I just spent the weekend removing the plaster from the interior of the rising-damp-afflicted stone wall of my house. I'm not intending to plaster over the stone, rather leave it in its natural state with a coating of whitewash, to match the rest of the room. However, I'm now faced with the task of redoing the pointing between the stones. At present, there appears to be just crumbling sand between the stones, I did a bit of a search on the internet and it appears that if I want to mitigate future damp problems the best option would be to fill the gaps with a lime-based mortar. I read that hydrated lime might be a user-friendly option for the pointing, any views/tips? Thanks in advance.
Hydrated Lime
- Thread starter roger3007
- Start date
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If you get the hydrated lime, and mix it in a bucket of water with as much lime as you possibly can then leave it for a few weeks to settle, pour off the excess water and you have lime putty. This is mixed with sharp sand about 3:1 (no extra water) and you can rake out the joints and pack with the mortar. You really need a tool the width of the joint to pack with, a pointing trowel doesn't do a very good job.
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OK, I made the lime putty by stirring as much powder as I possibly could into a bucket of water. I managed to get a 25kg bag into four buckets. However, after a couple of days it seemed to be hardening rather than seperating, so I have put some water on top to stop it drying out. Do you think I put too much powder in?
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