A Stoney Oh Dear
Owning an old house means a never-ending tasks of maintainence.
I keep a mental list of issues that need attending to.
The problem?
- The list ever grows.
- My time never expands.
But, while working on the NW corner, I have:
- repaired issues with the siding on the tower,
- replaced the rotten base of one column,
- discovered that water is getting into the column beam. I have not yet found the source of the leak.
- begun work on the damaged stone adjacent to the main stone steps:
The stone had been repointed before I purchase the house with Portland cement. This is a HUGE no-no, as the cement is rock hard, as opposed to the original lime mortar. During freeze/thaw cycles in winter, this is the result…
…the stone shatters. Here, I have pulled out some of the cement. I see at least three stones which need replacing. Sigh. None of this damage would have happened had lime mortar been used.
The edge.
The other side.
I noticed this problem years ago and tried to remove some of the cement. It was too hard and I made no headway. But now, it’s all just falling apart.
I love the stone sidewalls, and it has been painful watching them explode.
Sigh.
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The positive side of waiting, is that it became easier to remove the incompatible cement. The stone understands that in due time, it will be looked after. The shattered surface will blend in again with the rest of the stones
I’ve seen it removed with an angle grinder. Crappy job but you’ve done worse. You might even be able to chip it out with a narrow chisel if you are careful.
Is there any way that the cracks could be injected with an epoxy or something so the stones would not have to be replaced? Seal the cracks against water penetration and stop the shattering and chipping? Yes, they wouldn’t be pristine but they would be original and speak to the history of the house as in, “don’t do this.”
Locally we have a different problem. People don’t want to paint so they will staple chicken wire over a wood clad house and then stucco over it. The stucco fails and the wood underneath rots. A few years back painters were pushing this paint that would “last forever” and never fade or crack or need to be replaced or some such nonsense. Turned out it was for spray painting concrete and stucco and would destroy your wooden home.
Likewise I have kept my original wooden windows and they are just fine. My Mother replaced the aluminum windows in their house after 50 years and they are already broken. Modern windows and doors are only manufactured to last about 20 years until they have to be replaced.
I still have the original front door to my house but the kitchen door had been replaced and was rotten when I moved in so I had to replace it. Then had to replace it again. Next time I think I’ll get a Dutch door and put a doggy door in the bottom.
I’ve watched quite a few restoration shows from the U.K. and I know about lime plaster. I had some short concrete block walls built as a foundation for a perimeter fence and made sure my contractor used lime mortar and not concrete. I’m about to put in some decorative brick borders under my wrought iron fence in the front and will be using lime mortar, and soaking my bricks in water.
You live long enough, you pick up stuff.
I hope you can cut or chip the concrete out without damaging the stone too much and then get the stone repaired and then repoint with lime mortar. Is there any mason near by you can have come over and consult on the best way to remedy the situation without costing you both arms and both legs to replace the stone?
Yess! Find a gorgeous old wood door to replace that kitchen door! You’ll be SO happy.
Probably not. It is an odd door and it opens out rather than in so the bevel would be off, plus the hinges must stay for security reasons so I can only replace it with a new slab door that is cut to fit. but the current door is still doing fine and when and if it is replaced, it will outlive me.
It will be nice to have an actual dog door instead of having to just leave the door open.
I wonder if Koch Construction Specialities could help with this repair? They do beautiful work. Here’s a link to their page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kochconstructionspecialties