Victorian House Replastering

After Premature Plaster Failure

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Overview of the Project

This 150 year-old Victorian building has been replastered 3 months prior to our involvement in the project.

3 months earlier the walls have been replastered with a modern cement plaster and gypsum finish. Within weeks following the replastering salts started coming through the plaster, which within 3 months resulted in significant salt crystallization and a gradual breakdown of the plaster.

hdr — The wall's condition 3 months after the initial replastering

The owner of the building reached out to Core Conservation to hep diagnose the problem and propose a working solution. After an in-depth survey and diagnosis, which involved taking drilled core samples from the walls to determine their moisture content as well as salt measurements, the root cause of the problem has been determined.

To solve the problem long-term, he walls have been replastered with the Rinzaffo MGN Roman salt-resistant lime plaster, followed by the Termointonaco 2020 MGN thermal plaster on all external walls and the Calcina Bianca MGN lime plaster on the internal wall with a lime finish. In this project Core Conservation provided the lime materials and the know-how, while the plastering has been done by the same plasterer who did the initial plastering, helping the client to make things go right - a win-win situation for all parties.

In addition to replastering wiht lime, to handle the underlying rising damp problem, a magnetic DPC system has also been installed.

This solution worked extremely well. 1 year later the walls are still in perfect condition and based on the track record of these plasters we are expecting to be fine for another few decades.