Muhammad Hijas showing mosaic tiles affixed with lime plaster outside a heritage house in Armenian Street.

SLAP cement on a wall built in the late 1800s and it will not be able to breathe. This is the headache of having heritage property.

The old bricks and lime mortar will absorb moisture from the ground and also rainwater.

Sealed within a layer of modern-day, non-porous cement, the moisture will have no place to go. It will build up inside until the wall eventually softens and crumbles.

“You might not see anything wrong until 30 or 50 years later. By then, those who applied the cement might no longer be around and it’s the new occupants who will face the irreparable damage,” said George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI) built environment and monitoring manager Muhammad Hijas Sahari.

“Absorbed moisture will gather on your neighbour’s side and the lime plaster will fall off quickly.”

He said cement was allowed in pre-war houses older than the 1930s and only for flooring, approved new extensions or toilets.

The proprietor of Joo Hooi Cafe in Penang Road, famous for its cendol, found out recently how strict Penang Island City Council could be when he violated a stop-work order to refurbish his coffee shop, using cement to affix wall tiles.

The council’s enforcement team arrived to break off the tiles.

When contacted, Komtar assemblyman Teh Lai Heng said he had written to the council, urging it to hold off action pending the approval of the cafe’s refurbishment permit but to no avail.

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“The cafe did submit a pre- building plan and it received approval from the technical review panel. But he did not get final approval from the one-stop centre.

“The first permit he had was only for piping and wiring repairs,” he said.

Teh urged occupants of buildings within the World Heritage Site to ensure they had approval before doing any renovation.

The cafe’s owner, who wished to be be known only as Tan, said that he merely wanted to spruce up his place for his customers.

“I just did some work on the walls and floor. I didn’t do any extensive renovation,” he said.

Muhammad Hijas said GTWHI was aware that some contractors resorted to cement because it was easy to use and cheaper than other materials.

Walls in the enclave built before the 1930s, he said, must be maintained using limestone (batu kapur in Malay).

“It might take two weeks to three months to mature slaked limestone and some skill is involved in preparing the limestone.

“We try to allow cement wherever possible to balance modern development with heritage conservation but on the old walls, cement can be harmful.”

He said GTWHI conducted workshops targeted at contractors to help them understand limestone, clay and timber use.

Any heritage house owner planning renovations or major repairs can contact GTWHI for a free consultation. For details, call 04-2616606.

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