stripping plaster and pointing old stone house

Frag111

Hi,
I am in the process of renovating a house which dates probably back to the mid 1800's. I was reared here and the house never had insulation but dampness was at a minumum. I am now going to insulate.
The walls are about 2ft thick stone which in my memory were always plastered on the outside with sand/cement plaster which is in good enough condition. I suspect that was only done 40 - 50 years ago though and provious to that it probably had some sort of lime render.
On one of the gables the plaster was a bit rough and patchy so I decided to take it off with a jack hammer. What I have now is a sturdy stone wall and it seems all was between the stones is a dry clay.
I am now considering pointing the stone and leaving it exposed and doing the same to the rest of the house.
Could some advise me if it would be ok to point with sand/cement, seeing as I have taken off sand/cement and there wasn't any damp problems, or do I need to use a lime mix as advised in other posts. If lime is the answer, can you advise the proper mixture/ratio. Is this lime readily available?
I have picture but unable to add for some reason. Will try again later.

BryanF

pm sent

BryanF

pm sent, with contacts for lime and companies supplying lime. id rather give you the names of people that do this work as it is not something you do at least with out some instruction

see here for some further info http://www.buildinglimesforumireland.com/


the use of lime for pointing/ plastering and hemp-lime for insulation in my opinion is the route to take with old stone buildings. there are many pit falls/ considerations required and not retaining the breathablity of the structure is one of them. Obviously you must address and dampness etc first but, often times this is related to the use of cement, lack of ventilation, raising of the external ground level over the years and other factors where modern methods did not take account of the buildings needs.

you have not giving enough info here
> how do you intend to insulate? internal dry-lining may risk more condensation.
> where there is not cut facing stone used, the wall was never meant to be exposed..

Frag111

Thanks for the info Bryan. The insulation I am using is 50mm quinntherm foilback polyiso board screwed to battens I have fixed to the wall. The battens are 1" thick leaving that gap between the insulation and the wall. I used this same method on one of the downstairs rooms about 4 years ago and so far have no dampness there.
I'm not sure what you mean by cut stone. The stone used is the same variety as the stone that comes out of a quarry at the back of the house. I don't think it was cut or shaped before building it.
Would the fact that the house had been plastered with sand and cement for a number of years with no dampness ( except for 1 spot in 1 room) not mean that I could use sand and cement again for the same result?

BryanF

Frag111 wrote: »

Thanks for the info Bryan. The insulation I am using is 50mm quinntherm foilback polyiso board screwed to battens I have fixed to the wall. The battens are 1" thick leaving that gap between the insulation and the wall. I used this same method on one of the downstairs rooms about 4 years ago and so far have no dampness there.
I'm not sure what you mean by cut stone. The stone used is the same variety as the stone that comes out of a quarry at the back of the house. I don't think it was cut or shaped before building it.
Would the fact that the house had been plastered with sand and cement for a number of years with no dampness ( except for 1 spot in 1 room) not mean that I could use sand and cement again for the same result?

have you removed and checked any area of the dry-lining installed four years ago? hows the houses ventilation? often rooms that are kept warm with say a stove (kitchen/living), are less likely to see issues because the level of heat keeps them from having major condensation and damp issues, but its whne the rest of the house gets dry-lining problem will become visible

on the face of it, it is difficult to argue with your previous experience of cement plaster, can you be sure that any new mix, will preform/effect the

stone wall and dry clay

the same? perhaps it was a mix of both cement and lime?. I would suggest that with increased insulation internally, may lead to a colder internal surface of the old stone wall especially with a new cement render externally.