[wanabee]

hi
Just wondered if anyone has dry-lined and insulated a solid stone wall (about 2 feet thick no cavity) to try and avoid condensation and damp.
Was thinking of painting a rubberised sealer on to walls then dot and dab a thermal plasterboard with a vapour barrier.
Some people think this will damage solid stone wall in some way as it would be unable to breath? How it would damage the wall I am not sure.
Has anyone got any advice or if they have already done this what materials they used?
Many thanks

[lachlanandmarcus]

We live in a listed stone house and it was recently renovated from a ruin. As part of that an internal wooded structure was built, with insulation between inner plasterboard wall and outer stone wall;  and damp proof membrane up to about knee/thigh height.

Despite the seeming clash between the breathable wall (which is lime mortared) and the impermeable inner structure, which I know experts tell you not to do but we have to meet building regs!, we have had no damp issues from this at all in the past 2 years since it was done despite being in a very exposed position.

In fact the only small patch of fleeting damp we have had was when the cast iron gutters full of snow which turned to ice and then melted and dripped down the wall and then refroze into a sheet, many times repeating the process. Being all lime mortar, eventually a bit of dampness soaked through to the inner wall just above the front door.

If you were going to follow your plan I would (and this might be your intent) be fixing the plasterboard to a frame of wood, not directly to the wall at any point (that way misery lies).

[wanabee]

hi
many thanks for your responce

Is there any reason why you did not take the membrane to the ceiling rather than stopping at knee height?

thanks

[OhLaLa]

If conditions suit, I also suggest using the plasterboard that is backed with polystyrene (I know it goes against renovating back to original using traditional materials). It will insulate and warm the room up noticeably.

[morri2]

Old houses need treating as such - if you have a real fire, woodburner, range, whatever - light it (them) frequently!  It circulates the air and stops the damp getting a hold. 

Just a little rant, while I'm on....Solid stones walls should be left alone, not dry lined on the inside nor rendered with non permeable materials on the outside - they should be lime mortared and/or lime washed, and internally plastered with lime plaster and breathable paint - that way the walls will breathe.  Building regs were formulated for new, modern houses and should not apply to old ones.  And if people don't want insulation and are willing to heat with renewables, then they should not have to dry line etc....etc.... I think there may be an element of keeping local insulation companies in business, or the economy ticking here.  As for it being ecologically sound -  it probably takes more fossil fuel to make the insulation than the additional gas or oil used in the heating of the house. 

[OhLaLa]

Totally agree morri2, unfortunately a previous owner of our property (about 50/60 years ago) had the place coated in concrete. Quote to remove it was £70,000, not including repairing any damage they found underneath. And so it remains. Meanwhile we have to battle with all the moisture permeating in, instead of out.

[morri2]

Know how you feel OhLaLa!   - the last one we owned had been coated in the ubiquitous (for Wales) pebbledashing    Still, with two woodburners and a wood burning Broseley range (which I really miss) we kept it lovely and dry.  Made sure the inside was breathable too so any damp evaporated and was taken out via the chimney(s) when the fire was lit.  Our neighbours warned us how damp it was before we moved in - but we never had any problems.

[lachlanandmarcus]

Old houses need treating as such - if you have a real fire, woodburner, range, whatever - light it (them) frequently!  It circulates the air and stops the damp getting a hold. 
Just a little rant, while I'm on....Solid stones walls should be left alone, not dry lined on the inside nor rendered with non permeable materials on the outside - they should be lime mortared and/or lime washed, and internally plastered with lime plaster and breathable paint - that way the walls will breathe. 

I agree but sadly Historic Scotland and the building regs people seem to have a fist fight and end up with a compromise. We were allowed to keep one wall non lined and lime plaster it and limewash as it has a huge original flat arch fireplace. The chimney is all sealed apart from the new flue for the wood stove but it has to be said that the room with that wall in it keeps as warm as the thermostat for the underfloor heating states, whereas the other rooms only need to be on about 12 degrees to be toasty....

Re the tanking we are on very free draining sandy soil over granite and on a slight slope away to our fields at the front so we were just needing to prevent rising damp, as far as possible we wanted the walls to breathe as they are granite and lime mortar. If they were impermeable seal on the outside with no way for dampness to escape we might have had to seal them inside too.

[wanabee]

many thanks for all comments