old porous brickwork

[pat]

Morning to all

Any suggestions for an effective product in the UK to help seal porous old bricks in a terraced house 1904... I have done the Rentokill thing for rising damp, now there's still the problem of the actual bricks. I dont want to have any rendering etc, just something transparent that ca be painted on.

Any suggestions or warnings or advice will be much appreciated.

Pat

[Andrew Gabriel]

If 100 year old bricks were significantly porous, they would have disintegrated 80 years ago. Perhaps you can describe the problem in more detail, as I doubt you have made a correct diagnosis.

[Bypass]

Thompson's do a couple of well-know water sealing products:

Sometimes it can be the mortar bed joints and not necessarily the brick itself. Do bear in mind also that an externally applied treatment is not a permanent solution, and at some time you'll find yourself back out there, re-applying a subsequent coat.

In the longer term, as you re-decorate each room you could look at doing something more permanent on the inside, which (assuming you have a solid brick wall) would also help to insulate the property.

[DIY]

Thompsons Water Seal. Brush or spray on, straightforward.

[malc]

I've used that for an identical problem on a house of a similar age. IIRC you have to repeat the treatment every three or so years but it's not hugely expensive.