Hi - I've been looking through the archives for any advice relating to reducing damp in stone walls - we have 2 problems in our 1791 stone 3 storey Yorkshire weavers end terrace:
1. Very thick solid stone walls - on the ground floor there is soil against the back wall about 2 feet above our floor level along the full length of the wall. We've got all the plaster/black lime off and the stone here is quite wet and dark. This is a problem as it is our neighbours land on the other side of this wall (their driveway) and we only have access to it to maintain our property. Digging a ditch (as previously suggested) on our neighbours land against our wall obviously isn't realistic in this case:
"Drainage is probably more of an issue than ventilation, unless your floors are timbeer with an air gap underneath. Make sure there's no soil at any point around the house higher than floor level, and be prepared to dig a French ditch around the property to take water away from the walls" (Gervase, Oct 2005).
The fall of the land also means we have some soil against the front wall since you step down into the house due to the need for headroom - the ceilings are quite low! Our architect has sugested tanking all the way round on the ground floor as we'll always have the back and front walls below soil level. Is tanking our only solution?
2. The gable end is completely covered in concrete render - we suspect there may have been outbuildings or something attached at some point. Having read on the Forum about the need for stone walls to breathe what would be the alternative to render for keeping this wall covered if the stone is not in good condition and we can't expose it?
Many thanks in advance, Jayne.
1. Very thick solid stone walls - on the ground floor there is soil against the back wall about 2 feet above our floor level along the full length of the wall. We've got all the plaster/black lime off and the stone here is quite wet and dark. This is a problem as it is our neighbours land on the other side of this wall (their driveway) and we only have access to it to maintain our property. Digging a ditch (as previously suggested) on our neighbours land against our wall obviously isn't realistic in this case:
"Drainage is probably more of an issue than ventilation, unless your floors are timbeer with an air gap underneath. Make sure there's no soil at any point around the house higher than floor level, and be prepared to dig a French ditch around the property to take water away from the walls" (Gervase, Oct 2005).
The fall of the land also means we have some soil against the front wall since you step down into the house due to the need for headroom - the ceilings are quite low! Our architect has sugested tanking all the way round on the ground floor as we'll always have the back and front walls below soil level. Is tanking our only solution?
2. The gable end is completely covered in concrete render - we suspect there may have been outbuildings or something attached at some point. Having read on the Forum about the need for stone walls to breathe what would be the alternative to render for keeping this wall covered if the stone is not in good condition and we can't expose it?
Many thanks in advance, Jayne.
