Period hole filling.

[Ebenezer]

I have a hole on the north face of my house. It's at ground level and I think that during heavy rain (which we had an awful lot of course!) it let's water into the wall which is lath and plaster. This winter we had a corresponding damp patch appear internally. Obviously I want to fill it!

The plan is fill with lime putty. But I'm a bit concerned about whether it will adhere to concrete pathway. I don't own the path, the house fronts directly onto a public road. Also should I try to fit a mesh in first for the lime to key to? Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated before I go and make a mess of things!

 

[mattice]

Is that the hole left by a some decayed wood? If not, it looks like a bit of a water hole so I'd be tempted to fill with cement mortar and dress accordingly to blend in ... after you've evacuated the mice of course

 

[Feltwell]

If that's a hole in a wooden door frame, then at that size the only proper cure is to cut back to good timber, make a new section and splice it in. Given where it is I'd use a hardwood. You'll need to be a reasonably competent woodworker to do this.

If you're after a quick fix for now that will only last a short time, then I'd clean it out, paint the inside with heated linseed oil and fill with linseed putty - just ordinary glaziers putty, cheap as you like - leave it for a week or two then put some linseed paint on it. I've done that on some window cills and it's held for over 5 years now, but in that location I suspect it would fail a lot quicker.

Other filling methods are available but ultimately all will only be a temporary fix. I suspect if you start digging around in that you'll find the rot goes a lot further than you can see now.

 

[Lime]

The problem won't go away unless you alter the slope of the path, even just to the end of the step would be better than nothing.
If you use cement to fill the hole it will develop a crack around it in no time.
Personally in this situation and IF you want a very quick fix, I'd clean out the hole, use a vacuum cleaner to take out any dust/debris, dry it out then use a modern neutral cure silicone to fill the hole.
That method is completely reversible if you wish to make a proper repair later.
However I emphasise that the slope of the path is your problem, not the hole.

 

[Penners]

You need to address both the problem and its cause. If it were my house, I would do exactly what Lime suggests.

 

[Ebenezer]

Thank you for your replies.

Well the path does already slope away from the house. The camber of the whole lane is slopes to the opposite side of the road. So it keeps the water from pooling there or anywhere against the front. The problem is when it rains heavy the water gets splashed back by traffic before running away again.

Either side of the hole is concrete.

Would you not recommend lime filler? The plan was to keep it breathable.

 

[Penners]

Given that everything else around there is concrete, I don't think I would use lime. The important thing is to keep the water out. If there's plaster on the inside, then it would be useful to use lime there, to preserve some breathability.

But to repeat what Lime said above, for a quick fix a silicone filler would be the most reliable way of ensuring that the "plug" doesn't separate from the surrounding wall.

 

[Ebenezer]

The silicone could look rather unsightly though. If you look at picture you can see where I sealed round the bottom of the unused front door which now looks a bit grubby! Maybe I'll have a look for some black silicone.

 

[Ebenezer]

All done. Doesn't look too bad with black sealant. We will see how that lasts, thanks for your help all.

 

[Ebenezer]

 

[Penners]

Ebenezer - now that you've kept the water out, I imagine you'll be investigating inside that wall to see what damage has been done. Given that you've described it as lath-and-plaster, I presume the building (or at least that wall) is timber-frame, in which case there may well be a rotted sole-plate or post at that point. This shouldn't be ignored. As Feltwell said above, a proper repair needs to be made.

 

[Ebenezer]

Well the house was completely restored about a year before we moved in and the sole plate of the adjoining was replaced. I assume they would have replaced this one too if it had needed it then. However I am planing on installing some vents on the inside to ventilate the inner wall behind the internal plasterboard so when I do this I'll investigate if any damage has been done.

 

[MatthewC]

Well the house was completely restored about a year before we moved in and the sole plate of the adjoining was replaced. I assume they would have replaced this one too if it had needed it then...

Rule No 2 for period property - don't assume anything was done properly, or even done at all!

 

[Penners]

Seconded!

 

[Flyfisher]

Thirded!


as·sume

verb

1.
suppose to be the case, without proof.
"I assume the job was done properly"
synonyms: presume, suppose, take for granted, wishful thinking, hopeless optimist

2.
make an 'ass' of 'u' and 'me'
"I assumed you knew what you were doing while you thought it was all down to me"
synonyms: left hand/right hand, ar$e and elbow, brewery and [*cough*]-up

 

[Zebra]

What's rule number 1? Is it to do with kitkats?

 

[CliffordPope]

I'd have dried and hoovered it out and then poured in hot molten tar. It's a traditional method of filling holes, used for centuries on old working boats. It bonds to everything, is slightly flexible, and works under water. Add a bit of cement powder for more body.

 

[Penners]

make an 'ass' of 'u' and 'me'

I think you've been on one too many management courses, FF. :wink:

 

[Flyfisher]

One is too many. :lol:

Fortunately, those days are long gone.

 

[MatthewC]

What's rule number 1? Is it to do with kitkats?

Rule No 1 is "Don't expect anything to be perfectly level, vertical or square".

I'm still thinking about Rule 3 - probably "Double every estimate for costs and you might be close."