1890 Victorian Cottage - What am I looking at? How to fix?

[Michael65]

Hi,

Sorry, this is probably very basic stuff, but I'm not at all familiar with the construction of houses, let alone ones that were built over 120 years ago.

Basically, we recently moved into a 1890's Victorian cottage. It was done up by the previous owners, having been neglected for a number of years.

Overall the house seems in good condition, besides the odd lump or slightly wonky wall. However, I have two quick questions:

1. In the under stairs cupboard there is wall (shared wall with next door) that has at some point been damaged at the bottom (picture attached). I haven't prodded around too much, but inside is basically lumps of stone and a dirt like substance. The plaster(?) around the current hole and towards the base of the wall is quite brittle / soft.

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What is my best option for fixing / patching it up?

2. In the front room downstairs there is a section of skirting board missing under the radiator (picture attached). I've had a few small slugs sneak in through the crack (hence the salt).

The material right at the base in contact with the floorboards (and behind what is presumably plaster) feels very chalk-like to me, and can be scraped with your fingernail. Again, what am I looking at?

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When we had the house surveyed we were told it was a solid brick construction. However, the external walls are rendered so can't tell for sure. The inside bits that I have seen certainly don't look like brick to me (for example, if you go into the soft the gable end of the property looks like stone).

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

Houses of this age had a slate damp course (or none), this makes them very likely to have rising damp. First step is to make sure that the ground up against the house is as low as possible and all rain goods are working correctly, so the ground next to the house is as dry as possible. You might have some success with a silicone injected DPC (I did) but some say they do not work.
Does not matter if its brick or stone it will be lime mortar at that age, very soft and white. Also used for plastering the inside of the house. Pink stuff is a new repair. Under stairs cupboard, small amount of rising damp, NO heating or ventilation - you can see what happens. Choice up to you.
Frank