Repairs.—Chalk compost walls are not easily repaired in that material, and bricks are generally used, well bonded in.
Chimneys.—Chimneys, too, are usually of brick, though there would seem no reason against the flues being carried up in chalk, especially if clay pipe linings were used.
The chimney-stacks above the roof might well be built in flint, the corners being rounded off in deference to the peculiarities of the material.
External Rendering.—It is of the first importance that a good weather-tight skin be maintained, and many old buildings have suffered through neglect of this precaution.
The rendering was often of the poorest quality, more mud than lime, and the constant repairs that the indifferent materials necessitated has resulted in many of the old cottages becoming patchworks of variegated plaster blotches, when not whitewashed over, which give an impression of dilapidation by no means warranted by the facts.
Rendering.—Given a good skin, however, of cement or cement and lime, a chalk conglomerate wall will last indefinitely. So vital is the skin that it is as well to put it on in two good coats—rounding off all the corners and finishing it either with slap-dash or rough from the wooden float.
Also, to ensure its proper adhesion throughout, wire-netting may be used as reinforcement—being secured to the face of the chalk wall by means of cross netting or wires laid on the wall as the building rises.
If the netting be of a fine mesh it also serves as an absolute barrier to vermin, though pounded glass incorporated in the base of the wall is equally effective.
Strength.—Provided the wall has dried out thoroughly, any of the ordinary loads occurring in a two-storied house can be borne with ease.
Chalk conglomerate walling, however, has no great lateral strength, and it should not be asked to stand up to thrusts.