✦
Where Artistry Begins
Lime Venetian plaster, Marmorino and limewash for period houses and modern flats across Durham, tinted in Birmingham and laid by our own applicators.
Zavoré offers Venetian plastering in Durham for period houses, university buildings, flats and shops. We are based in Birmingham, and our own applicators travel north to install authentic Italian lime based Venetian plaster and other decorative finishes. Tell us about your walls through the sample board page or by emailing photos to sales@zavore.co.uk.
Many Durham buildings are old, protected or both, so the first conversation is usually about what the walls are made of and what can be changed.
Durham is known first for the cathedral and castle on their wooded peninsula above the River Wear, a World Heritage Site. Around the peninsula the old streets are lined with stone and brick buildings of many ages, including Georgian town houses on streets such as the Bailey and plenty of historic property in the centre that carries listed status. The city centre is a conservation area, so changes to a protected building should be talked through with the council before anything is agreed.
Beyond the centre the housing broadens out. Gilesgate, Crossgate and the streets towards Neville’s Cross have Victorian terraces and villas, while the ring of former pit villages that surrounds the city has rows of terraced miners’ houses. Newer estates such as Newton Hall and Framwellgate Moor bring in postwar and modern homes, many built with plasterboard walls.
Durham is also a university city, and many of its colleges and student houses are older buildings in constant use. Walls that are handled daily need a finish chosen for wear as well as looks.
In a modern flat or a newer estate house, polished plaster is a strong option once the walls have been made flat.
We begin with photos and a few measurements, and then survey the walls. Substrate, flatness, cracks, damp, movement, access and protection of floors and joinery all get looked at before we price. If a wall needs skimming, stripping or a damp source fixing first, you will hear it plainly from us.
Durham is a long way from Birmingham, so we plan the installation as a block of days. The team stays near the job and builds the coats in order. Dates are fixed once your sample and the price are signed off, and the plaster is tinted to your approved sample colour in Birmingham before it travels.
The streets on the peninsula are narrow and the centre has restricted access and parking, so tell us early about permits, steps and carrying distances. Our installation page shows how the layers build up.
Architects and interior designers working on historic or listed interiors can find our notes for specifiers useful. If you manage rental property, we will be honest about which finishes repair easily. Decorators who prefer to do the work themselves can buy tinted material by tracked delivery or learn on a Venetian plaster course.
You can also read about lime and acrylic Venetian plaster, which matters a great deal on old walls, and see every area we cover.
We can plaster the interiors of older and protected buildings, but listed building rules can apply to changes. Please speak to the conservation team at the council first, and we will survey the walls and advise on lime based finishes.
Lime based plaster is breathable, which suits solid stone and brick. We survey for damp first, because a wet wall needs its cause fixed before any decorative finish.
Yes. Our own applicators travel north and the work is planned in blocks of days, so each coat is laid in order without trips back and forth.
Yes, though we would talk through wear and repair before choosing a finish, since a showpiece surface is not always the right answer for a busy let.
To discuss a Durham project, call 07592 929191, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm, or write to sales@zavore.co.uk with your postcode. A sample board is the easiest first step.
Order a sample board tinted to your colour, or send photos and rough measurements of the walls in Durham and we will come back to you with the right finish and a clear quote.
For a quote, email photos and measurements of your walls to sales@zavore.co.uk or call 07592 929191, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm.
Venetian plastering nearby in Darlington, Sunderland and Middlesbrough. See every area we cover.
Want to lay it yourself? Read about Venetian plastering training for Durham, or see every course at the Zavoré Training Academy.
We also supply the trade by post, wherever you are. The shop ships tracked across the UK, and the Academy teaches the finishes in Birmingham.
Providing luxury finishes for the most prestigious addresses in the world
Venetian plaster, limewash, microcement, tadelakt, metallics, sculptural plaster and gold leaf, supplied and installed by our own team, with Venetian plaster taught at our Birmingham studio.
One list, run by the people who make the material. No noise, and nothing we would not want to read ourselves.
We email as the house has something worth saying, never daily. Unsubscribe from any email, or reply STOP to any text. We never pass your details to anyone.