Damp walls; are Rentokil the only way?

If 1/4" of mortar on top of a powdered substrate provided such a seal, I'd agree with you.

Reply to
stuart noble
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Aquapanels do not constitute tanking by any stretch of the imagination. Victorian houses leak because the mortar has degraded. Short of re-building them you have to use some kind of modern (sorry, I'll wash my mouth out) materials.

And don't be so bloody patronising.

Reply to
stuart noble

In article , stuart noble >cost.

Oh I can assure you those 'damp meters' can show the presence of water in apparently perfect 'old' plaster. Certainly did in my case. But it's still there some 30 years later, looking fine.

You mean the original mortar the bricks were laid on? If a wall relied on this being a perfect seal, they'd all leak. Have you never dismantled one?

The pointing is what matters.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

In article , stuart noble >cases of shallow footings where there is bound to be some movement.

It's perfectly possible for a skilled person to form decent weather proof tuck pointing by only raking out to a nominal 1/4" depth.

BTW, it's the seal to the bricks that is important, not that to the mortar behind.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

In article , "stuart noble" >cases of shallow footings where there is bound to be some movement. It's

It does. That much sand and cement scratch coat with a waterproofer will prevent finish coat plaster being damaged by a damp wall behind.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

"stuart noble" >do not work like modern buildings at all when it comes to damp.

both prevent evaporation of damp from walls, resulting in build up of dampness to problem levels, causing mould and damage to building materials.

wrong

wrong

NT

Reply to
N. Thornton

damp can be present with no plaster damage. Ask all those people with floors of brick or stone flags laid directly on damp bare earth. And those with suspended ground floor wood floors with gaps between the boards, no carpet and blocked cavity vents.

Lime mortar was porous the day it was laid, its part of its nature. Vic houses built and pointed in lime are not difficult to make dry: in fact cement pointing increases the odds of damp occurring, it doesnt reduce it.

Of course Vic bricks themselves are very porous too: soft Vic bricks can hold upto a pint of water a piece.

NT

Reply to
N. Thornton

A long time. The rawlplug may go back to the 20s, but the cordless SDS drill doesn't :-). Originally the only way to make the 'ole for a rawlplug was a 'rawldrill' - the sort that you hit repeatedly with a hammer, and which I remember my dad teaching me to use at quite an early age. Not many portable electric drills of any kind around in those days, so 'plugging the wall' in the time-honoured fashion - using a plugging chisel - remained common practice into, I'd guess, the late 50s / mid 60s.

OOI, does anyone know when the TCT tipped masonry drill first appeared? Was 'Mason Master' - which I remember from the 60s - the first brand?

Reply to
Andy Wade

Driving rain is not uncommon.

You get less upstairs

Then you don't have a damp problem

So we're relying on 1/4" of sand and cement, perched precariously on (and invariably not bonded to) 100 year old bricks are we? Try that on a SW facing wall.

Reply to
stuart noble

In article , stuart noble Driving rain is not uncommon.

Less so than you might think.

If you rely on your meter, possibly.

The 'meter' and several firms said I did. Don't you read earlier posts?

Yup. Or do you advocate 'treating' every Victorian - and later - brick wall?

On second thoughts, don't bother answering that one.

Can't help you there. My house is built near north/south.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

In article , "stuart noble"

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

If rain is accompanied by wind, which I'd say is the norm, then gutters don't fully protect your walls.

What I'm saying, and I don't know how much clearer I can make it, is that, if your plaster is in good nick, then you obviously don't have a damp problem. Do *you* think you have a damp problem?

I try to alleviate damp to the best of my ability in the houses I'm responsible for. In that respect I am able to monitor the success rate over the long term and maybe my findings are of use to others, that's all. Incidentally, I have a council wall half a mile long near here that was re-pointed in just the way you suggested a couple of years back. At least

50% of the pointing is now missing. I tend to take notice of these things and base my opinions on them rather than something I've read.
Reply to
stuart noble

Absolutely. Anyone with any experience at all will know just how difficult properly made mortar splashes are to remove from bricks when dry. So can and does adhere properly even when thin.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

In article , stuart noble don't fully protect your walls.

No, but driving rain such as to soak through the walls is rare. If it were common, Victorian houses wouldn't have been built as they are.

No. What I'm saying is that plenty of 'experts' with money to be made will tell you you have a problem with Victorian houses regardless. And you'll find this isn't just my opinion.

I'm not saying what you propose won't be successful - merely unnecessary expense.

Start by putting the walls back into a good state of repair and remove any piled up earth etc *before* taking things further.

I tend to listen to genuine experts on my style of housing and pass on their advice.

I've no idea why 'your' wall has suffered in this way. Poor workmanship, probably. Councils ain't immune from this.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

"stuart noble" where it's coming from. The wall is damp and you want to stop that

that approach was used for decades, but is now deprecated.

NT

Reply to
N. Thornton

"stuart noble" >

You get better results using lime for pointing than cement. I gave you the link twice... no exucse for ignorance.

NT

Reply to
N. Thornton

1/4" thickness of lime mortar would be washed away with the first rainfall. Perhaps you mean hydraulic lime? What type (and what ratio of pozzolan) would you suggest? Give us some specifics instead of re-cycling other peoples opinions.
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is rather far up its own arse for my taste.
Reply to
stuart noble

"stuart noble"

Reply to
N. Thornton

And pray tell me what the difference is between a lime mortar that *sets* and a cement mortar, or would it be too subtle for me? Degrees of setting? Yeah, well apparently a small amount of pozzolan is "a bad thing", as is too much. Maybe if I buy some lime putty from a bloke with a beard and stand it in a biodregadable bucket during full moon.......sorry,

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is a jolly useful site.

Reply to
stuart noble

"stuart noble" .

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is rather far up its own arse for my taste.

Didn't used to be but once those with experience were driven off it has gone that way.

Reply to
G&M

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