Hello everyone,
Luke here, new to the forum. I will be starting a project page with pictures shortly(in case anyone happens to be interested in me making many many mistakes), but for here, i'll try to keep it concise.
We are 6 weeks into our 1850's built Cheshire cottage, and I'm looking to start solving some of the bigger challenges(roof and a plethora of other things to come!).
However my immediate challenge is the(you guessed it) damp wall. It's caused by(you guessed it again), exterior cement render with cracks, and interior Gypsum awfulness on the interior.
In the long(likely years not months) term I will render the exterior with lime, but for now, on a cost basis, be sticking to(and patching) the cement finish.
On the interior, I've just started to strip off the finishings to see what it is I'm playing with. Unquestionably the gympsum will all be going(it's seeing itself off at a rate anyway), however the other layers below it are confusing.
As you can see in the picture, the brown covering(still damp) is perhaps lime render? Then there's a much harder dark grey layer which at first I thought may even be stone.
I guess my question is. Before I go and knock all of this off, is there an argument for being more delicate, removing only the gypsum, and seeing if the underlying lime render dries out?
I would then paint it with a breathable paint, or if that is a fallacy, then a limewash.
This would certainly save costs, and leave me with a more breathable wall.
I may be being incredibly naive, and what i'm looking at is infact a modern bonding agent or similar, but i'd rather look foolish now, than foolish when a good lime render is in bin bags.
Thank you,
Luke
Luke here, new to the forum. I will be starting a project page with pictures shortly(in case anyone happens to be interested in me making many many mistakes), but for here, i'll try to keep it concise.
We are 6 weeks into our 1850's built Cheshire cottage, and I'm looking to start solving some of the bigger challenges(roof and a plethora of other things to come!).
However my immediate challenge is the(you guessed it) damp wall. It's caused by(you guessed it again), exterior cement render with cracks, and interior Gypsum awfulness on the interior.
In the long(likely years not months) term I will render the exterior with lime, but for now, on a cost basis, be sticking to(and patching) the cement finish.
On the interior, I've just started to strip off the finishings to see what it is I'm playing with. Unquestionably the gympsum will all be going(it's seeing itself off at a rate anyway), however the other layers below it are confusing.
As you can see in the picture, the brown covering(still damp) is perhaps lime render? Then there's a much harder dark grey layer which at first I thought may even be stone.
I guess my question is. Before I go and knock all of this off, is there an argument for being more delicate, removing only the gypsum, and seeing if the underlying lime render dries out?
I would then paint it with a breathable paint, or if that is a fallacy, then a limewash.
This would certainly save costs, and leave me with a more breathable wall.
I may be being incredibly naive, and what i'm looking at is infact a modern bonding agent or similar, but i'd rather look foolish now, than foolish when a good lime render is in bin bags.
Thank you,
Luke
