Keighley's older streets are stone terraces on the valley sides. Hillside rows take driven rain on the gable ends and on any elevation facing up the valley. When the joints open, the water goes into the wall and shows inside as a damp patch after rain.
The first question on a Keighley stone house is what mortar the wall was built with. Pre-1920 stone was laid in lime. Where it has since been pointed in hard cement, moisture is held behind the joint and the stone face can spall in frost. We check the existing mortar and the stone before we specify anything. Where a wall needs lime, we do not quote cement.
Our Keighley services
NSJ approach in this area
Diagnose the water route first, then specify the repair. A damp patch inside a Keighley terrace can come from failed pointing, a failed window seal or a cracked stone. Treating the wrong one solves nothing. Find out about building leak and water ingress inspections.
Most stone repointing here is lime mortar repointing. Later brick and post-war housing is usually cement mortar repointing. Where stone faces have spalled, masonry repair comes before the pointing. Failed seals around windows and doors are dealt with by external sealant replacement, and bathroom and kitchen silicone by internal sealant replacement.
Haworth and parts of the Worth Valley include conservation areas and listed buildings. For that work see listed building and conservation area repointing.
Nearby areas we cover include Skipton, Ilkley, Baildon and Bradford. Renting out property in Keighley? See our page for landlords and letting agents.