Sealing a hole in stonework at front of house

littlemiss19

Hi,

We seem to have a whole/cracked stone at the front of house as we have a damp patch underneath our first floor bedroom window that is about 30 cm by 25cm. The house is a Victorian terrace and the front stone work looks like bath stone. We have a limited budget and are wondering what our options are. A neighbour mentioned some kind of transparent sealant that could work. Is this a viable option or is it best to invest in a stonemason?

Thanks,

Little miss

Ebe_Scrooge

A picture paints a thousand words ......

But in the absence of a bit more detail, is it something that a touch of repointing would solve?  Failing that, it's not to difficult to remove and replace a single brick yourself - the only slight downside being that it'll be fairly conspicuous until it's weathered in for a couple of years.

Are you sure it's the cracked stone that's causing the damp?  Could it be something like a leaking/overflowing/blocked gutter (a common problem that is very easy to remedy yourself).

I suppose, worst comes to worst, you could bung a load of clear silicone over it and hope for the best.  But that's really a bit of a botch job, when a "proper" repair is potentially very cheap, simple and DIY-able.

FreeBear

A photo would help.

Depending on the size & nature of the crack, I'd recommend using a lime mortar - This would be in keeping with the materials used in the original construction and be sympathetic to the building.

You could use a mastic (silicone sealant), but it is unlikely to last long, and frankly, is only really a short term bodge.

knightstyle

I found some step repair and used that to seal a hole in a stone wall.

flashg67

I'd avoid using a modern sealant if possible, - old houses need to 'breathe' and sealant can prevent this, often just locking moisture in, rather than out