Field stone foundation asthetics

[mike4230]

I have a house that is approximately 100 years old and the foundation is comprised of field stone. When built (or sometime long ago) they applied an ~1" thick layer of mortar/plaster over the whole foundation. Well over time its broken down to the point where in some places the rock underneath is visiable and other areas its still in tact and in decent shape. For the most part though the surface mortar/plaster comes off just by simply rubbing up against it.

There is some dampness that comes and goes depending on recent rain on the inside of the wall. There is no visiable running water, just damp to the touch from the ground level on down.

I would like to clean up the appearance of the walls and possibly waterproof at the same time. I was wondering what the best approach is to complete the task at hand. I have had contractors out who want to wire mesh the wall and scratch & finish coat. After that a waterproofing paint could be easily applied. I dont want to end up wasting money if its not the right approach so was hoping you guys could help me out.
Thanks,
Mike

[JacobPM]

Hi Mike,

Having the contractor put in the time and effort to re-shim coat it would, in my opinion, be a waste.

Field stone foundations will allways allow moisture and water through, which will beat at that coating and eventually cause it to peal and chip off again - even with a waterproof paint on the interior side of the coating.

If anything have the contractor spend the time updating the mortar joints of the foundation wall. This will help limit the amount of moisture and liquid water in. A flexible vapor barrier should then be put upon the stone foundation to catch any remaining moisture and water and channel it to a drain underneath the basement floor.

This is the best method to properly repair and protect the wall and the interior of the basement.

Pioneer covers Mass, CT, and Rhode Island....where are you located??

[mike4230]

I am located in Philadelphia...sounds like I am outside your service area by a bit!

I appreciate the info, I would like to email you a picture of the wall so you can get a better idea. Its a field stone wall however its covered with ~1" of plaster/mortar mix. In some areas its in ok condition, other areas (esp where its gotten damp) it just scrapes right away. Only a few areas are actually exposed right down to the rock. I would approximate this as less than 5% of the total wall.

I am guessing you suggest removing all of the ~1" coating down to bare stone and then begin repair?

Please PM me your email and I will fwd over a couple pics.
Thanks, Mike

[JacobPM]

Each wall is different, especially stone walls. The plaster coating pealing off in the areas your describe is definately an indication of moisture and water issues.

If these areas are having moisture problems,because of the nature of the stone foundation, other areas could easily have this same problem.

I'll be PMing you my email here at Poineer. We do have a few companies near you that we could recommend you too, they would be able to provide you with better, and much faster service;-)