The first floor on the front aspect of my house is weatherproofed with ugly 'concrete' type tiles. I would like to remove them and have the area rendered to match the ground floor. A neighbour has done this but is having problems with damp as apparently underneath the tiles is only a single skin of brick. Does anybody have any suggestions how to resolve this problem?
Thanks
alanfrank
Firstly are you absolutely sure that there is only a single leaf of brickwork here?
If it is on to the main house and not say a porch or draught lobby I would be very surprised. Can you determine what type of brick it is?
If it is solid then some type of chemical injection would be possible but complete overkill. If they are modern bricks 3 or 10 hole perforated or fogged for example Iwould imagine them completly incompatible to effective injection.
As for the lime issue I will not dwell on this in detail surfice to say that a waterproof agaent
CAN replace lime in a gauge to make it workable but that is not to say you have to use one or another, Using both gives you the benefits of of the waterproofer and the workable consistancy of the mortar gauge in a coarse, quality plastering sand as well as the aesthetic consistant appearence of the cured render, attempting to supplement the lime ratio( 1 to every 3 or 4 cement) with additional waterproofer over dilutes the mix and the mortar is unworkable. Its about balance and ease of use of your material not choosing one over the other unless for a particular circumstance in detail.
Alan for your particular problem I would (if indeed you strangely have a single skin wall) take the opportunity to externally insulate this area of wall while the opportunity presents itself, it would be madness not to in my opinion. If not then an off the shelf (paint on) tanking solution would surfice along with a three coat render of 2:1 then 3:1 sand cement waterproofer, followed by a finished coat of 4 or 5:1 sand cement lime waterproofer.
Note I dont add lime to an backing coat there is no need they are not ruled, napped, floated or visible so use lime by choice.[/quot
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Legs, You make a fair point. I don't know for definate that it is a single skin brick wall as the aforementioned tiles are still attached. I am only going on what my neighbour stated, but in hindsight, looking at the width of the window ledge you could be right and it is double brick. In any event the neighbour suffered from damp which prompted the request for a solution. I find it fascinating that this issue can have such opposite opinions from guys who are clearly experienced at their trade. Maybe the answer lies in the choice of manufacturer of the waterproofing agent as you both put forward compelling cases. Thanks again for your time and effort.
Cheers
alan
