Hello,
abit of background
Purchased first house(victorian terrace 1903)
solid walls, suspended timber ground floor, with exception to kitchen and toilet which are concrete slab.
1st problem - wall was damp and plaster fell of and a few bricks fell away due to external levels being above the airbrick and causing damp: ive remedied this by lowering external path down by 2 brick courses from dpc(which was at the bottom of the airbrick) which is where the first brick plinth of the foundations are.
Ive also lowered the path completly across the length of the kitchen and bathroom, so know the walls should slowly start to dry out(with the help of a dehumidifier i just purchased!)
Now my first question regarding this senario is -
1 - Now that ive lowered my levels down, do i have to install a french drain? or should this solve the problem?(im not going to be laying anything that will abutt the brick work)
2 - If i was to completly cover the path in gravel would this surfice for drainage? and once again avoid having to lay a french drain? - i was tempted to lay paving slabs leaving a perimtre border with shingle in but im overly paranoid and think maybe completly gravel it and lay stepping stones....
3 - If i do the gravel path should i dig away from the house the slope the mud, thus make the water run that way when the gravel is down?
4 - Externaly where the path was so high alot of the lime mortar/cement has come away from the bricks, id like to rake and re-point these with lime mortar, Preferable a pre-maid mix, so i carnt go to wrong... there seems to be alot of options when it comes to this stuff(hydraulic-non hydraulic, or something or other) i just need to be pointed in the right direction of some lime mortar that can breathe and also dry out this time of year a little quicker?
5 - Leads of from 4, internally i need to replaster where the old stuff had fallen away, so once again a lime plaster which can do this?
6 - leads on from 4, and 5, i would also like to know if i need a different kind or lime plaster/skim to finish of the plaster or whether the plaster can work as both?
7 - leads on from 4, 5, and 6, will i also need another type of lime mortar to replace the few bricks that came off internally under the window board?
Im hoping that there might be one lime thing to do all, or atleast only two!
Sorry for breaking it down so much, hopefully ensures nothing is missed(i have no idea when it comes to lime stuff ATM-to be changed though)
The last question i have is based on the downstairs toilet which was ethier once a coal shed or outside toilet which is now connected through by the kitchen, this is a 4inch solid wall, so is extremly cold in the winter months! im in the process of taking up the slab to re-do but with insulation etc. im also taking the ceiling down(pitched) to insulate, and put a beefy extractor fan in. My only issue im having is how to insulate the walls, i have looked into this alot now, and getting told different things left right centre.
The room isnt massive, so i would prefer to loose as little internal space as possible, it doesnt have a DPC so the bottoms of the wall in the 2 external side are a little damp, but as ive said i have lowered the path now, which i hope helps!
So what would be the best option? people have dot and dab, then others said its pointless as itl just fall away or cold bridge it, others have said takse the walls and board over, or mechanical fix insualted plasterboard to the walls and so on... i know battening culd work with a void but that could take quite abit of space, there might not be any other solution, but thought id ask!
Anyway, i hope i havnt rambled to much, and someone can help!
Look forward to some responses, Cheers Mike
abit of background
Purchased first house(victorian terrace 1903)
solid walls, suspended timber ground floor, with exception to kitchen and toilet which are concrete slab.
1st problem - wall was damp and plaster fell of and a few bricks fell away due to external levels being above the airbrick and causing damp: ive remedied this by lowering external path down by 2 brick courses from dpc(which was at the bottom of the airbrick) which is where the first brick plinth of the foundations are.
Ive also lowered the path completly across the length of the kitchen and bathroom, so know the walls should slowly start to dry out(with the help of a dehumidifier i just purchased!)
Now my first question regarding this senario is -
1 - Now that ive lowered my levels down, do i have to install a french drain? or should this solve the problem?(im not going to be laying anything that will abutt the brick work)
2 - If i was to completly cover the path in gravel would this surfice for drainage? and once again avoid having to lay a french drain? - i was tempted to lay paving slabs leaving a perimtre border with shingle in but im overly paranoid and think maybe completly gravel it and lay stepping stones....
3 - If i do the gravel path should i dig away from the house the slope the mud, thus make the water run that way when the gravel is down?
4 - Externaly where the path was so high alot of the lime mortar/cement has come away from the bricks, id like to rake and re-point these with lime mortar, Preferable a pre-maid mix, so i carnt go to wrong... there seems to be alot of options when it comes to this stuff(hydraulic-non hydraulic, or something or other) i just need to be pointed in the right direction of some lime mortar that can breathe and also dry out this time of year a little quicker?
5 - Leads of from 4, internally i need to replaster where the old stuff had fallen away, so once again a lime plaster which can do this?
6 - leads on from 4, and 5, i would also like to know if i need a different kind or lime plaster/skim to finish of the plaster or whether the plaster can work as both?
7 - leads on from 4, 5, and 6, will i also need another type of lime mortar to replace the few bricks that came off internally under the window board?
Im hoping that there might be one lime thing to do all, or atleast only two!
Sorry for breaking it down so much, hopefully ensures nothing is missed(i have no idea when it comes to lime stuff ATM-to be changed though)
The last question i have is based on the downstairs toilet which was ethier once a coal shed or outside toilet which is now connected through by the kitchen, this is a 4inch solid wall, so is extremly cold in the winter months! im in the process of taking up the slab to re-do but with insulation etc. im also taking the ceiling down(pitched) to insulate, and put a beefy extractor fan in. My only issue im having is how to insulate the walls, i have looked into this alot now, and getting told different things left right centre.
The room isnt massive, so i would prefer to loose as little internal space as possible, it doesnt have a DPC so the bottoms of the wall in the 2 external side are a little damp, but as ive said i have lowered the path now, which i hope helps!
So what would be the best option? people have dot and dab, then others said its pointless as itl just fall away or cold bridge it, others have said takse the walls and board over, or mechanical fix insualted plasterboard to the walls and so on... i know battening culd work with a void but that could take quite abit of space, there might not be any other solution, but thought id ask!
Anyway, i hope i havnt rambled to much, and someone can help!
Look forward to some responses, Cheers Mike
