Hi,
I wondered whether you could give me some advice in using lime products on an underground wall?
The back wall of the dining room, kitchen and utility room in our house is completely underground. We have exposed the wall in the dining room and the lower 2 1/2 feet is bedrock covered by sand and cement (I've not taken this off for fear of damaging the wall). The rest is a granite stone wall. We're not planning on doing any work on the kitchen or utility room walls for a couple of years.
Since it's an underground, cold wall, the wall has problems with condensation hitting it. We'll be installing an extractor fan to deal with this. There is also an amount of moisture coming through the wall and now that the wall is exposed it does feel damp to touch.
Our architect and a previous builder has suggested that we re-point the dining room wall with lime and use lime products to allow the moisture through and let the extractor deal with it. The rationale being that we deal with the moisture where it is rather than shifting the problem elsewhere such as the slab which is bone dry but not exactly in A1 condition (and we're not planning on doing any work to it).
The builders who are doing work on the room believe that liming the room would be a mistake. The believe that the wall should be tanked and say that the lime would draw the moisture out and through and that it would not be a healthy room to be in.
Would you recommend applying lime to a wall that is underground and is damp?
Any more details or if photos will help, please ask.
Thanks
Mr. Turnip
I wondered whether you could give me some advice in using lime products on an underground wall?
The back wall of the dining room, kitchen and utility room in our house is completely underground. We have exposed the wall in the dining room and the lower 2 1/2 feet is bedrock covered by sand and cement (I've not taken this off for fear of damaging the wall). The rest is a granite stone wall. We're not planning on doing any work on the kitchen or utility room walls for a couple of years.
Since it's an underground, cold wall, the wall has problems with condensation hitting it. We'll be installing an extractor fan to deal with this. There is also an amount of moisture coming through the wall and now that the wall is exposed it does feel damp to touch.
Our architect and a previous builder has suggested that we re-point the dining room wall with lime and use lime products to allow the moisture through and let the extractor deal with it. The rationale being that we deal with the moisture where it is rather than shifting the problem elsewhere such as the slab which is bone dry but not exactly in A1 condition (and we're not planning on doing any work to it).
The builders who are doing work on the room believe that liming the room would be a mistake. The believe that the wall should be tanked and say that the lime would draw the moisture out and through and that it would not be a healthy room to be in.
Would you recommend applying lime to a wall that is underground and is damp?
Any more details or if photos will help, please ask.
Thanks
Mr. Turnip
