Concrete skirting and daub walls

[jess marley]

Hi all, just want to double check something please.
In the sitting room here we have a sound though ugly concrete raft, and cast concrete skirting. (!)
As the floor seems to be sound and there are other more pressing issues to attend to, we are not looking to change it, just lay some sea-grass over when the room is finished. BUT as there is some damp in the walls above the concrete skirting, I was wondering if a sensible way forward might be to hack off the concrete skirting and lime mortar the wall to skirting height finishing with a skim of lime plaster. Putting new skirting on is not necessarily appropriate here as we are planning to use this room as a library and the walls will be lined with bookcases.

Having said that, underneath the existing plaster the walls are daub, sometimes on lath, sometimes not.

Whilst most of the walls have been pretty damp-free, the wall without lath where the daub was up to three inches thick, was very soggy, (we were treated to a late night visit from a frog whilst slumped in front of the box
a month or two ago.) Even this has now dried out though,( the walls, not the frog) once the stone was exposed.

Help please, we moved here in June, and my books are still in boxes- probably why I spend my time posting here...

 

[andrew gayton]

if the floor is concrete also, i would suggest that there is little point in removing the concrete skirting, unless it is a rather tall one. do you know if the concrete also forms an 'underpinning' toe under the foot of the walling? this could prove to be very problematic in the long run.... i would advise that you drill/excavate a trial to establish the extent of the concrete.... if funds are limited, you will improve th eoverall situation greatly by taking out the perimeter of the floor - say 300mmm - and replacing this with a non hydraulic limecrete to provide an evaporation zone...... no more damp frogs, sorry, walls...........

 

[jess marley]

Thanks Andrew. No, I don't think the floor underpins the walls, as the floor level inside at the is between 5 & 10 inches above the grond level outside . ( we're on a bit of a slope).
I hadn't really thought of just leaving the skirting, my hatred of it runs so deep, but, it seems to be made of the Hardest Substance Known To Man, and it would be enormously easier to leave it and try to decorate it out instead...If I were to leave it and do the limecrete perimetre thing instead, how deep should I excavate for this?
If I'm wrong though, and on excavating I find the concrete does reach under the walls, is it a case of dig up and start over with limecrete? And how can I ensure compatability with building regs?
Funds aren't really an issue, as we are doing the work ourselves, so costs are fairly minimal, just materials and d.v.d's to keep offspring out of the way.
Thanks, Jess.

 

[andrew gayton]

jess - i would say that the skirting would probably come away with any perimeter excavation or it would certainly be easier to remove it as part of such works..... from my experience concrete comes away quite easily from softer substrate.... as for depth, i would go down as deep as the bottom of the slab - that is as far as you will need to go; remember to turn-up and extant dpm vertically between the edge of the existing slab and the new non hydraulic limecrete...... if the concrete goes under the walling forming a toe... i would leave well alone.... you will find - invariably - that a toe will form an integral part of the slab and be reinforced.... to drag all of this out and reinstate a 'soft' option would stress the building far too much, be a massive undertaking and could potentially cause some structural movement... bearing in mind this sort of work would have been a massive intervention in the first place....... does that help?

 

[jess marley]

Yes indeed Andrew, thanks. The perimetre option sounds v.sensible and rids me of the foul skirting too - perfect.
Will arm small children with club hammers and let loose after school.
Cheers.

 

[andrew gayton]

jess - carefull application of angle grinder at the junction of floor and skirting will help before you set the wallet vampires loose - andrew

 

[Gervase]

jess - carefull application of angle grinder at the junction of floor and skirting will help before you set the wallet vampires loose - andrew

Sadist!
Be sure to invest in a decent pair of ear defenders and a good dust mask - it's a horrible job. But, as Andrew suggests, a good way to cut your way into the project.

 

[jess marley]

Ear defenders? Dust mask? I usually make do with a damp tea-towel tied round the back of my head! Know what you mean though, last time I used the grinder on this stuff the cloud of dust was so dense it stopped traffic outside.... heaven.