Was there an earlier hydrophobic equivalent to the use of silicone treatments of today. Perhaps blow-lamp external heating of stone/brickwork and then beeswax, tallow or paraffin wax application, or neats-foot oil or something like that?
bitumen paint.
NT
Sorry, I was thinking of processes that do not noticably change the surface appearance, so not hanging slates or tiles or painting over.
then no. Oil could have been used but wasn't.
NT
I don't know how previous the time you're thinking of might be, but many years ago I remember seeing adverts for a Doulton system, where they drilled quite large holes into the wall, possibly 2" or 3", and inserted a porous pipe with a grille cover, the idea being that the pipe drew the damp out of the wall and it then evaporated, or some such. Apparently, they were useless!
The tuesday metro has an advert for the 'Scriver' system (or something like that) which is claimed to be the miracle solution to damp, and it looks exactly the same.
That reminds me of the electctro-osmotic(TM?)/electrophoresis business of passing a current through a damp wall , is that bogus as well.
In theory, no, although whether it works effectively in practice I don't know. See
We actually got a grant to install something like that! AFAIR holes were drilled roughly 400mm apart, part way through a Victorian 9" soft red brick wall. The joining mortar chased out and a strip of copper punched into the holes covered by fresh pointing.
The copper was simply connected to an earth rod.
Whether it worked is uncertain because I cut a slot in the over high concrete paths/yard and filled it with pea shingle.
Schrijver System, useless, like all 'damp treatments'.
As installed by the previous owners of my house. Having carefully monitored humidity and temperature in every room for the past six months I am quite confident there is no damp problem, never was a damp problem, and they could have saved a lot of money spent on various treatments over the years if they hand opened a few windows to clear the condensation. 'Lifestyle issues' as my surveyor said.
The only damp patch is probably cause by the installation of one of the Schrijver system bricks having bridged the cavity wall.
Plenty of waterproof coatings were available when volatile solvents were allowed. They didn't breathe though. Mineral waxes are hydrophobic but alas not transparent
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