IndigoMoon
Member
- Messages
- 3
- Location
- Essex
Hi All,
I am new here and have been reading many threads and old property websites to try and find a solution to my problem, but I can't find anything exact so thought I would join and see if anyone can help specifically. Sorry in advance for the long winded explanation..
Here goes..
So we have an old single storey cottage that has been 'renovated' and extended in the 70's. It is timber framed from just above ground level and set on old, soft red bricks about 7 courses into the ground. Unfortunately it has been rendered with cement based render, and who knows what else has been done to it...
At one end of the old part of the house we have small room where the internal floor is approx 35cm lower than the rest of the house, which takes the outside ground level ( a concrete path) way above the inside floor and now this room suffers from quite severe damp. I should note that the rest of the old part of the house (which has the same construction) has no damp or visible problems, only this low room. I believe the internal floor was dug down to create head hight in order to fit an upstairs bedroom in... but it's an old house so who knows right..
To try and solve the damp I have dug down outside to approx 15cm below the internal floor level around the building to create a channel approx 30cm wide, which keeps the earth/path away from the building and have put in a drain in to take any rainwater away from the house. Once the sides of the building were exposed I could see that the full 7 courses of soft red bricks had been rendered in cement so I removed this and have now discovered that there is a slate DPC at the same level as the internal floor which has been bridged, possibly causing/adding to the damp.
As mentioned I have removed the cement render on these bricks as carefully as I can but most of the faces of the soft red bricks are now damaged and as they will stay exposed in the channel I need a solution to make it look neat and finish it because it now looks a mess.
It has been recommend to me to use 'blackjack or bitumen paint' on this brick part of the house externally to neaten it, however the more I read this is not the best course of action.. although this may make it look neater but as I understand it, it will stop the bricks 'breathing' and cause more damp.. but please someone correct me if I am wrong as I am really just working all this out as I go along...
The long term plan for the house is to remove all the old cement render and re-render in lime however we don't want to open this can of worms just yet..... but we need to tackle the damp if possible??
I think possibly the ideal solution be to re-render the whole house which would go all the way down to just above the DPC/internal floor level (which would be low in the channel and cover the messy bricks) and then just render over the 2 courses that are below the DPC separately? Would this be right?
Or....
Is it possible to skim lime render thinly over the red bricks both underneath the slate DPC and above leaving the DPC exposed and render the house at a later date with covering the top couple of courses again?
I hope this makes some sort of sense to someone here! Any help would be gratefully received! lol!
Also as part of the damp solution I was possibly planning on inserting injection DPC below the floor level externally but I have read lots which say this is a hard NO! for old houses and doesn't solve damp at all.... However my Parents had a very old brick cottage and used this method and it worked so I am really not sure what to do here..
Thanks for any help...
I am new here and have been reading many threads and old property websites to try and find a solution to my problem, but I can't find anything exact so thought I would join and see if anyone can help specifically. Sorry in advance for the long winded explanation..
Here goes..
So we have an old single storey cottage that has been 'renovated' and extended in the 70's. It is timber framed from just above ground level and set on old, soft red bricks about 7 courses into the ground. Unfortunately it has been rendered with cement based render, and who knows what else has been done to it...
At one end of the old part of the house we have small room where the internal floor is approx 35cm lower than the rest of the house, which takes the outside ground level ( a concrete path) way above the inside floor and now this room suffers from quite severe damp. I should note that the rest of the old part of the house (which has the same construction) has no damp or visible problems, only this low room. I believe the internal floor was dug down to create head hight in order to fit an upstairs bedroom in... but it's an old house so who knows right..
To try and solve the damp I have dug down outside to approx 15cm below the internal floor level around the building to create a channel approx 30cm wide, which keeps the earth/path away from the building and have put in a drain in to take any rainwater away from the house. Once the sides of the building were exposed I could see that the full 7 courses of soft red bricks had been rendered in cement so I removed this and have now discovered that there is a slate DPC at the same level as the internal floor which has been bridged, possibly causing/adding to the damp.
As mentioned I have removed the cement render on these bricks as carefully as I can but most of the faces of the soft red bricks are now damaged and as they will stay exposed in the channel I need a solution to make it look neat and finish it because it now looks a mess.
It has been recommend to me to use 'blackjack or bitumen paint' on this brick part of the house externally to neaten it, however the more I read this is not the best course of action.. although this may make it look neater but as I understand it, it will stop the bricks 'breathing' and cause more damp.. but please someone correct me if I am wrong as I am really just working all this out as I go along...
The long term plan for the house is to remove all the old cement render and re-render in lime however we don't want to open this can of worms just yet..... but we need to tackle the damp if possible??
I think possibly the ideal solution be to re-render the whole house which would go all the way down to just above the DPC/internal floor level (which would be low in the channel and cover the messy bricks) and then just render over the 2 courses that are below the DPC separately? Would this be right?
Or....
Is it possible to skim lime render thinly over the red bricks both underneath the slate DPC and above leaving the DPC exposed and render the house at a later date with covering the top couple of courses again?
I hope this makes some sort of sense to someone here! Any help would be gratefully received! lol!
Also as part of the damp solution I was possibly planning on inserting injection DPC below the floor level externally but I have read lots which say this is a hard NO! for old houses and doesn't solve damp at all.... However my Parents had a very old brick cottage and used this method and it worked so I am really not sure what to do here..
Thanks for any help...