You may already have heard of Brad O’Leary, founder of Lake District Property Renovator, thanks to his regular posting on social media, which to date, has earned him more than 25,000 followers on Instagram.
In recent years he and his team, who are based in Cockermouth, have been making a name for themselves by carrying out barn conversions and home renovations, with a particular focus on using traditional materials.
Brad grew up near Rugby, and found his vocation for building and restoration work after leaving school in his teens.
‘I wasn’t the most academic and I very much wanted to be outdoors,’ he says.
‘I did a joinery and a brickwork apprenticeship and then a 10-year unofficial apprenticeship with a firm run by a pair of brothers.
‘I learned every part of construction from them – from making a cup of tea to putting a roof on and decorating, brickwork, blockwork and stonework.
‘Their time and knowledge combined with my hard work and enthusiasm has been a winning combination.’
As his career progressed Brad developed an interest in heritage building and restoration techniques, particularly the use of lime as a material for plastering, rendering, pointing and washing.
‘It’s about learning how different products work and different materials work and how different products act together,’ he says.
‘It’s challenging but it’s extremely rewarding. I have taken snippets of knowledge from different individuals who I respect along the way and tried it out myself.
‘I love doing my homework and research on this traditional work but you need to see it firsthand to really know what you’re talking about.’
Ten years ago Brad made the move to Cumbria where he met partner Eleanor and they settled in the Western Lakes overlooking the fells, the lakes and the coastline at Whitehaven. It’s a busy house with four children and two Labradors.
He initially established himself by carrying out project management work for another firm and then carrying out a large renovation on a property he owned near Penrith.
A combination of word-of-mouth and his keen following on Instagram have helped gain Lake District Property Renovator a solid pipeline of working stretching ahead for the next two years.
Brad has found particular interest among Cumbrian customers in the use of lime to renovate traditional buildings that have become damp and cold following the application of cement on the exterior or interior.
Lime – which is naturally breathable – has been a go-to building material for thousands of years.
The use of cement became much more common post-war as a cheaper and easier alternative to render and repair traditional stone-built homes.
‘Once it fails, with our Cumbrian weather, the rain is driven into the cracks and it has nowhere to go,’ says Brad.
‘If it’s sandstone construction then the sandstone takes on the moisture and degrades really fast. If it’s slate then the slate doesn’t take on the moisture and it’s driven inside.’
The same effect occurs if modern materials are applied internally, trapping moisture in already damp walls.
By contrast, the breathability of lime means it can absorb and disperse moisture, making for a drier and warmer building. The high alkaline content of lime also means it kills many airborne bacteria.
‘A traditional lime mortar has an open pore structure that takes moisture on and then releases it, whereas modern products take moisture on slowly but will not disperse them,’ says Brad.
‘You end up with walls that are soaking wet and you experience the problems related to that with condensation, damp and mould. It creates an atmosphere for mould and nasty bacteria to grow.’
Brad says he has to be upfront with customers about the fact that the process of removing and replacing concrete is not cheap or easy and can take months.
However, it will ultimately solve the problem of having a damp or a cold building.
‘You can see it almost straightaway, they will begin to dry as soon as the concrete is removed, it’s as if the building is breathing a sigh of relief,’ he says.
‘We’re surrounded by traditional stone homes that are essential to repair with traditional products.’
Brad gets his lime from local sources when he can, including Eden Hot Lime, near Kirkby Stephen, as well from suppliers in Derbyshire.
He also tries to use aggregate materials which match those originally used in the buildings he works on.
Horse hair, which is traditionally mixed with lime mortar, is obtained from local equestrian enthusiasts and riding schools.
‘We try to keep everything as traditional as we can and use materials that are sustainable and low impact,’ he says.
Often Brad and his team of between four and five put their specialist lime skills to work as part of complete barn conversions and property renovations, covering the full gamut of project management, construction, joinery, glazing, plumbing and electrics.
This year Brad supplied lime mortar to Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don as part of his collaboration with gardener Jamie Butterworth to create the award-winning Royal Horticultural Society and BBC Radio 2 ‘Dog Garden’ at the Chelsea Flower Show.
He also supplied the ‘The Garden of the Future’ exhibit – created by the Gates Foundation founded by Bill and Melinda Gates – which highlighted some of the solutions and techniques being developed around the world to mitigate the impacts of climate change in farming.
The latter won a gold award for the construction of a rammed earth building with a traditional lime interior.
‘Jamie has been a long-term follower of mine on Instagram,’ says Brad.
‘When I told him I was coming to do The Garden of the Future he asked me to work on the Dog Garden as well and plaster the internals of that. It got some great attention.’
Although they will take on jobs across the county, many of Lake District Property Renovator’s projects can be found in the north and west Lake District.
This has involved work on projects with organisations including the Lake District National Park Authority, National Trust and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.
Brad is committed to continuing to grow his team, as well as spreading knowledge of the value of lime as a building material.
‘There’s been incorrect repairs to traditional buildings that have been going on for a while due to the way buildings work and manage moisture,’ says Brad.
‘We’re trying to educate builders, architects and engineers that specify materials for traditional homes.’