BLOWN RENDER - ANY ADVICE APPRECIATE

[Jacky123]

Lino over a presumably concrete floor will prevent moisture rising from the ground below from evaporating into the atmosphere. Water will pool on the surface of the concrete and below the lino and will ultimately spread to any skirting boards and plaster with which it comes into contact. Also, the spread pattern of the staining seems to be centred on that column beside the window and not directly below the window itself and there do not appear to be any recent water stains on the sill beam. However, in timber frame houses penetrating rainwater can migrate in rather counter-intuitive routes.

I would strongly recommend that you get rid of all the lino as a priority - it can only harm your home by inhibiting its capacity to breathe effectively.

I would also suggest that you investigate those two columns to understand exactly how they are constructed and with what materials. I have a suspicion that the original timber posts that support the beam above that room are still there and have been boxed in somehow. Those posts need to breathe and boxed in like that they will rot and fail.

Hello again and thank you. The Lino has all gone and been disposed of. I am trying to get hold of the previous owner who, and I use the term loosely, renovated the property to find out more about those pillars. I will report findings. Thank you once again for your valued help.

 

[Kearn]

Lino over a presumably concrete floor will prevent moisture rising from the ground below from evaporating into the atmosphere. Water will pool on the surface of the concrete and below the lino and will ultimately spread to any skirting boards and plaster with which it comes into contact. Also, the spread pattern of the staining seems to be centred on that column beside the window and not directly below the window itself and there do not appear to be any recent water stains on the sill beam. However, in timber frame houses penetrating rainwater can migrate in rather counter-intuitive routes.

I would strongly recommend that you get rid of all the lino as a priority - it can only harm your home by inhibiting its capacity to breathe effectively.

I would also suggest that you investigate those two columns to understand exactly how they are constructed and with what materials. I have a suspicion that the original timber posts that support the beam above that room are still there and have been boxed in somehow. Those posts need to breathe and boxed in like that they will rot and fail.

I would have to agree here - water marks look suspiciously like they’ve originated from the new boxed in post. Maybe originally via the window, but I’d expect to see water marks elsewhere if that were the case.

I expect any blockwork is proud of the wall and there’s a nice gap for water to track down. Possibly getting in through render - you’ll be surprised how small a crack is required to let it get in, which looks worse when it can’t get out.

I’d probably disagree regarding the lino stopping the concrete breathing, it’s a reasonably effective moisture barrier, more so when the usual plastic DPM is laid under the slab which prevents any ground moisture finding its way out from it. I say good, but it really isn’t ideal in an old building.

Lino should certainly come up though, any moisture / water ingress funding its way down the wall onto the concrete slab will be trapped by it and likely show the mould / staining you have. But that doesn’t solve the root cause.

My guess would be the inboard colon is some attempt at taking the load of the spine beam with later brick/blockwork. Whether it was required when inserted is never a simple answer… but would only really be the case if it’s joint to the floor plate had failed. Or the post under had failed, but that would create other issues in the wall.

 

[Jacky123]

I understand what you are saying. My home has two rooms downstairs and both rooms have two of those pillars in.

 

[Kearn]

they are all reused timbers, and I’d bet my granny’s pension that none of them rest on the wall plate / external frame (it’s only pic 3 that I’m not quite sure about).

Given you say it was originally a cattle barn, that’s not a surprise. At some stage it was repurposed to a dwelling and first floors inserted - odd that the spine beams weren’t located onto the mid plate of the walls, but maybe heights didn’t allow.

Depending on when utility building became a dwelling, they may have had knee braces / horizontal bearers / timber posts brick pillars under to carry their load, and that of the floor above. Maybe there is timber that has been boxed in or older bricks that have been rendered … if it’s a more recent conversion then maybe no timber.

Do you know any if the history, particularly when it became a dwelling?

The last two images have mortices in which could’ve carried a knee or a post under. Also chamfers with stops.

The beam in the first two is less clear, the cut outs on it could be joist pockets from a past life and it’s been spun…