1900 Stone House Damp - Badly drylined

[Hundleton2]

Hi folks i am after some advice.

I have the unfortunate pleasure of owning g a 1900 Is End terrace thats stone rubble built, we bought it on 2007, on the main weather facing external walls we always had damp patches showing though and some salts coming through now and then, over the years as have done a lot of work like repaired the external render and repainted the house,positive pressure ventilation ect, 5 years ago we decided to dry line internally on the ground floor as it was driving my wife crazy with damp patches, battens were fixed to the external walls, insulation was put between, vapour barrier then plasterboard, skim.

4 years its been great until end of last yeas a smell appeared, also the odd bit of staining on one specific area of the new wall above the window and pain living, over the time the smell got worse and it was bas when it rained then went when it was dry, in the end yesterday i toor one of the wall down as it was driving us nuts and my worst fears were evident, the timber has started to rot on the walls, the wall was very damp, not soaking wet but absolutely damp, its started to dry already now its uncovered.

I know i messed up as i stopped it breathing, i also fixed the batters directly to the walls with no dpc between them or plastic fixings,insulation directly against the wall, not smart, I have read a massive about over the last year and fully understand my mistakes and the issues now. I have had etc tear down all the lining on the external walls and am now left trying to figure out what to do next.

Im trying to decide on what solution to go with, the walls are in a pretty bad state and a lot worse than they were before covered, plaster is not falling off but its damp and paintwork pealing with salts coming though in places.

My first option is can i recover the existing plaster if possible, treat with the neutraliser and fill and decorate and live with the damp patches?

My 2nd option is to completely hack the whole lot off, have it re rendered correctly with water proofer or possibly a membrane in the walls before final plaster, lim plaster ?

3rd option is to cover again but this time create a partition 50mm from the old wall, then put in vents onto the stone work to ventilate the new cavity to allow the moisture to escape, insulate and plaster board again.

4th option burn it all.

Budged is an issue, Option 3 is really my favourite as its the least descriptive to everything else we have already done, option 2 makes my cry if I'm honest

really need some advice on this one

Thanks

 

[lostinthelight]

I am in a similar situation, Interesting reading here:
http://www.heritage-house.org
litl

 

[vinn]

Hundleton2,
What you report of damp activity behind your plaster board is all too common.
During remedial work we have stripped off many of these smelly, slimy and sometimes dangerously dry rotted areas.
There's a ground swell of technical opinion that's beginning to move away from any form of dry lining or Dot & Dab or various kinds of tanking - whatever the name, the practice leaves vulnerable, moisture prone "compartments" that can be expensive to correct or very bad for ones health with mould issues.
Is the ground floor solid or suspended?

Whats to be done:
I would recommend that all contaminated surfaces be stripped back to brick, wire brushed & treated with anti-fungal chemicals.
Reinstate with a sand & lime mix at 3:1.
Do not use water proofer, membrane or tanking applications.
Decorate with a suitable wash.

The exterior render may have been painted with plastic paints - very bad news. Only masonry paints should be used.
You mention patching up the render over the years - we find that patched/repaired render ( usually done in sand and cement instead of lime) is best hacked off and re-rendered with a modern render.

 

[vinn]

lostinthelight,

Thank you for the pdf. FWIW I've noticed this Heritage-house character, Peter Ward, before and although his whining voice and self righteousness are off putting he does say some useful and important things.

Especially about the large Damp & Timber companies and their outrageous association the PCA.
Do you know that many mortgage surveyors insist on work being reported on and performed only by members of the PCA - I wonder why that is? Does that sound like a free marketplace?