Shoreham-by-Sea plastering, from the Beach to Old Shoreham

Plastering in Shoreham-by-Sea, and what makes it different

Shoreham packs an unusual amount of variety into a small town. Shoreham Beach is a spit of shingle facing the open Channel, rebuilt over the last few decades into contemporary houses with large glazed elevations. Old Shoreham, a mile inland along the Adur, still has genuine period fabric. In between sits a Victorian and Edwardian town centre and a working harbour.

Shoreham Beach is about as exposed as domestic property gets on this coast. There is nothing between those houses and the sea but shingle, and salt spray reaches walls directly rather than as the diluted salt-laden air that inland streets get. Render there has to be chosen for the job, not for the price. James specifies through-coloured silicone or a well-detailed monocouche, with a fully cured scratch coat, generous bellcast at the base and movement joints designed in, because a system that would be perfectly adequate in Burgess Hill will not survive many winters on the Beach.

The contemporary architecture on the Beach also brings its own detailing questions. Large window openings, rendered reveals, mixed backgrounds where blockwork meets insulation meets timber frame, and long uninterrupted elevations that will crack if movement joints are not planned. Getting those junctions right at the outset is what stops a hairline crack appearing across a beautiful new elevation two summers later.

Old Shoreham is the opposite end of the scale. Older cottages and houses around the church and the riverside, with soft brick, flint and lime mortar, where a hard cement render or a gypsum internal plaster does real harm. Breathability is the priority, and James will specify lime where the building needs it even though it is more work and takes longer to carry out.

The town centre and the streets running back from the High Street are largely Victorian and Edwardian terraces, and the work there mirrors Brighton and Hove: re-skimming tired walls, dealing with lath and plaster ceilings, replacing blown plaster after damp has been traced and fixed, and making good after refits. The riverside properties along the Adur add a damp dimension, because a high water table and a tidal river keep ground moisture levels up in a way inland streets do not see.

Southwick and Lancing are both covered from the same round, and Portslade sits just the other side of the harbour, so James is in this corner of the coast regularly rather than making a special trip for it.

Also covered from Shoreham-by-Sea: Southwick, Lancing, Kingston Buci, Shoreham Beach. If your street sits between two of the towns listed on this site, ring and ask rather than assuming it is out of the way.