Cement render on cob

[CumminsandGoings]

So I am looking to purchase a cob property in Devon which I think might have cement render. I asked the vendors and they didn't know, said it was done before they bought it 30yrs ago. I'm going to get a Level 3 survey done but is there anyway for them to tell if there is an issue with the cob? If I proceed with the purchase how costly could this potentially be? Where does the moisture come from that causes the destruction?

Many thanks in advance for peoples thoughts.

 

[elizabeth]

Hi, they won’t be able to give anything other than if it’s cement or lime or if it’s been painted with the wrong paint. It will be obvious if there are bulges on the render though as that will show it has detached from the cob possibly from water ingress from rain, through fine cracks but sometimes it is not always visible until you remove the render. Most cob houses sit on a stone plinth. Some cob houses will have no issues.
Unfortunately ours faces the southwesterlies and so needed to be changed to lime. The cost will be dependent upon the size of the property, usually per square meter and contingency for any unknowns.