Can you weatherproof wooden beams?

[Tracy]

Hello, newbie here, thank you for accepting me. As you can see from the picture, we own a 400 year old Grade II listed black and white cottage. It was originally 2 cottages that have now been joined. We are having huge problems with some of the external beams (only to be expected I know!). When it rains heavily, the beams leak and we have water running down them inside and pooling on the floors.

Does anyone have any experience of this and know of anything that we can do or products that we can use to weatherproof them?

 

[Cubist]

Hi Tracy,

The First Lady and I are the stewards of a circa 1550-75 G2 cottage on the Shropshire / Herefordshire border so not far from you and have, by necessity, acquired some experience of these timber frames and the problems that can beset them. Some questions for you: -
Can you tell me where in the property you are seeing the water penetration?
On which floors of the building are you seeing water penetration?
Are you sure there are no leaks in the roof spaces?
Are there any significant 'shakes' (cracks/splits) in the timbers?
Are there any gaps between the infill panels and the timbers?
Are you seeing water penetration around/near window or door frames?

The remedies are, in the main, fairly straight forward and do not require considerable skill. However, the time available to you to make such is running out - some are fair weather jobs that should not/cannot be carried out in wet conditions or after the frosts begin.

Happy to lend what help I/we can and advise on best materials, and those to avoid.

Cheers,
Cubist

 

[Cubist]

I decided to make an informed guess that your problem is caused by rain driven against the face of the house. As the water runs down the face of the infill panels it can collect on the upper edge of a horizontal beam and be pushed underneath it to appear inside the house. Driven rain can also be forced between joints between the timbers or where they are butted together.

Prevention of such leaks around the infill panels will require that they are properly 'caulked' - be aware, there are good ways to do this and there are bad practices and materials that can do serious damage to the frame. Caulking cotton and oakum is pushed/rammed into the gap between the panel and the timbers a depth a few millimetres below the surface of the panel. A fillet of the mortar or plaster is then applied over the cotton and/or oakum to provide the final finish before painting. Do not use oakum indoors, the oil it contains will bleed into the surrounding timber and produce unsightly stains,

Leaks associated with joints, butted timbers, and shakes are best repaired using burnt sand. The burnt sand is mixed with boiled linseed oil to make a stiff, paste like, filler that can be pushed and smoothed into the joints/cracks with a small trowel.

 

[Cubist]

Hello again Tracy,

Knowing that the 'correct' method I recommended above to address your problem can be a very lengthy and time consuming exercise, I have been gving some thought to temporary fixes that could be quickly and easily applied with minimal effort and no specialist tools.

With this in mind I would suggest that you could prevent further driven rain-water incursion on afftected beams, certainly over the coming winter months and until you have the time and opportunity to do the job properly, by using 'Plumbers Putty'. This product, albeit a little messy to use, can be applied in a sloped fillet - like that used with glazing bars - between the top edge of each affected beam and the render of the infill panel and pressed firmly into place to get a good seal. As this material does not set, and therefore will not dry and crack thus defeating the object, I believe that it will work for you until next year at the very least.

Hope this latest is more immediately helpful.

Cheers,
Cubist

 

[Toby Newell]

Amazing.

 

[Tracy]

Cubist, thank you for your considered and indepth replies. Apologies for the radio silence, I got caught up in the back to school pandemonium and then, of course, the sad news of Thursday.

You are correct in saying it is when the rain is heavy and then is being driven onto the back of the house. Unfortunately we are very exposed to the weather elements. It is definitely not coming from the roof, it only seems to be downstairs that we are suffering with this.

Unusally for a couple undertaking the custodianship of such a house, my husband and I are quite useless at DIY! However, we have a superb gardener and handyman so I will chat with him and use your guidance to see if there is something we can do to patch this up before looking at the more permanant solutions you have suggested.

I am very grateful to have found this forum, and such wonderful contributors. Many thanks once again.

 

[theshrewsburyhouse]

Hello,

I have just joined the forum after Storm Darragh revealed the house has similar issues i.e. sustained, battering rain caused ingress of water in two patches on one beam, and a bit of water dripped down onto the interior walls.

As I'm new to the forum, apologies if this isn't the etiquette. However, I just wanted to see if there was an update from Tracy following Cubist's excellent advice. As it's winter, the main focus is on a quick fix to prevent this occurring again. I also want to ensure that any quick fix doesn't cause any long-lasting issues or create a rather different problem!

Thank you.

 

[Cubist]

Hi There and Welcome,
Normal etiquette here is very relaxed but civil although sometimes the banter can get a little pointed. The person who made the original enquiry has never responded that I'm aware of but others who have used the same temporary repair I suggested have confirmed its success. Be aware though that with exposed timber frame buildings rainwater can 'track' from the original point of entry before it escapes indoors some distance away. Its therefore best to exam the edge of the infill panel along the full length of the horizontal beam over which the water appears AND the vertical seams beside the posts bounding that beam.

BTW Plumbers Putty is available from most DIY stores and sold under the name 'Plumbers Mate' - be sure not to but ordinary glaziers putty for this job.

Cheers,
Cubist