What shall I do about the cracks in the stone around the house windows, Can I squirt in something like HardAsNails or something better, so ice doesnt crack it up more next winter?
The scaffold is still up so I want to buy something online tonight!
Here's a picture of it:
Facebook refusenik #432415 here. Sorry, won't be finding out!
Nope!
But 'hard as nails' is just old chewing gum, so avoid it like the plague. I would have thought the cheapest and easiest and most likely to succeed would be mortar, and the easiest way to fill anything deeper before topping off with this is the expanding foam. If the stone is cracking because it's getting wet, correct the gutter or whatever first.
SA masonry waterproofer might be more suitable, particularly as what's required may be to seal the surface so that moisture can't seep in - not just plug-up the obvious cracks.
The best answer is likely to be expensive - silane/siloxane waterproofer such as Liquid Plastics K501. You'll probably have to buy it through a builders merchants or direct from the manufacturer - not one you'll find in the sheds.
There's also much cheaper silicone based masonry waterproofers such as Thompsons - available in B&Q. The disadvantage of these compared to the more expensive ones, is that they form an impenetrable rather than a breathable barrier - so they can trap moisture in as well as keep it out.
Can't see your picture but car body filler has worked well for me where the mortar covering a new lintel had cracked and was letting water. Fine enough to get into small cracks and flexible enough for a masonry to masonry joint. Halfords do a half kilo size for not much money IIRC
You need need something that will survive and be softer than the stone. Filler, lime and sand, sand and linseed, etc etc. Better to avoid harder than stone materials, or expanding foam.
NT
it:
so NOT car body filler,
they're thin cracks so how can i squezze stuff in there?
[g]
Exactly why I'd use body filler. It has a very fine texture compared to any other filling materials.
Wipe it across the crack with the plastic scraper provided.
Something that'll trap water behind it, which can then freeze, would not me my choice
NT
As I said, I've done this very thing successfully above one of those enormous sets of DG sliding doors where a new lintel had been installed and the patching render had cracked. It was no more than hairline, but would leak to the inside when the rain was blowing in a certain direction. I know of nothing else fine enough to fill that type of gap and leave a neat finish on the outside.
So have many people. But in some of those cases, further deterioration results due to freeze thaw damage.
NT
it:
So have many people. But in some of those cases, further deterioration results due to freeze thaw damage.
NT
I haven't actually seen the picture, but it may be that the compromise would be the old fasioned one of lime mortar. That's what the 'restoration' buffs usually go for. I've found it still soft but stuck fast and difficult to remove, from bricks that have been buried for a century or more.
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