Repairing stone outhouse walls

[Lewkir]

My (early 1800s) stone cottage has an outhouse which I assume is the same age, over time it has seemingly suffered various questionable repair jons as well as being leaned on by a now-cutt down tree.

Structurally it seems sound enough, however, I want to use it for bike storage and so need to reduce how dusty it is in there. Currently the mortor between most of the stone is extremely crumbly and where the tree was is mildly warped.

I'm not too fussed about it being perfect but mees to clean it up a bit, I assume some of wall willl need repointing and then maybe spread some kind of plaster-like stuff to keep the dust in place (my dad keeps mentioning lime wash)

I don't really know what the best materials to use are so am just looking for some advice. Pics of wall attached

 

[a twig]

Your dad is on the right track, a re-point of any necessary areas in an NHL3.5 based mortar (ratio of 1 NHL, 1 sharp sand and 2 builders sand) and then 3-5 coats of limewash should sort everything out

 

[Lewkir]

Your dad is on the right track, a re-point of any necessary areas in an NHL3.5 based mortar (ratio of 1 NHL, 1 sharp sand and 2 builders sand) and then 3-5 coats of limewash should sort everything out

Thanks for the response, the middle section is kind leaning in a bit, would that need completely rebuilding or could I just mortar it up and hope fkr the best?

 

[paulc]

Looks like there might be a bit of cement at the top of the wall...
As an alternative to lime wash, you could use a bagged (or bag rub) finish - A rustic lime treatment that should keep the dust to a minimum and doesn't require any great skill to apply.

 

[a twig]

Thanks for the response, the middle section is kind leaning in a bit, would that need completely rebuilding or could I just mortar it up and hope fkr the best?

If it feels reasonably solid then just repairing it situ should be fine, if the stones move or come out easily under your hand then probably rebuild

 

[Lewkir]

Looks like there might be a bit of cement at the top of the wall...
As an alternative to lime wash, you could use a bagged (or bag rub) finish - A rustic lime treatment that should keep the dust to a minimum and doesn't require any great skill to apply.

Yeah I think that was done whenever they replaced the roof, it's the only apparently solid bit. I'll look into bag rub, could be ideal as I don't possess any great skill

 

[Lewkir]

If it feels reasonably solid then just repairing it situ should be fine, if the stones move or come out easily under your hand then probably rebuild

Ok thanks, they're mostly stable it seems but some of the smaller ones fall out (I think they were just used to plug holes though)

 

[eon]

Looks like there might be a bit of cement at the top of the wall...
As an alternative to lime wash, you could use a bagged (or bag rub) finish - A rustic lime treatment that should keep the dust to a minimum and doesn't require any great skill to apply.

Hi Paul, despite much research I hadn't heard of a bag rub finish before, thank you for mentioning it. Can it also be applied to brickwork as an alternative to render?
I'm currently removing cement render from the chimneys the the back of our house, bag rubbing sounds like a good alternative finish. Do you have any info or resources on the process and mix ratio etc? Many thanks.

 

[stuart45]

Bag rubbing can be done on brickwork as well as stonework. It's really just a quick method of flush pointing, rather than an alternative to render. Done with a piece of hessian. You just rub the joints with it. Any holes can be filled by putting mortar on the hessian and pushing it into the joints.
Often old cement bags were used, which is probably how it got it's name.

 

[eon]

Bag rubbing can be done on brickwork as well as stonework. It's really just a quick method of flush pointing, rather than an alternative to render. Done with a piece of hessian. You just rub the joints with it. Any holes can be filled by putting mortar on the hessian and pushing it into the joints.
Often old cement bags were used, which is probably how it got it's name.

Ah I see thanks Stuart. I was under the impression it covered the whole surface. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[stuart45]

You can use it to cover the surface as well, especially on stonework when using lime mortar.

 

[aaron77]

I'm currently roofing a collapsed stone shed, the inside walls are very dusty so I limewashed them using NHL 3.5. I half filled a bucket with lime then filled with water, after alot of mixing painted it on the walls, it soaks into the wall and completely solidifies the old mortar and wall. Before and after below, now the shed will be bright inside too.