Damp proofing in old stone building

TamsinC

We have just put an offer on a house which is basically built in stone - it has been recently renovated to a very high standard - there is no damp. Why the post you ask? Well, the owner has basically built a shell of stud walls inside the external walls with a gap between the stud wall and the stone. Seems fine to me but then I don't really understand these things. So I am asking advice as to whether this is a normal thing to do? Is any other 'damp proofing' needed? etc The external walls are stone with lime mortar. Also the house is built into the hillside on the ground floor - so no windows that side until 1st floor level. So I suppose basically we have a cavity wall. Should it be insulated any further? Many thanks in advance - hope you can make sense if it.

FreeBear

TamsinC wrote: »

We have just put an offer on a house which is basically built in stone - it has been recently renovated to a very high standard - there is no damp. Why the post you ask? Well, the owner has basically built a shell of stud walls inside the external walls with a gap between the stud wall and the stone. Seems fine to me but then I don't really understand these things. So I am asking advice as to whether this is a normal thing to do? Is any other 'damp proofing' needed? etc The external walls are stone with lime mortar. Also the house is built into the hillside on the ground floor - so no windows that side until 1st floor level. So I suppose basically we have a cavity wall. Should it be insulated any further? Many thanks in advance - hope you can make sense if it.

Building a stud wall as you describe is a perfectly acceptable way of doing things. An air gap is required to allow any moisture to dissipate and there should be some small ventilation holes dotted around.

Hopefully, when the stud walls were built, insulation (something like Kigspan/Celotex foam boards) was used - If so, you don't want to be filling the air space with more insulation. Doing so will compromise the air flow and could cause damp to track from the stone walls through to the stud walls.

TamsinC

FreeBear wrote: »

Building a stud wall as you describe is a perfectly acceptable way of doing things. An air gap is required to allow any moisture to dissipate and there should be some small ventilation holes dotted around.

Hopefully, when the stud walls were built, insulation (something like Kigspan/Celotex foam boards) was used - If so, you don't want to be filling the air space with more insulation. Doing so will compromise the air flow and could cause damp to track from the stone walls through to the stud walls.

Perfect - thank you - I will ask the vendor if it was Kingspan, he has been very helpful and the more questions I ask now the better.