Restoration · Listed & historic facades

Decay is not a verdict.

Moss, cracks, a coat of grey by a contractor who knew better: underneath all that bad news, your original sgraffito is mostly still there. We bring it back — with lime and pigment as they did five centuries ago, and with a dossier that can face the heritage office.

See before/after Grants & subsidies
Restorer on scaffolding scratching sgraffito from the top layer of plaster

Photographs as evidence

Before: “can this be saved?” · After: “I want one too”

Drag the handle and see what lime, patience and a well-fed scraper can do. Three recent restorations — walls that would otherwise have ended up under cement.

Guild house facade in Herentals before restoration: weathered plaster and illegible motif
Same facade after restoration: crisp renaissance bandwork in cream and terracotta
Before After

Guild house, Grote Markt · Herentals

Listed monument · 21 m² of bandwork · restored 2025 · 60% grant

Beguinage wall in Diest before restoration: moss, efflorescence and peeling sgraffito
Same beguinage wall after restoration: floral motifs and rosette in full colour
Before After

Beguinage wall · Diest

World heritage buffer zone · floral frieze from ±1680 · reconstructed 2024

Church facade in Leuven before restoration: soot deposits and vanished saint figures
Same church facade after restoration: seven baroque panels with saints in cream and ochre
Before After

Sint-Geertrui · Leuven

Sacral panels · lime mixed to a 1663 sample · delivered 2026

Money that already exists

Grants: which subsidy, what percentage, how to apply

A sgraffito restoration costs more than a bucket of paint — and thanks to subsidies it is often less than you fear. These are the three pots we combine most often. Figures are indicative (autumn 2026); we check the current rates for your address, free of charge.

Flanders

Onroerend Erfgoed monument grant

up to 60–80%

Of the accepted invoice for works on a listed monument. The rate depends on the owner's income: lower income, higher percentage. Designated (not yet listed) heritage does not qualify — then we look at the municipal level.

Municipality

City facade premium

20–40% extra

Leuven, Mechelen, Diest, Herentals, Lier and Turnhout each offer their own facade premium for prominent streets in the historic core. Can be stacked on the Flemish grant up to the legal maximum.

  • 🏛️ Via your city hall or heritage office
  • ⏳ Decision 4–8 weeks
  • 💡 Also for unlisted buildings in historic ensembles

Heritage office

Matching premium & advice

5–10%

The inter-municipal heritage offices often add a matching premium and give free material advice. A well-prepared dossier with our construction drawings moves faster through the queue.

  • 🤝 Erfgoedcel Kempen, Leuven & partners
  • 🖨️ Free on-site information session
  • ✅ We prepare the application with you

From photo to payout in five steps

  1. Check the status. Is your building listed? Look it up on the Onroerend Erfgoed map — or send us the address, we do it for free.
  2. Apply for the right grants. Flemish (listed monument) and municipal. Never start work before the subsidy decision.
  3. We write the dossier. Quote, construction drawings, photo report and material description in the language the heritage service understands.
  4. We execute. With an approved material plan and, where required, heritage-office supervision on site.
  5. Measurement & payout. We guide the final inspection and deliver the payment file.
Request a grant check

Collaborations

We work with the heritage office, not next to it

A restoration dossier gets stronger when contractor, owner and heritage office sit at the same table from the start. Our dossiers follow the Onroerend Erfgoed material guidelines, and for complex interventions a restoration architect joins the table. No surprises afterwards — that is the whole point.

  • ✔ Recognised executor on heritage projects in Antwerp, Flemish Brabant and Limburg
  • ✔ Regular consultation with the heritage offices of Leuven, Mechelen and Diest
  • ✔ Documented, auditable finishing techniques

One photo, no cost

Send a photo of your facade, get free advice.

We will tell you within one working day what is possible, what it costs and how much comes back through grants. Even if the honest answer is “do nothing”.

Send a photo of my facade