Think that title says most of it - the house we are buying is built into the hillside so the lower story is 'underground' ie. the stone wall holds back the hill and is directly against earth - the current owner has built a stud wall inside the house along the back wall that stands apart from the stone (I'm not sure by how much) - there is absolutely no evidence of damp I am not at all worried about that. My question is, how would this have been when it was initially built? Just stone? Would it have been damp? Lime plastered? etc etc. I don't think I want to take the stud wall down, I'm just interested really. (Though I could be persuaded if it was felt a god thing to do). Many thanks all - I am learning a lot on this forum.
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Stud wall off a stone wall that is embedded in the hillside
- Thread starter TheSpid
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Flyfisher
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- Norfolk, UK
I'd say that any wall below ground level is likely to be damp, even more likely if the ground in question is a hillside that could be subject to rainwater running down the hillside. In such circumstances, 'dry-lining' (ie a stud wall fixed in front of the brick/stone/whatever wall) is sometimes used to provide a dry internal wall.
I'm wondering how long the stud wall has been in place and whether it might have been put there to cover a cold and damp wall?
I'm wondering how long the stud wall has been in place and whether it might have been put there to cover a cold and damp wall?
The wall was put in post 1998 - the back of the house has effect drainage and gullies etc, the bloke that owns the house is a structural engineer type guy and seems to know his stuff - he put the wall in to prevent damp in the house itself (I don't have an issue with it - the stud wall is bone dry) just wondered what it would be like behind it, and how people used to manage/what it would be like. I'm assuming the alternative would be to dig out the ground and build a massive retaining wall behind the house.
MatthewC
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If your stud wall is dry at the very bottom then the previous owner possibly made provision for some drainage at the base between the stone and stud wall - in which case it sounds as though they did a pretty good job.
Yes, the ideal would have been to dig out a huge chunk of hillside and build a retaining wall which is not part of the house. However, I would guess that can only be done where either the ground level uphill is only a few feet or else when you can do it before building the house!
Yes, the ideal would have been to dig out a huge chunk of hillside and build a retaining wall which is not part of the house. However, I would guess that can only be done where either the ground level uphill is only a few feet or else when you can do it before building the house!