parkview094
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TheRoost said:
..bituminous damp proof course maybe?
- Thread starter TheRoost
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..bituminous damp proof course maybe?
plasticpigeon
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I would agree with parkview. My house also has stock bricks below ground, but a slate damp proof course. They experimented with all sorts back then.
TheRoost
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We have a bit of a damp smell in one of our downstairs rooms, so I've had a nosey underneath the house - it's a 3 foot deep subfloor space, under the room in question the brickwork and earth floor were damper than in other places, and a few snails were found just underneath the floorboards! I don't know what is a normal amount of damp for a foundation that is on an external wall (west facing, and gets little sun due to neighbouring house) there is a surface water drain running around the wall so i'm slightly suspicious of that. An airbrick has been blocked up in the past so I've re-instated that.
I've posted the pics onto a draft wordpress blog, as they are fairly large files.
Would appreciate your thoughts - am I worrying over nothing, or should I be investigating the drains?
https://victorianhometoroost.wordpr...the-subfloor-airbricks-and-damp-proof-course/
Andy
I've posted the pics onto a draft wordpress blog, as they are fairly large files.
Would appreciate your thoughts - am I worrying over nothing, or should I be investigating the drains?
https://victorianhometoroost.wordpr...the-subfloor-airbricks-and-damp-proof-course/
Andy
88v8
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It should be dry, ditto the wall.
The airbrick should help, but alas I would say the drain needs investigating.
One can still get glazed drains, but iirc there was nowhere local to us when I looked a couple of years ago.
In our previous house the floor joists were too near the airbricks, I rectified that and added more airbricks. One can't have too many, I think.
Ivor
The airbrick should help, but alas I would say the drain needs investigating.
One can still get glazed drains, but iirc there was nowhere local to us when I looked a couple of years ago.
In our previous house the floor joists were too near the airbricks, I rectified that and added more airbricks. One can't have too many, I think.
Ivor
PeterI
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You can get neutraliser kits for boilers which makes the condensate less acidic.
for example http://www.ukhps.co.uk/products/McAlpine-SOAK1GR-Boiler-Condensate-Soakaway.html
reminds me that I must check what's happening with our new boiler.
for example http://www.ukhps.co.uk/products/McAlpine-SOAK1GR-Boiler-Condensate-Soakaway.html
reminds me that I must check what's happening with our new boiler.
TheRoost
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88v8 said:
That's good to know, in a sense! Does anyone have experience with drain camera surveys? can they find cracks/holes in clay pipes and pinpoint their location exactly? or should I dig a hole in that area and have a look?
88v8
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We had a camera survey a couple of years ago. They can find things like collapses and root intrusion, whether they could find cracks I'm not sure, but the camera resolution was pretty good so I guess if they knew they were looking for cracks they'd be able to see them.
These are the chaps we used - they were able to pinpoint the run of our drains, and the whereabouts of the manholes.
http://www.cylex-uk.co.uk/reviews/viewcompanywebsite.aspx?firmaName=just-surveys-ltd&companyId=17992858
They only do surveys, no remedial work, so they have no axe to grind.
Ivor
These are the chaps we used - they were able to pinpoint the run of our drains, and the whereabouts of the manholes.
http://www.cylex-uk.co.uk/reviews/viewcompanywebsite.aspx?firmaName=just-surveys-ltd&companyId=17992858
They only do surveys, no remedial work, so they have no axe to grind.
Ivor
angrybird
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William Morris born on this day 1834
Just thought I'd mention him as it is a Victorian based thread ( and Strawberry theif is my all time favourite design
Just thought I'd mention him as it is a Victorian based thread ( and Strawberry theif is my all time favourite design
TheRoost
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Hello All,
I have not been on the forum for quite a while.
I need some advice on spalled bricks - we have had a bit of water ingress on an internal wall upstairs - a 12" damp patch high on the wall, which is the gable end (west facing), and its about a foot or two away from the centreline of the chimneystack/apex.
It has dried out now, we only noticed it when it left a slight brown stain, I think it occurred when we had the constant period of heavy rain over winter.
I could see a couple of areas of poor pointing on the gable end from the ground, roughly where the damp patch was, so I set about to do some local repointing in hydraulic lime. Of course when I got up on the ladder, I then noticed a couple of spalled bricks a few feet higher up - the brick faces hanging on only by the harder mortar around it. These bricks were above the top rung of my ladder and it would of been unsafe to try and remove them without a scaffold, so I decided to do a temporary repair with NHL3.5 lime mortar. I chipped away at the remains of the bricks with a chisel to get a good key and a bit more depth, then packed the recess with lime mortar. When it had stiffened up a bit I smoothed it off flush and compacted it with a stiff brush as you would do with pointing.
I know it's not ideal, but has anybody done the same with lime, any experience of how long it lasted? At some point I will need scaffolding to work on the chimney stack, but this might not be for a couple of years.
I have not been on the forum for quite a while.
I need some advice on spalled bricks - we have had a bit of water ingress on an internal wall upstairs - a 12" damp patch high on the wall, which is the gable end (west facing), and its about a foot or two away from the centreline of the chimneystack/apex.
It has dried out now, we only noticed it when it left a slight brown stain, I think it occurred when we had the constant period of heavy rain over winter.
I could see a couple of areas of poor pointing on the gable end from the ground, roughly where the damp patch was, so I set about to do some local repointing in hydraulic lime. Of course when I got up on the ladder, I then noticed a couple of spalled bricks a few feet higher up - the brick faces hanging on only by the harder mortar around it. These bricks were above the top rung of my ladder and it would of been unsafe to try and remove them without a scaffold, so I decided to do a temporary repair with NHL3.5 lime mortar. I chipped away at the remains of the bricks with a chisel to get a good key and a bit more depth, then packed the recess with lime mortar. When it had stiffened up a bit I smoothed it off flush and compacted it with a stiff brush as you would do with pointing.
I know it's not ideal, but has anybody done the same with lime, any experience of how long it lasted? At some point I will need scaffolding to work on the chimney stack, but this might not be for a couple of years.
Feltwell
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We had spalled bricks that had been smeared over with cement mortar :roll: that had been that way for many years.
If you're only talking a couple of years, I can't see that what you've done will do any harm. Worst that can happen is it falls off! I reckon it will last though.
If you've not got bricks that are a good match then turning the current ones round is a possibility, depending of course if they were made with 2 good faces. Mind you, it's much easier to get an old brick out by destroying it rather than extracting it in one piece.
I'm mid-way through a full repoint of my Victorian house, with quite a few bricks replaced, in the chimneys especially. The next bit is going to be "fun" - front elevation that is very tight jointed, some of the brick joints are no more than about 1/8" wide.
If you're only talking a couple of years, I can't see that what you've done will do any harm. Worst that can happen is it falls off! I reckon it will last though.
If you've not got bricks that are a good match then turning the current ones round is a possibility, depending of course if they were made with 2 good faces. Mind you, it's much easier to get an old brick out by destroying it rather than extracting it in one piece.
I'm mid-way through a full repoint of my Victorian house, with quite a few bricks replaced, in the chimneys especially. The next bit is going to be "fun" - front elevation that is very tight jointed, some of the brick joints are no more than about 1/8" wide.
TheRoost
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Feltwell said:
Yes they seemed quite soft and cracked through so I don't think they would of come out in one piece to turn them around.
Let us know how you get on with repointing those tight joints - the front elevation here is fairly tight jointed, not as small as 1/8" but less than 1/4", a while back I had started to look for some tools for removing cement mortar from narrow joints.
Do you have cement mortar to remove, or is it soft enough to rake out? do they make a tuck pointer as small as 1/8"?
Feltwell
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The pointing on my house is a right old hotch potch done over time. On the side and rear of the house, which is a lower quality brick with wider joints, cement has been heavily used and in many areas is deep enough that an angle grinder and diamond disc is the only realistic way to remove it. Fortunately, the joints are wide and the bricks sufficiently rustic that even if the occasional slip happens by the time it's pointed up you can't tell.
The front of the house is very different, done in a high quality very hard red brick with tight joints. Here the pointing varies a lot - some areas haven't been touched and are degraded lime pointing (in need of repointing), other areas have been done in cement but, so far at least, have been badly done and the pointing is only shallow and comes out easily. A little bit of brick chipping is inevitable though where it's deeper, it's pretty much impossible to avoid.
In terms of getting it out - JPJ Tools in Sheffield do a non-fluted plugging chisel, which was the narrowest one I could find. They were on Ebay, none on there now, give them a call though as that may well be due to Covid 19. I ended up buying two - I dropped one whilst doing the chimney and couldn't find it in the hedge below, bought another which of course ensured the first one was found! Glad I bought another though, as I've had to grind one of them down even thinner (it's about 1/8" thick now) to do the narrowest joints. I keep that one just for the narrow joints, as I don't think it would be hard to snap it now.
Pointing tool - we've used finger trowels, 1/4" for most of the work:-
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MARSHALL...hash=item288ed96662:m:mCJuW_4FlgEo2szhYqwwftg
But - even that wasn't thin enough. I had the cheapie set below, so I ground the smallest one down to be about 1/8" wide, which has worked fine. Despite being cheap and clearly much lower quality than the Marshalltown one these have proven to be quite durable, certainly up to occasional use.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stainles...hash=item421080b3a5:m:mbt7dYm9hAt6Wv9dWUCa5JA
Mortar - I've gone with ready mixed from Lime Green. It really does make it very easy, you just mix it up with a paddle mixer in a bucket, a bit like plasterers do for modern gypsum plaster. It is an expensive way of doing it but very convenient, it goes off quite quickly as well. A £100 paddle mixer from Screwfix has stood up to a lot of work here already. What I have found though is that the Regular Grade, with 2mm aggregate, was fine for the back and rear of the house but the front needs Small Grade, with 1mm aggregate.
https://www.lime-green.co.uk/products/lime-mortar/natural-lime-mortar
They're almost shut down at the moment, best to email them if you want anything. Other pre-mixed lime suppliers are available! A big advantage for me is they are only about a 20 minute drive away, but the product has worked well.
Pictures of end result here:-
https://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16671&hilit=chimney&start=30
The front of the house is very different, done in a high quality very hard red brick with tight joints. Here the pointing varies a lot - some areas haven't been touched and are degraded lime pointing (in need of repointing), other areas have been done in cement but, so far at least, have been badly done and the pointing is only shallow and comes out easily. A little bit of brick chipping is inevitable though where it's deeper, it's pretty much impossible to avoid.
In terms of getting it out - JPJ Tools in Sheffield do a non-fluted plugging chisel, which was the narrowest one I could find. They were on Ebay, none on there now, give them a call though as that may well be due to Covid 19. I ended up buying two - I dropped one whilst doing the chimney and couldn't find it in the hedge below, bought another which of course ensured the first one was found! Glad I bought another though, as I've had to grind one of them down even thinner (it's about 1/8" thick now) to do the narrowest joints. I keep that one just for the narrow joints, as I don't think it would be hard to snap it now.
Pointing tool - we've used finger trowels, 1/4" for most of the work:-
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MARSHALL...hash=item288ed96662:m:mCJuW_4FlgEo2szhYqwwftg
But - even that wasn't thin enough. I had the cheapie set below, so I ground the smallest one down to be about 1/8" wide, which has worked fine. Despite being cheap and clearly much lower quality than the Marshalltown one these have proven to be quite durable, certainly up to occasional use.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stainles...hash=item421080b3a5:m:mbt7dYm9hAt6Wv9dWUCa5JA
Mortar - I've gone with ready mixed from Lime Green. It really does make it very easy, you just mix it up with a paddle mixer in a bucket, a bit like plasterers do for modern gypsum plaster. It is an expensive way of doing it but very convenient, it goes off quite quickly as well. A £100 paddle mixer from Screwfix has stood up to a lot of work here already. What I have found though is that the Regular Grade, with 2mm aggregate, was fine for the back and rear of the house but the front needs Small Grade, with 1mm aggregate.
https://www.lime-green.co.uk/products/lime-mortar/natural-lime-mortar
They're almost shut down at the moment, best to email them if you want anything. Other pre-mixed lime suppliers are available! A big advantage for me is they are only about a 20 minute drive away, but the product has worked well.
Pictures of end result here:-
https://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16671&hilit=chimney&start=30