Hi all,
I've discovered some structural issues with the end wall that are likely going to need some scaffolding to be put up. Whilst it is up, it makes sense to sort out the surface of the wall at the same time. The question is what to do?
Here is the wall:
It is of stone rubble construction held together with cement, mud, fresh air, mud and lime in order as you pass through from the outside of the wall to the inside.
The front edge was pebble dashed which was removed a while back (fortunately very easily) and then repaired and pointed in lime.
The remainder of the wall is covered in numerous layers of masonry paint of a rather dubious green colour. In many places, the wall has taken exception to this and has blistered and bubbled rather well.
This of course means that water can enter the wall rather easily but then has more of a job getting back out again.
As is usual in these situations, 80% of the paint can be removed quite easily as I found when I tried a test area.
The remaining 20% or so is fixed on rather well though - mainly on the cement pointing and is likely going to be a bit of a pig to remove. Also note the colour of the exposed stone. It is generally whitish in colour compared to the yellowish of the stone work on the end of the wall. It appears that this is limewash or white wash and is one of the reasons the green paint hasn't stuck well.
Also to consider is that in some places, the paint appears to be fixed on far better than in others.
This may mean that a lot of effort will be needed to remove it all.
Options I can think of to remove the difficult to remove paint are:
Once the worst is removed, the next question is with the cement pointing. Obviously, the loose stuff will be removed and replaced with lime but the majority seems to be pretty well fixed. The sandstone is so porous that having some cement on the surface isn't going to stop moisture escaping so I don't really see it as being essential to remove though it would be nice to.
Finally there is the question on how to finish the wall. We have an old picture which shows this wall as being unrendered though it isn't possible to tell if it is painted or not. It obviously has been in the past but ideally I would just like to repoint it in lime and leave it as per the end of the wall. This would then match the other end wall and the inside of the house.
Unfortunately though, the previous limewash / white wash layers mean that if I leave it as is, I think it will look scruffy. The houses facing this wall have been painted white so I'm thinking that limewashing is the obvious solution. This will also cover the cement pointing though I doubt it will stick to the remains of green paint.
So what do you lot think?
I've discovered some structural issues with the end wall that are likely going to need some scaffolding to be put up. Whilst it is up, it makes sense to sort out the surface of the wall at the same time. The question is what to do?
Here is the wall:
It is of stone rubble construction held together with cement, mud, fresh air, mud and lime in order as you pass through from the outside of the wall to the inside.
The front edge was pebble dashed which was removed a while back (fortunately very easily) and then repaired and pointed in lime.
The remainder of the wall is covered in numerous layers of masonry paint of a rather dubious green colour. In many places, the wall has taken exception to this and has blistered and bubbled rather well.
This of course means that water can enter the wall rather easily but then has more of a job getting back out again.
As is usual in these situations, 80% of the paint can be removed quite easily as I found when I tried a test area.
The remaining 20% or so is fixed on rather well though - mainly on the cement pointing and is likely going to be a bit of a pig to remove. Also note the colour of the exposed stone. It is generally whitish in colour compared to the yellowish of the stone work on the end of the wall. It appears that this is limewash or white wash and is one of the reasons the green paint hasn't stuck well.
Also to consider is that in some places, the paint appears to be fixed on far better than in others.
This may mean that a lot of effort will be needed to remove it all.
Options I can think of to remove the difficult to remove paint are:
- Scraper - works well on the easy stuff - very hard work on the tough stuff
- Hot Air Gun / Flame Thrower - I've no idea if this would work
- Wallpaper Stripper - There is moisture in the stone so the heat may cause the paint to lift - again I've no idea if it would actually work
- Noxious Chemicals - I guess contact with the usual people...
Once the worst is removed, the next question is with the cement pointing. Obviously, the loose stuff will be removed and replaced with lime but the majority seems to be pretty well fixed. The sandstone is so porous that having some cement on the surface isn't going to stop moisture escaping so I don't really see it as being essential to remove though it would be nice to.
Finally there is the question on how to finish the wall. We have an old picture which shows this wall as being unrendered though it isn't possible to tell if it is painted or not. It obviously has been in the past but ideally I would just like to repoint it in lime and leave it as per the end of the wall. This would then match the other end wall and the inside of the house.
Unfortunately though, the previous limewash / white wash layers mean that if I leave it as is, I think it will look scruffy. The houses facing this wall have been painted white so I'm thinking that limewashing is the obvious solution. This will also cover the cement pointing though I doubt it will stick to the remains of green paint.
So what do you lot think?
I was really worried it would damage the stone but it hasn't. Most of the stone is quite flinty and tough but there are sandstone/hamstone in places and it's fine. We then had the cement pointing raked out and re-pointed in lime, and then it's been limewashed in white as it was never plastered. The worse part of the sandblasting was the mess. It was everywhere and even though the windows were covered and sealed it filled the house.
