Georgian Plaster Restoration

The project

Heritage cornice and plaster restoration in a Georgian reception room, with missing enrichment re-cast from surviving lengths and run in situ where the original profile still held.

The effort behind it

A 600mm surviving fragment was the only evidence for the full profile, so a zinc template was cut by hand and test-run six times before the plasterers were satisfied. Ceilings were re-keyed from above with lime grout and stainless screws through washers, saving 80% of the original fabric that a lesser survey would have condemned.

Challenges faced

The hardest part of Georgian Plaster Restoration was what nobody could see until the work began. Hidden defects in the existing structure forced redesigns mid-programme, and consents in Bloomsbury, London WC1 meant every method statement went through a third party before a tool was lifted. The team held the programme by resequencing whole phases rather than cutting corners on the phase in front of them.

Team & involvement

Delivery was led by a working site manager with a core crew of our own trades, supported by structural engineers, building control and specialist subcontractors we have worked with for over a decade. Morning briefings, a live programme on the wall and photographic records of every concealed stage meant the client in Bloomsbury, London WC1 always knew exactly where their project stood.

A successful outcome

Georgian Plaster Restoration was handed over on programme and within the agreed budget, with building control sign-off at the first inspection of every notifiable stage. The client moved back in on the date we gave them at tender — and the aftercare visit twelve months later found nothing to put right. That is the standard every DBS project is measured against.