Old Buildings – Common Chimney Problems

Chimneys can be problematic areas of a property for several reasons. Chimneys are:Open structures: easily subject to rainwater ingressLarge, solid pieces of masonry: which can potentially store lots of moistureSubject to fire and large temperature variationsChimney ProblemsAs a result, here…

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Solving Rising Damp

The Importance of Salts in Rising Damp

The Importance of Salts The importance of salts in rising damp can not be overstated. Salts are an extremely important but often much neglected aspect of rising damp. The rising water flow draws up diluted salts from the ground, depositing…

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Violet Cottage

The Dampness ProblemHere is a short overview of the dampness problem and some of the works done on the cottage, as described by the customer’s own words:“The cottage is a worker's semi-detached Lovelace Cottage (so Listed).  Built in 1863 of…

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Paxton Cottage

Paxton cottage, a Grade II listed 17th century timber frame Tudor cottage, is described in The Report of the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments as follows:A 17th century timber frame cottage with whitewashed brick infill; ground floor and gable of…

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Pointing & Plastering

The primary concern in replastering and repointing old walls is the presence of salts. In old buildings, due to their age, salts become an integral part of the building fabric. Getting rid of them is really not an option, which…

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How Salts Damage Old Buildings?

Due to their importance, salts have already been mentioned several times in previous sections. We mentioned them when we looked at the key differences between sweet and saline water wetting. We discussed the role of salts as a moisture barrier…

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Renovation Plasters

Older walls in need for replastering need special handling in any of the following cases:Building age: for walls older than a 100 yearsRising damp: the building has/had rising damp, there are signs (at the bottom of the walls the paint…

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Traditional vs Modern Plasters. Which Lime?

In the previous section we covered a brief history of plasters, highlighting the various types of plasters and how plasters have evolved and changed over time. Let's see now the main type of plasters, how they compare and what factors determine their…

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Survey: Victorian Terraced Home

This building is from 1898 and it has been just purchased by a new owner, a building "enthusiast" who intended to refurbish it as part of a DIY project. The owner has just stripped the walls by removing all wallpapers and…

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Diagnosing Dampness – Tools & Methodologies

There are many tools that can assist one diagnosing dampness problems - some of them simple, others more sophisticated.  Here are the most common ones we use on a daily basis:1. ObservationObservation - especially if paired with considerable expertise and…

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