ABSTRACT
The Saint-Catharina church is part of the beguinage of Diest, which is listed as UNESCO World Heritage. A restoration of the church has been realized with important structural repair and restoration of the exterior. This chapter focuses on the choice of finishing of the facade through the process of the restoration. This finishing has an influence on the building physics of the Diestiaan walls and is, consequently, structurally important. The decay of the façades of the church was of such a degree that replacement of the stone was inevitable for some parts, especially on the west and south facade. In other parts the decay was tolerated as long as the stagnation of water cannot occur. Other restoration techniques that were used for the restoration of the Saint-Catharina church are the use of stonerestoration-mortars and the extensive filling of the joints with lime-mortar.
