Historic Stately Home — Stucco Render, Exterior Cornicing, and Decorative Mouldings

The restoration of the external and internal plasterwork of a historic stately home represents one of the most demanding categories of conservation plastering work: the building's external stucco renders and cornices must withstand the full force of the Irish climate while maintaining the precision of profile and the flatness of face that characterise high-quality Georgian and Victorian stucco work; internally, the decorative plasterwork must be repaired and reinstated to a standard invisible against the surrounding historic fabric.

McAteer Plastering has undertaken work of this kind across a number of significant country houses, drawing on their four generations of experience in both solid and decorative plasterwork. The external stucco programme typically involves careful investigation of the existing render — identifying areas of hollow, cracked, or delaminated material — followed by hack-off, preparation, and application of new lime-based stucco render in matched mixes, with moulded cornices run in situ and details restored to match the historic profiles.

Internally, the programme extends to plaster lath ceilings, enriched cornices, ceiling roses, and decorative panel mouldings. Where features have been lost or damaged beyond repair, surviving sections are used as templates for new castings or in-situ run mouldings. The completed work demonstrates the firm's ability to combine external durability with internal decorative refinement across a complex historic building of the highest significance.