Cottage Walls

chrisrsmith

I have removed wallpaper from the cottage walls and the walls seem to be painted with a white/cream paint that is flaking off in places. The cottage is a couple of hundred years old and been empty for a couple of years. We will probably have some 'tanking' done in parts of the cottage as there is obviously no DPC etc but am not sure what to repaint/seal the walls with?

I have photos if of any assistance - PM me.

Beneath the paint the walls appear to have been rendered.

MX5huggy

Your cottage was designed to breath it does not require sealing, tanking or DPC's. You should remove all cement or gypsum based renders, plasters and pointing. Replacing with lime putty based solutions have a look at SPAB for further guidance. http://www.spab.org.uk/homeowners/

chrisrsmith

The whole house is rendered externally and has been for 30+ years

lindens

chrisrsmith wrote: »

The whole house is rendered externally and has been for 30+ years

That doesnt mean its correct.

chrisrsmith

Instead of buying this particular cottage I was about to buy a G2 listed cottage in Bucks. That property was same construction and had a doc and tanking all added under the watchful (legal) eye of the Bucks CC listed buildings officer.

Are you saying that they gave incorrect advice?

nobulljusttruth

Tanking is the 'noughty's answer' to stopping damp coming in. When the cottage was built it had a flu or two. No central heating and no carpets etc. Times change I guess. As for finishing the walls . http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321507022736?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 lime based renders maybe?

Yorkie1

NBJT reported as spam - links to own ebay products.

SG27

chrisrsmith wrote: »

Instead of buying this particular cottage I was about to buy a G2 listed cottage in Bucks. That property was same construction and had a doc and tanking all added under the watchful (legal) eye of the Bucks CC listed buildings officer.

Are you saying that they gave incorrect advice?

Yes! If it was done recently then the conservation officer should know better!

Tanking, DPCs, sealing up will cause more damp than it will solve.

I'd recommend this book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0857330713?pc_redir=1409305739&robot_redir=1

Paint with limewash internally. If the external render is lime then great! If it's concrete it will cause problems at some point in the future.

nobulljusttruth

Yorkie1 wrote: »

NBJT reported as spam - links to own ebay products.

I retired 7 years ago..... just spend my time dozing now and adding my compendium of cr4p to the list.... thanks anyway.

NB: People do come here for help and suggestions you know, does this mean suggestions are not welcome

chrisrsmith

This thread is irving very interesting and useful. I am getting lots of good advice and some that is contradictory to RICS surveyors advice, damp proofing companies etc etc.

However, the fact are my old cottage has cement rendering on the outside and I know the ideal would be to remove this and redress with a breathable material. However, I don't see this happening for many years and yes I know this is not ideal but…..

I have been reading about Electro Osmosis and to me it makes a lot of sense. There are no chemicals involved, tanking etc etc., purely an electric field (anode and cathode) to repel and redirect the the moisture onto the external cathode.

Does anybody have experience or knowledge or maybe practical experience of this technology?

I see it used on many Heritage, NT and Royal properties.

Not cheap but seem s a good logical effective approach.

chrisrsmith

The cost of such a system is high but I don;t think it's any more expensive than other solutions suggested - does anybody have any cost information from their experiences?