At Kempf Conservation our focus is on the practical tasks involved in the conservation repair of old buildings.  We are dedicated to the task in hand, whatever it is, striving to achieve the right material solution and the right aesthetic result.

We have built up our reputation through getting known for our high standards of craftsmanship, along with our artistic ability, which has often been something that has enabled us to deliver great results on the more challenging jobs and which often makes us slightly different from other firms.

Conservation at its higher levels requires a thorough understanding of traditional building materials and techniques; those used for the construction and maintenance of old buildings; along with the ability to be highly innovative with those materials and techniques, in order to adapt ones approach to the new and ever changing conditions created when masonry reaches its various stages of decay. 

The repair of buildings that were built a long time ago and that have endured hundreds of years of weathering and decay, often presents a very different set of challenges to constructing a traditional building from scratch using new materials.  Even though both may involve the use of the same traditional materials to do the work, they can involve an entirely different set of problems, approaches and solutions.  An experienced conservator must have a thorough understanding of all of the above.

Care, thoroughness, artistry and innovation are the hallmarks of high end craftsmanship.  And the ability to be adaptive, adapting the technique to the situation, is the way an experienced craftsman deals with often difficult situations.

The standard craftsman learns five ways of doing something and always uses one of these to do the job. The more skilled craftsman uses the fivc standard techniques and through years of experience has invented more of his own.  This not only uses his increased repertoire, but he / she can exercise 'artistic licence' by utilising all manner of combinations and variations of them. 

At Kempf Conservation we take pride in making a concerted effort to do things as well as we can, so not only does the work endure long term but it also exceeds expectations. This thoroughness is the basis of the what people in the industry refer to as 'the conservation minded approach'

The 'conservation minded approach' is all important to us and has been the central ethos of our work, underpinning it for the last 40 years, from when my father trained in the trade and from when I later trained under him.