Lime render and doors

Replacement doors tend to be held in place by screws, not inbuilt frames

The door on my house has seen a lot of changes. Since I have owned it we have had 2 doors. The removal of the render showed that the original door and frame must have been at least 10cm wider (there is a pillar of bricks on the far side in this photo).

When we changed the door we fitted a new frame as well. However, this frame is held in place using screws set into rawl plugs in the wall. This gives a firm enough finish, but it does move when slammed, so what to do with the new lime render, will this get affected by repeated use?

Well the thought is that yes the door will effect the render. As the door vibrates the render can be weakened and a really hard slam could shift and crack the new finish. So the plan is to counter this by using a cement and mesh to really tie the frame into the wall. With a firm and secure frame in place the covering render will be protected from any movement.

Purists might be up in arms about this as it is not lime (well cement is a lime, just a particularly hard and strong type), however this is about being sustainable and I feel that having something that will last longer in a potentially susceptible zone is better than having a purer version fail. The other important element to remember here is that the cement will be covered with the lime putty render, so this will be effectively buried into the wall and the lime will keep it dry.