Exposing natural stone walls

[Gill14]

Hi! My house is a stone built cottage - built in 1872 - I'm thinking about exposing the stone wall in a bedroom and was wondering if anyone else has done this (and if they'd recommend it!) ? I know it'll be a messy job, which I don't mind but I think I may have a problem with rising damp (which I can hopefully get sorted out) but just wondering if it cause more problems for us. Any help would be appreciated as I can't seem to find anything on the net!

Cheers!

 

[bellevilleboy]

Hi - I had beautiful exposed stone walls in a holiday home I owned. They create a lot of dust, so you need to seal them somehow, bearing in mind that if they can't breathe that may create other problems re. dampness etc.

Good luck!

 

[stuart45]

Exposing the stone won't create a damp problem, but it's likely that the stonework is probably better covered up. It's a bit like people in the future exposing the rough brickwork or thermalite blockwork on the inside walls.
I do know people who have done what you are thinking about in their lounge and really like it, but they don't really understand what good quality stonework is.

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

I have exposed the upper part of my dining room, the stones, I pointed in lime mortar and it looks great. I sand blasted the stones after I hacked of the plaster, but as it was a garage, the stones were very dirty with 200 years of grime on them. If your stones have always been plastered (with lime!), then an acid based brick cleaner will work well.
In the end I put on it two coats of some "patio" varnish, it did darken the stones a bit and the mortar a lot , but its was worth while.
Frank