top of page
Brick Wall

Natural Hydraulic Lime

NHL

Concrete Bucket & Trowel

Rendering |  Pointing Joints |  Finishing Coat

CAL RB Transparent.png
CAL RJ Transparent .png
CAL AC FINO Transparent.png

Rendering / Float Coat

Cover your Façade and walls in natural breathable lime render. 

Rendering .jpg

Pointing Joints

Touch up your joints on your natural stone or brick façade to keep your building looking sharp and fresh. 

Pointing Joints.jpg
NHL 3.5 Transparent.png
CAL RB Transparent.png

Finishing Coat

Apply a finishing skim coat your render to enhance your surfaces details and leave a smooth texture for painting.  

Finishing - Skim Coat.jpg
Prompt Cement Transparent.png
RT 3.5 Grey Transparent.png

Our Natural Hydraulic Lime products can be used for an array of building applications including, rendering walls, pointing brick/stone joints and finishing or skim coats. Lime is the original building material when it came to constructing buildings before the portland cement was invented in 1824. So, if you’ve got a masonry building built before the 1930s there is a good a chance you’ve got lime mortar rather than portland cement mortar, and if it was built before the 1880’s then it’s almost certain to be lime. Knowing what building material your home or building was constructed with is very important when it comes to renovating or repairing the existing building. These two building materials operate differently when considering the overall performance of your home or building. 

The key differences between the two are:

  • Chemical Composition

  • Physical Properties

  • Vapour Barrier

  • Environmental Concerns 

 

Chemical Properties

Lime is produced from natural limestone and in the manufacturing process it becomes quicklime (calcium oxide). The quicklime is then mixed with small amounts of water to create hydrated lime, which may be included in cement or mixed with water for use as mortar. Cement consists of highly reactive silica-containing compounds. 

Physical Properties

Lime will harden a lot slower than a cement making it much more workable when trying to render a wall for example. Lime is less brittle and less prone to cracking any cracked areas can absorb carbon dioxide and mend over time. Cement will harden very quickly and this will make it difficult to work with large quantities unless you are casting. Cement can also be too strong for some applications like working with old bricks. Cement is also prone to cracking and usually will require repair to be done once it has settled. Lime is not as hard as cement and it has a lot more flexibility which will allow any necessary movement the building require when settling.

Vapour Barrier

Lime is also breathable, allowing vapours to pass through, which can reduce moisture and improve the environment of the home. Cement creates a waterproof barrier that does not allow vapours to escape, and can absorb water, causing moisture to accumulate -- especially in basements.

Environmental Concerns 

Lime production results in release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but lime mortar absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over its lifetime. As a result, lime mortar is considered by environmentalists to be "carbon neutral." In contrast, cement production contributes greatly to global warming, as copious amounts of carbon dioxide are released during its production.

Calcium-oxide-3D-vdW.png

Natural Stone Pointing

Lime is the perfect solution to repair the joints of a natural stone façade. 

The elasticity of the lime will stop any pressure being put on the stone as the lime slowly hardens. 

aad99f9a97e56d0891991b5afb3fc2f1--the-brick-limes.jpg
Trowel _edited_edited_edited_edited.png

Our Products

When it comes to choosing a hydraulic lime, we have a choice of the traditional lime products from two different regions (Portugal and France).

 

Our Portuguese Lime is manufactured by a company called Secil and we stock 3 variants: (NHL 2 | NHL 3.5 | NHL 5). When mixed with sand it will tend produce a colour similar to the sand being used or a creamy brown colour.

Our French Lime is manufactured by Roundtower and we stock one variant in two different colours; NHL 3.5 Grey | NHL 3.5 White. As described, this lime will produce a bright white and a grey coloured lime mixture. 

Our Products
NHL 2.jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Skim Coat - Finishing Plaster

SECIL NHL 2

Secil 2 can be used for internal plastering. Can be used with fine sand for skim coat. 

CAL CS Transparent .png

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Pre-mix - Consolidation Mortar - Prep Mortar

SECIL CAL CS

Cal CS is a preparation mortar before the application of a new coating.

CAL AC.jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Exterior - Pre-mix - Finishing

SECIL CAL AC

Cal AC is a finishing plaster generally used externally. 

ecoCORK.jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Pre-mix - Insulation Render

SECIL ecoCORK

​Secil ecoCORK Lime is a lightweight render, formulated with natural cork aggregates, Natural Hydraulic Lime, lime aggregates and additions

Prompt Cement.jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Exterior - Bedding - Quick - Strong

PROMPT Natural Cement

Used to gauge traditional lime mortars and plasters, as well in situations that require rapid setting or exceptionally high compressive strengths

Lime Putty - Setting Stuff .jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Exterior - Interior - Lime Putty - Hot Lime

Quick Lime

High Calcium Quicklime Pebble and Powder, used for making lime putty and hot-mixed or hot-lime mortars.

Hessian .jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Exterior - Protection from Frost

Hessian Roll

Hessian Frost Protection roll

Churn Brush - Long Short Handle.jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Exterior - Finishing

Churn Brush

Churn brush, leaves a flush finish with an open texture.

NHL 3.5.jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Exterior - Rendering - Pointing - Bedding

SECIL NHL 3,5

Secil NHL 3,5 is ideally suited for bedding, rendering and pointing.

CAL RJ.jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Exterior - Pre-mix - Pointing

SECIL CAL RJ

A general purpose breathable lime mortar for building or pointing stone, brick and block.  Ideal for conservation, restoration and newbuild. 

CAL AC FINO.jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Pre-mix - Fine Finish

SECIL CAL AC FINO

Cal AC Fino is a fine finishing plaster with smooth finish

RT 3.5 Grey.jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Exterior - Rendering - Pointing - Bedding

RoundTower 
NHL 3,5 GREY

Used mainly for masonry and external plaster works. The most popular material for new build work.

Mature Lime Putty.png

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Exterior - Pre- Mix - Rendering - Plastering - Lime Wash

Lime Putty

Used mainly on historic buildings, soft masonry and where exact mortar matches are important

Mature Lime Putty.png

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Decorative coat

Lime Wash

Decorative coat for lime plaster

Secil Mesh

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Exterior - Reinforcement fibers

Secil Mesh

100% fibreglass mesh with 160 g/m2 anti-alkaline treatment

Pointing iron .jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Exterior - Pointing

Pointing Iron

Used to improve tensile strength and to reduce shrinkage cracking

NHL 5.jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Exterior - Rendering - Pointing - Bedding - Limecrete

SECIL NHL 5

Secil NHL 5 is normally used for flooring such as limecrete floors or in highly exposed locations such as chimney flaunching etc.

CAL RB.jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Exterior - Pre-mix - Rendering

SECIL CAL RB

Cal RB is used for the conservation of old buildings and is also suitable for application onto substrates such as concrete, bricks or stone. etc.

SECIL Natural Hydraulic ISOVIT E-CORK.png

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Pre-mix - Fixing Insulation Render

SECIL ISOVIT
E-CORK

ISOVIT E-CORK is formulated from mixed binders, cork aggregates and Natural Hydraulic Lime. For bonding thermal insulation board.

Roundtower 3.5 White.png

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Exterior - Rendering - Pointing - Bedding

RoundTower 
NHL 3,5 WHITE

Used mainly for masonry and external plaster works. The most popular material for new build work.

Lime Putty - Setting Stuff .jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Pre-mix - Fine Finish

Setting Stuff

Final skim coat for lime plaster

Oak Riven Laths.jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Rendering - Reinforcement  

Oak Riven Laths

Provide extra grab for the fibrous lime plaster

Fiberflex.jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Exterior - Rendering - Reinforcement  

FiberFlex

Used to improve tensile strength and to reduce shrinkage cracking

Pigments.jpg

Natural Hydraulic Lime - Interior - Exterior - Additive - Pigment - Dye 

Pigments

Colourants are traditionally used as additives to lime coatings to provide a coloured finish.

bottom of page