Hi All,
This is my first post on this forum, so please be gentle with me!
I'm installing my Studio in the cellar of my new house, and I believe one of my walls needs attention before I build new inner plasterboard walls etc. But I would greatly appreciate some opinions from you guys before I commit to do the wrong thing.
I know for a fact that the cellar used to have damp issues on a couple of walls before I purchased it. The guy I purchased if from had bought the house to do it up then sell it, and he said that after he added adequate ventilation the damp dried up. He treated the worst affected wall by painting with PVA (or something like that I think) and then re-rendering it with concrete and a concrete PVA mix (again, I think that's what he did). He then just painted the other brick walls with white emulsion. He also tiled the floor.
The cellar atmosphere feels dry, but there’s still evidence of damp on the front earth facing wall, there are patches of paint that have bubbled up a little and crumbled off, this is worst in the small alcove next to the window. I decide that I wasn’t going to do a full-on tanking job, but I would just treat the front wall in some way and ensure that adequate ventilation was in place after my plasterboard walls were up.
I was advised by a building mate of one of my best friends (an electrician) that I should probably remove the worst of the bubbling paint, blackjack the entire wall, then render with one layer of concrete followed by one layer of concrete PVA mix (to waterproof).
I decided that, whatever I did with the wall, it would be a good idea to remove the bubbling bits and maybe the rest of the paint to see what it was like underneath. Most of the wall is pretty good actually, no mould really. The alcove is a different story! It’s absolutely black underneath the top layer of paint, and some small chunks of brick are coming off reasonably easily. Upon consulting the guy I bought the house off, he said that was one of the walls that was actually wet to the touch before he added the proper ventilation. The wall does feel dry now, but you can smell a kind of damp smell as I sand the paint off.
First of all, given the slightly crumbly nature of this brick, I’d like to ask; Is there some kind of treatment I should be applying to the brick to stop it crumbling any more?
Secondly; Does the overall treatment of blackjack and rendering sounding like a good idea? Any Suggestions?
Sorry for the long post! And thanks in advance of any help or advice!
Cheers,
jcat
This is my first post on this forum, so please be gentle with me!
I'm installing my Studio in the cellar of my new house, and I believe one of my walls needs attention before I build new inner plasterboard walls etc. But I would greatly appreciate some opinions from you guys before I commit to do the wrong thing.
I know for a fact that the cellar used to have damp issues on a couple of walls before I purchased it. The guy I purchased if from had bought the house to do it up then sell it, and he said that after he added adequate ventilation the damp dried up. He treated the worst affected wall by painting with PVA (or something like that I think) and then re-rendering it with concrete and a concrete PVA mix (again, I think that's what he did). He then just painted the other brick walls with white emulsion. He also tiled the floor.
The cellar atmosphere feels dry, but there’s still evidence of damp on the front earth facing wall, there are patches of paint that have bubbled up a little and crumbled off, this is worst in the small alcove next to the window. I decide that I wasn’t going to do a full-on tanking job, but I would just treat the front wall in some way and ensure that adequate ventilation was in place after my plasterboard walls were up.
I was advised by a building mate of one of my best friends (an electrician) that I should probably remove the worst of the bubbling paint, blackjack the entire wall, then render with one layer of concrete followed by one layer of concrete PVA mix (to waterproof).
I decided that, whatever I did with the wall, it would be a good idea to remove the bubbling bits and maybe the rest of the paint to see what it was like underneath. Most of the wall is pretty good actually, no mould really. The alcove is a different story! It’s absolutely black underneath the top layer of paint, and some small chunks of brick are coming off reasonably easily. Upon consulting the guy I bought the house off, he said that was one of the walls that was actually wet to the touch before he added the proper ventilation. The wall does feel dry now, but you can smell a kind of damp smell as I sand the paint off.
First of all, given the slightly crumbly nature of this brick, I’d like to ask; Is there some kind of treatment I should be applying to the brick to stop it crumbling any more?
Secondly; Does the overall treatment of blackjack and rendering sounding like a good idea? Any Suggestions?
Sorry for the long post! And thanks in advance of any help or advice!
Cheers,
jcat
