Why Use Lime?

Lime is one of the most underused, yet versatile, enduring, elegant and sustainable building materials out there. It's amazing stuff, and does almost everything Portland cement does but a lot better. It allows structures to breathe in a way Portland cement never can, significantly reducing the chance for damp to take hold in your building. It's softer and more malleable, and cures more slowly giving you time to work it beautifully before it sets. This softness is important in mortar work – especially in old buildings. Portland cement is too hard and non-porous, so it ultimately begins to 'eat away' at the stones and has been banned by the English Heritage Society for this very reason. Lime is a fungicide and an insecticide, and in most places very inexpensive.

But there's more! Lime generates roughly 25% of the carbon that Portland cement does in production,and then slowly reabsorbs that carbon as it cures. Seeing as Portland cement is currently the second largest emitter of CO2 into the atmosphere after fossil fuels, we could do with using a lot more lime and a lot less Portland.

I've used all kinds of limes in all kinds of conditions, and I have many articles related to the white wonder. Have a read!