Dealing with damp and tufo

[NuBeginnings]

We bought what we thought was a turn key chateau. It was not sadly, most of the ground floor rooms had damp that had been hidden away by the vendor. I thought I would share my solution to fixing it.

We discovered the damp when I removed some panelling to make some simple repairs.

I found that hydro board / green plaster board had been dotted and dabbed directly on to the tufo stone. I never knew that this is a no no steep learning curve ahead.

Tufo is a pours stone and must be able to breath placing plaster board directly on to turned the boards in to sponges.

Only solution was to bring the walls back to bare stone. This done I was shocked the stone walls were sodden with what looked to roots grown over them in places. Panic set in as my first though was dry rot, it was not just the roots of trees that were planted to close to the chateau.

Solution to fix, walls allowed to dry out, with the aid of a dehumidifier. Once dry we fixed dry wall tracking in vertical strips the idea was to create an air gap next I fixed Wedi boards to the tracks . Using Wedi was probably overkill but I wanted a 100% fix. I chose Wedi as I had used it before in constructing a wet room and new no water would ever permeate it. I then fixed exterior grade marine ply on to the Wedi which I then could decorate on too. I varnished the back side of the ply just as a precaution belt and braces.

The surrounding parquet floors also had been affected by the damp, I took up the floor and too my horror found that the joists in part were rotten, and some one had pumped expanding foam under the floor to prop it up and hide the issue. So large area of floor cut out new joists put in. We managed to reuse some of the oak parquet but that had some of its own issues when we came to re lay it. I had to also mix in a fair bit of new oak. Then try and stain it to match the old floors.

Once the walls and floor were finished, a 78 year old French artist re painted all the newly panelled was.

The above solved the internal problems, but as a precaution I dug a trench along the whole side of the building that had the damp, then laid a flexi agricultural drain pipe, in to the trench covered the pipe in large grade stones then a layer of geotextile followed by a fine stone gravel to finish. The idea was, that any excess water would be carried away from the foundation of the building.

Some of you may ask why did I not fit a damp course. Tufo inside or out must be able to breath and a damp course could cause problems.

I have attached some pictures to show the work in progress.

[IMG]http://i52.tinypic.com/xnc5xh.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i54.tinypic.com/mh6ply.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i56.tinypic.com/2eaqs0y.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i51.tinypic.com/2qi2ro4.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i56.tinypic.com/20tgg1g.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i55.tinypic.com/ayt1ls.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i51.tinypic.com/33yidqr.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i54.tinypic.com/2qwh99s.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i54.tinypic.com/2v34xt5.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i56.tinypic.com/18g0ok.jpg[/IMG]

[Théière]

It's an interesting blog and valuable for people buying to renovate. I think it would help if you could post your pictures via photobucket then they would appear as pictures.

[NuBeginnings]

I tried and followed all the steps but no joy. In one of my other posts some else managed to get them to work but I don't seem to have the gift ;-(

See they work in this post, http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/2377292/ShowPost.aspx

Any ideas ? What I have done wrong ??

[NuBeginnings]

Thanks what am I doing wrong ?

[pachapapa]

[IMG]http://i52.tinypic.com/xnc5xh.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i54.tinypic.com/mh6ply.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i56.tinypic.com/2eaqs0y.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i51.tinypic.com/2qi2ro4.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i56.tinypic.com/20tgg1g.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i55.tinypic.com/ayt1ls.jpg[/IMG]

I'll do the last four in a minute.

 

 

 

 

 

[pachapapa]

[quote user="NuBeginnings"]Thanks what am I doing wrong ?[/quote]

I think you should get Quillan to give you a little tuition; he is very good with congenital idiots and gifted with extraordinary knowledge and didactic skills; he always helps me.[:$]

[pachapapa]

The last four "piccies".

[IMG]http://i51.tinypic.com/33yidqr.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i54.tinypic.com/2qwh99s.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i54.tinypic.com/2v34xt5.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i56.tinypic.com/18g0ok.jpg[/IMG]

Might be a good idea to generate a folder on your tinypic account with reduced sizes of images, specifically for posting on forums, so as to in particular reduce the width, on my netbook it is a tad difficult.

Just ask Quillan, he will explain in simple anglo-saxon english.

 

 

 

[Théière]

Try changing the text to: [img]http://i52.tinypic.com/xnc5xh.jpg" border="0" [/im] and adding the last "g" of /img, I left it off so I could demonstrate the text.

 

[woolybanana]

Doesnt that ditch running along the outside of the walls need to be about 18 inches deep? Yours doesnt look to be deep enough.

[Chancer]

I thought the same regarding the other pictuers of the trench for the heating pipes.

No doubt the devi was priced per metre run but conveniently didnt show the profondeur!

[NuBeginnings]

I placed the drain there as a precaution and to help carry away excess rain water, the depth is in line with the foundations. I dug out the trenches with the use of a friends digger !

The depth for the heating pipes was 24 inches you can get by with 18 inches or less if you are not going to drive over it. I decided to err on the side of caution. I backfilled about a foot around the pipe with sand, not sure if it helps any for insulating, but I feel a bit better about driving over it with sand backfill than with rocks and big chunks that could poke through the pipe if enough weight or force was applied.

[Gluestick]

Classic causes of damp in old stone or archaic brick buildings:

1.  Using cement-based products for repair: such as pointing:

2.  Installing a cement plinth:

3.  Covering up walls which must breath with impervious materials.

Mortar bedding and pointing must stay marginally damp in order to survive.

Many old flint cottages have literally fallen down thanks to use of unsympathetic materials.

[Chancer]

Glad to hear that about the pipes, its difficult to establish scale from a photo, your trench must be wider and pipes larger than I thought.

[NuBeginnings]

[quote user="Gluestick"]Classic causes of damp in old stone or archaic brick buildings:

1.  Using cement-based products for repair: such as pointing:

2.  Installing a cement plinth:

3.  Covering up walls which must breath with impervious materials.

Mortar bedding and pointing must stay marginally damp in order to survive.

Many old flint cottages have literally fallen down thanks to use of unsympathetic materials.

[/quote]

Glue stick is spot on, not only had they used plaster board, someone had cemented rendered on to part of the stone which all had to be hacked away. At one point I thought that the render on the out side was cement my heart nearly died. Luckily it was a breathable render ;-)

[Théière]

I think you have done well and the finished product looks great and in character with your building. Are the heating pipes insulated?

[NuBeginnings]

The pipe was insulated thats what made it so expensive

This shows the insulation

[img]http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k562/NBeginningsFrance/44878_479270499459_550599459_6663048_141328_n.jpg[/img]

We tried hard to keep every thing in character as much as possible. Still a long way to go, phase 3 three will start when we get the TVA back lol

I have created a photo bucket acc with many more images. Thanks for the compliment ;-)

[pachapapa]

[quote user="Gluestick"]Classic causes of damp in old stone or archaic brick buildings:

1.  Using cement-based products for repair: such as pointing:

2.  Installing a cement plinth:

3.  Covering up walls which must breath with impervious materials.

Mortar bedding and pointing must stay marginally damp in order to survive.

Many old flint cottages have literally fallen down thanks to use of unsympathetic materials.


[/quote]

In consideration of your Point 3 concerning the covering of walls with impervious material; I would note that I have sealed my walls with an impervious material which stops the rain water penetrating the walls. After a period of some 10 years I have not noticed any particular problem. The magick material with which I have sealed the walls also has the interesting synergystic property of allowing the wall to breath.

[IMG]http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk244/pachapapa/Pachapapa%20Le%20Pont/Mikes.jpg[/IMG]

[Théière]

[quote user="NuBeginnings"]The pipe was insulated thats what made it so expensive This shows the insulation http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k562/NBeginningsFrance/44878_479270499459_550599459_6663048_141328_n.jpg We tried hard to keep every thing in character as much as possible. Still a long way to go, phase 3 three will start when we get the TVA back lol I have created a photo bucket acc with many more images. Thanks for the compliment ;-)[/quote]

Very nice, try using the image code "img"

[IMG]http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k562/NBeginningsFrance/44878_479270499459_550599459_6663048_141328_n.jpg[/IMG]

[dave21478]

Interesting stuff. I have a similar (smaller scale though) job for the coming year.

for the pics, tinypic is fine, just put the address in the img tags as follows, but without any spaces in the line....

[ img] http.www.your image address.jpg [ /img]

[connolls]

Looks lovely, you have done a great job,

would love to see the rest of that fireplace !!!

will keep an eye out for any further pictures.

[NuBeginnings]

Here is the link to the picture you wanted to see, there are also many other pics ;-)

http://s1116.photobucket.com/albums/k562/NBeginningsFrance/Rooms/?action=view¤t=DSC_0232.jpg

[Gluestick]

The code to paste should be copied from the bottommost choice beneath the picture:

Looks like this:

[***]http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k562/NBeginningsFrance/Rooms/DSC_0232.jpg[/***]

Please note: the square brackets should contain the HTML tag [IMG] (Opening Tag) and [/IMG] (Closing Tag).

I've inserted asterisks in order you can read the full code. If I had written the full correct code, then you would not see it: you would simply view the picture.

The HTML Tag "IMG" (For Image) provides the instruction to the viewer's browser (IE, Firefox et al) to seek out the stored image on the Photobucket server. The HTML Tag [/IMG], with the forward slash, tells the server that the HTML command is complete and finished.

If either Tag is omitted then the command will not work: it is critical to open and close each HTML command with square brackets and the "/" symbol in the closing Tag and preceding the command.

Now: the picture:

[IMG]http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k562/NBeginningsFrance/Rooms/DSC_0232.jpg[/IMG]

[AnOther]

Or you could click 'Quote' on Glueys post and at the bottom under 'Now: the picture:' you will see the full and exact format for an embedded link [;-)]

[crossy67]

[quote user="pachapapa"]

[quote user="Gluestick"]Classic causes of damp in old stone or archaic brick buildings:

1.  Using cement-based products for repair: such as pointing:

2.  Installing a cement plinth:

3.  Covering up walls which must breath with impervious materials.

Mortar bedding and pointing must stay marginally damp in order to survive.

Many old flint cottages have literally fallen down thanks to use of unsympathetic materials.

[/quote]

In consideration of your Point 3 concerning the covering of walls with impervious material; I would note that I have sealed my walls with an impervious material which stops the rain water penetrating the walls. After a period of some 10 years I have not noticed any particular problem. The magick material with which I have sealed the walls also has the interesting synergystic property of allowing the wall to breath.

[IMG]http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk244/pachapapa/Pachapapa%20Le%20Pont/Mikes.jpg[/IMG]

[/quote]

Digging up an old post looking for a way to get a honey coloured mortar to point my stone wall I found this.  What's your magic solution then Paps?  I need something to seal out internal walls we want to leave exposed and possible the outside ones too if I am feeling brave enough to strip it back.

Oh and any one got any ideas on the mortar, should it be lime based or is there a cement that isn't grey and what are they called, I have spent a bemusing hour in Brico looking at all the different cements and came away feeling completely demoralised.  Why did they teach me comment sava and I want two coffees please in French, why not the stuff you really need?

[just john]

Best to use a lime mortar, the colour is determined by the colour of the sand, (originally) some folks use colouring pigments, but best to follow the original I've found. (especially where you're sited). I'd suggest you pay a visit to Patrice Desert, materiaux-de-construction yard, just up the road from you at Palluaud. He is local, very knowledgeable, has all the stuff you require, speaks english, and if you can get his attention will describe in detail what you should do and how . . .! before you say it, no, I'm not the font, but have a bit of experience in your neck of the woods[;-)]