Home DIY

The internal floor's all been up in the last 10 months...see here
That was apparently due to loads of rubble breaching the DPC and leeching moisture onto the joists/floorboards. And a fucking ball ache it was too.
What would be the best course of action for making the parging good?

This house is bleeding me dry. 😢

Something along those lines was my initial thought...but how do you know without ripping the concrete up?

He's right. They're pointless.

I wouldn't say they're pointless. They do have their uses but I'd be very surprised if they were an appropriate course of action here. Besides there are better products on the market now.

Think about it next time.

I'm guessing that at some point the front door was where the entrance to the lounge is and this was not originally a porch. It looks to me as if there is a mix of plaster and cementicious render on the wall. The red arrow is definitely plaster and I can't tell 100%nfrom the photo but it looks like the rest of the wall is render, is this the case.

I can see a couple of points on that photo that I have marked:

Red arrow - fucked and needs to come out, I would take it out and let the wall behind it dry you may also be able to spot an ingress point if you do this.

Blue line - is the concrete under wall here damp? If so you need to trace this back to where the water is coming in. I would guess that it is near the door and then wicking along the bottom of the plaster/render.

Purple circle - is this the paint failing or the render / plaster beneath it. If it's the latter you may need to take this back to brick as well.

1 Attachment

THIS.EXACT.THING.CROSSED.MY.MIND.

haha

Also I had a closer look at one of your earlier photos is there actually a gap between the frame and parging on the wall in the circled area?

If so getting someone to repair that parging would make a huge difference. In the short term try applying some exterior grade silicone to the gap.

1 Attachment

You're right, the porch is not original.
Purple circle area - it's the paint flaking but what's underneath doesn't seem that robust.

OK that's tip-top advice. Best to do this with a masonry chisel like this? How far back should I take it? Bare brick in all cases?

Thank you very much @bobbo et al.

This house is bleeding me dry. 😢

Could be worse I've carried out remedial work on poorly built/thrown together new builds where the owner bought new only to find the warranty wasn't worth the paper it was written on because as soon as the last unit was sold the developer went down the phoenix route and wound their company up.

No you want a scutch chisel like this it is less likely to damage the brick underneath. And yes take it back to the bare brick.

No need to thank me I'm stuck at home with an inner ear infection that affects my sense of balance. Feeling like your about to fall over all of the time and powa toolz is not a good combination.

By giving advice here I at least get to alleviate the boredom a little and fell like I'm useful still sniff

https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-diamond-core-drill-bit-52mm/49650#product_additional_details_container

Pull a core from the porch floor. If it has distinct layers, pull one from the external slab and compare. Although if its not well bonded, the top layer from the porch may break away and be obvious.

I think my drill might shit itself if I introduced it to that bit...

Ah I've been there! I feel your pain!
Well in that case...it looks like you hit the nail on the head.
Questions - who would I speak to to get a proper job done of the parging? General builder?
Silicon-based questions. Can I do it when the surface is damp? i.e. today, or do I need to wait until it's dried out a bit?

I'm still concerned about the slab. Reckon I can just ignore that for now and see if the above works first?

3 Attachments

I'm very conscious that I've totally hijacked this thread and it's intensely boring for anyone who isn't me. Apologies to anyone who's not into close up photos of damp porches and cheap upvc.

Speak to a general builder, especially if you have one you know and trust. It's most likely that they will have someone that they use for this kind of thing.

As far as the silicone goes this one can be applied wet or dry.

In other chat - is there any specific filler that's best to fill cracks in external render?

Cracking. I'll splodge some of that in the cracks and take my time with next steps.
Cheers,
Joe

Depends on what the original render is.

🤔 Didn't know there were different types - what are the options? It's a fairly recent extension.

Sorry should elaborate a bit on my last comment. You need to treat cementicious render and lime render differently.

If it's a recent extension and it has to be painted it's likely cement based. If it's coloured render you need to find out who did it and get them to fix it as it's a monocouche render, likely to be silicone based and should not crack.

If cement based, an exterior filler should do.

I imagine cement based, painted white. Ta.

Look at the Toupret range. Fibarex is my current favourite.