback to 2022…working with Penicuik & Beeslack High pupils, Richard Fraser (LimeRich) & Andrew Bradley Stonemason on this work experience project to repair part of the historic walls to St Mungo’s churchyard using traditional materials & skills. Funded by Penicuik Heritage Regeneration Project

Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum looking a bit moody…

Snow (before the thaw) and crisp winter light bring out the beauty of this refurbished sash and case window and freshly limewashed stonework ❄️

🎄✨ Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from Craig & Laura at Frew Conservation! ✨🎄

We hope your holidays are filled with laughter, warmth, and time to appreciate the beauty around us (especially our historic buildings and places 😉). Thank you for all your support this year—it means the world to us🌟🏛️

You’re making a lovely job of painting an unpainted window with a dry paintbrush 🤣

This one? 🤣🤣🤣

Interesting. www.citypropertyglasgow.co.uk/buy/property...

A few details you can’t fully appreciate when viewed from ground/street level… #charlesrenniemackintosh #glasgow #architecture #stonemasonry

…and there’s a place for all limes!

Mix ratios make a big difference in mortar performance and durability (as well as workability).

Any mortar can be made ‘too weak’ if there is not enough lime (whichever type) to hold the sand grains together. Same applies to cement. By ‘too weak’ I mean not durable enough to survive in whatever context it is used (like the example illustrated).

This.

NHL render failure. Why? Because it’s too weak. Mix ratios affect strength and durability as well as choice of binder. There’s not enough lime to bind the sand together here - the result is a crumbling mess that you can poke your finger into...

Repointing 2-3mm bed joints with a 7mm down aggregate probably wasn’t a great idea...

Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral…a personal favourite

A few more…

Coventry Cathedral. Another from the archives...

Portnahaven, Islay