I’ve recently bought an 1805 solid-walled cottage. It has a number of issues, one being this crumbing stone lintel. There’s a few things I suspect are happening to cause this, just wanted to calm my brain and hopefully find some reassurance..
This side of the house gets significantly more weather than the other, so all of the timber window frames are at least partially rotten. From the outside, the lintel has also been covered in what looks to be a bitumen tar, followed by a number of coats of a plastic-y masonry paint. Additionally to this, the windows have been fitted with concrete, and sealed in with silicone. My assumption is that water is able to ingress through the rotten frames, then is trapped by the non-porous coverings and concrete mortar.
There are a few other issues local to this area; I’m not sure if they’d contribute to this. The whole house has been coated in a masonry paint which is flaking all over. The external lime render also goes all the way to ground level.
I’ve a million ideas of what I might need to do to fix this, but absolutely no confidence in my knowledge. Any inputs would be immensely valuable
This side of the house gets significantly more weather than the other, so all of the timber window frames are at least partially rotten. From the outside, the lintel has also been covered in what looks to be a bitumen tar, followed by a number of coats of a plastic-y masonry paint. Additionally to this, the windows have been fitted with concrete, and sealed in with silicone. My assumption is that water is able to ingress through the rotten frames, then is trapped by the non-porous coverings and concrete mortar.
There are a few other issues local to this area; I’m not sure if they’d contribute to this. The whole house has been coated in a masonry paint which is flaking all over. The external lime render also goes all the way to ground level.
I’ve a million ideas of what I might need to do to fix this, but absolutely no confidence in my knowledge. Any inputs would be immensely valuable