Remove thin coat lime render exterior

[Jet46]

Hello, when we moved into our house concrete render had been removed and the stone walls exposed. The pointing was terrible and held water in several places which we thought was causing some minimal damp patches on walls inside. On the advice of a local builder who said he had knowledge of period buildings, we had a thin layer of lime mortar applied to the whole front wall. This was then painted with dulux exterior paint. We regret this and want to go back to the stone and get the pointing done properly… any ideas on how best to do this? Some very small areas of the mortar have come off and are slightly soft, the rest is hard. It is way too thin to be chiselled off and we don’t want to damage the stone. Would sandblasting/TORC/DOFF be suitable? Many thanks for any advice. Can share photos if that would help.

 

[Zebra]

If it's lime then it hopefully shouldn't be too bad to remove, but if it's harder than the stone it'll be tricky. What sort of lime is it - NHL3.5? NHL2? Putty? Hydrated?
In any case, I think it's just a case of careful chiselling by hand. I've used an old wood chisel for such a purpose. It completely ruins the chisel, but at the right angle it manages not to damage the surface. I think it's a case of "try a bit and see......"

 

[Jet46]

Thanks for the reply. I think it is be softer than the stone, but am not sure what lime it is (also what stone it is). I will try and find out and post an update.