*
I plan to parge the foundation of a one hundred year old house. The bottom four feet of the interior wall consists of fieldstone. Incoming water has washed away some of the mortar around the fieldstone. The top three feet of the wall is brick. Some of the brick is in the powdery stage.
What type of concrete should I use? Also, what is the best way to get a smooth finish? Do I have to take out all of the powdery bricks? I appreciate any suggestions.
Clayt Westland
Replies
*
Clayton: do you mean "purge"? You should provide more information if you want a competent reply. I think you might be diving into something that might a catastrophic project, financially and laborly.
*No, he meant parge(t), which is to plaster or otherwise coat walls.But you are correct when you say he may be biting off more than he can chew. Just coating the interior to improve looks does not correct underlying problems which he indicates he has. If water is infiltrating from the outside and washing out mortar then the hydrostatic pressure which will build up should he parge will eventually cause the parging to separate and fail. Powdered bricks? or the mortar between? If those are parged and are totally dry and not subject to the same water that will wick up from the bad lower wall (not likely) a coverup parging might hold.If the search function is working there was a good discussion recently about waterproofing foundation walls and foundation drainage. There is also an article in FHB #140 that would be a good read. Pg. 64.
*I have used a surface-bonding cement (Sure Bond in my area) with some luck on stone foundations.It requires lots of prep and is very labor intensive.You would need to wire brush/scrub all loose and powdery areas, point in any large gaps in the mortar, coat/brush the wall with a bonding agent. Depending on how irregular the stone work is, you may need multiple coats.And you most definitely have to deal with the exterior side of the wall. You might be able to get away with waterproofing and improving the drainage, without too much wall re-surfacing.Terry
*
I plan to parge the foundation of a one hundred year old house. The bottom four feet of the interior wall consists of fieldstone. Incoming water has washed away some of the mortar around the fieldstone. The top three feet of the wall is brick. Some of the brick is in the powdery stage.
What type of concrete should I use? Also, what is the best way to get a smooth finish? Do I have to take out all of the powdery bricks? I appreciate any suggestions.
Clayt Westland