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stone foundation walls

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stone foundation walls (post #205652)

Workman67 on Sat, 01/21/2012 - 06:20
in

We have just begun a project on an old building from 1920. The stone foundation is solid but looks like it may have been parged over multiple times. It was very easy to chisel most of it off but the bottom 3 feet in some areas seems to have stuck well. Probably been done within the past 20 years. I am very sceptical of parging directly over this mess. I scrubbed an area with muriatic acid to see just how clean i could get it but it seems to have too many holes that dirt leaks through. I am wondering if i should just bail on adding any new cement to these stones and just find a tar of some sort to coat the interior. I once used a material as such for the exterior of new concrete block. If i did clean and parge again, i am thinking that i should somehow fasten wire mesh so as to make sure i get adhesion to the areas that have dirt sneaking through stones? If anyone has some thoughts, i would greatly appreciate it!!

-A +A

By "inside" do you mean in a (post #205652, reply #1 of 6)

by DanH in reply to Workman67 [original] on Sat, 01/21/2012 - 07:14

By "inside" do you mean in a cellar?

In any event, tuck-pointing rather than parging is likely your best option.


We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Nature's inexhaustible sources of energy -- sun, wind and tide. ... I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. --Thomas Edison

stone foundation (post #205652, reply #3 of 6)

by Workman67 in reply to DanH [original] on Sat, 01/21/2012 - 14:00

Yes inside a cellar. You are telling me kind of what i am thinking. Why would i bother putting cement over rocks?? What does this do for anything other than another difficult job of cleaning it up one day in the future where it fails. It is not very nice looking stone and the moisture seems to be a constant issue. I am sure that even with a fresh coat of cement covering it that i would still have to waterproof it in order to help slow the moisture from entering the basement anyway.  When we stud the walls, i am planning on installing foamboard over it and possibly plastic. I have been on the building science website for a few years on and off. I get a little confused the more that i read but we are not in any rush so i want to entertain all thoughts. Thanks!

If you've got water coming (post #205652, reply #4 of 6)

by DanH in reply to Workman67 [original] on Sat, 01/21/2012 - 19:03

If you've got water coming into a cellar through a stone foundation then you need to tile the outside.  No other option, really, if you want to be dry.  And it probably needs to be tuck-pointed, inside and out.


We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Nature's inexhaustible sources of energy -- sun, wind and tide. ... I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. --Thomas Edison

stone foundation walls (post #205652, reply #5 of 6)

by Workman67 in reply to DanH [original] on Sun, 01/22/2012 - 14:16

Ok. Guess we will be digging this spring. It had to be dug a few feet anyway to do drainage. Thanks.

Workman (post #205652, reply #6 of 6)

by Jock in reply to Workman67 [original] on Mon, 01/23/2012 - 06:13

There's a difference between cement and the mortar that you would use to tuck point the stones.

workman (post #205652, reply #2 of 6)

by calvin in reply to Workman67 [original] on Sat, 01/21/2012 - 08:25

I certainly would not use a tar substance inside the building.

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