Removing cement render question

[fallschirmjager]

I looking at cladding my 17th Century brick built house as the price of 300sqm of lime rendering is astronomical. Now the house is covered in concrete render at the moment and I've managed to remove the bottom 1m skirt where the bricks were sopping wet. I also need to lower some outside ground levels and redo the french drains where fitted.

What I would like to know is will this be enough to allow the house to dry once the timber cladding is applied?

I'm also thinking of removing strips of render up to the upper floors rather than removing the whole 300sqm of concrete render. The strips will be roughly 6" wide and around 1m apart. My reasoning is this will allow the upper part of the house to also dry out in time though there are only a few spots of interior damp where the concrete render had cracked. Would this work?

Thanks

 

[fallschirmjager]

Also, if I may ask another question. Is the skirting wall salvageable? I've got 250kg of lime mortar for repointing and can easily procur reclaimed Tudor bricks to swap out the knackered bricks.

Thanks

 

[plasticpigeon]

Well it's what I would do. If they have survived bhind a concrete plinth then they are in a better shape now than for a long time so I can't see why there shoudl be a problem.

 

[Bogart]

Can I ask what sort of timber cladding you are thinking of and why timber?

 

[fallschirmjager]

I'm cladding in Siberian larch (featheredge) then staining with grey Osmo natural oil woodstain. I'm using timber because uPVC and fibre cement cladding just looks like fake wood to me.

 

[malcolm]

£300/m2 for chipping off the horrid concrete and replacing it with lime? That is astronomical. Can see there is a bit of time chipping off the horrid stuff, then repointing the bits the horrid stuff has dissolved, then rendering again, but I cant see that going near £150/m2. Closer to £100 if you risk a day rate.

If you happen to be out of work do you have time to do it yourself? It's fun and good exercise! Seems a shame to clad a nice pink Norfolk house in timber.

 

[Zebra]

I'm also thinking of removing strips of render up to the upper floors rather than removing the whole 300sqm of concrete render. The strips will be roughly 6" wide and around 1m apart. My reasoning is this will allow the upper part of the house to also dry out in time though there are only a few spots of interior damp where the concrete render had cracked. Would this work?

I've never heard of anyone doing such a system before - removing strips of cement render, presumably replacing with lime render in those strips? Have I understood correctly? The combination of the two different systems seems to have a number of drawbacks. The first would be the high number of joints between render finishes. Where two different materials join there is liability for cracking, since the two different materials behave differently in terms of thermal expansion, water absorption, etc. Where there is cracking, there's the possibility of water ingress. Secondly, I would doubt that any potential dampness in the wall will travel sideways enough for the lime strips to be of benefit to the cemented areas.
But then you say you're going to be cladding in timber so perhaps I haven't understood.
If you've stripped off the plinth then hopefully the breathability afforded by that will keep the upper walls dry, I assume there's no dpc?
The plinth is certainly salvageable. In fact it doesn't look in bad condition at all.

 

[TheForge]

I agree with Zebra, the strips seem a pointless waste of effort and have potential for horrible failure at the junctions.

 

[fallschirmjager]

I've never heard of anyone doing such a system before - removing strips of cement render, presumably replacing with lime render in those strips? Have I understood correctly?

The strips are to allow the walls to dry. The whole house will then be cladded in Siberian larch featheredge.

 

[Zebra]

Why not remove it all?

 

[Kearn]

Why not remove it all?

Exactly my thoughts! Those bricks do not look in bad shape at all and are encouraging for those higher up...

Some investigation will inform as to whether the property was originally intended to be plastered or not.

The idea of strips makes little sense for the effort - easier and safer to remove all, rather than try patch matching...

Looks like a beautiful building with craftsmanship than would be a shame to hide behind wood...