Fighaldene House Wiltshire B
The walls of this large country house are predominantly of Chalk Cob. Some extended areas are dressed chalk stones and brickwork.

The whole property has been rendered over the years using a very hard sand sand render, In some areas the render is on a chicken wire mesh. The external crack ( left ) results in timber decay and damp staining to the surfaces on the inside.

The inside of the house is suffering from damp as a result of rainwater penetrating through cracks in the render and not being able to evaporate from the surface.

To compound the problem some inside finishes are cement or Carlite based. Some damp penetration has allowed timber to become damp and decay.

The architect Ted Walters identified the need for specialist contractors to deal with the array of different problems. He wanted sympathetic repairs and consulted with the local conservation officers and the contractors. [click link to visit LSE Preservation web site]

The sand cement render was in very poor condition and it was deemed better to remove it and accept some damage to the chalk wall below than to leave it on and allow water to continue penetrating into the walls causing more damage and damp inside the property.
The work was started in February 2007
so it was deemed necessary to
erect
a scaffold with a full protective shroud all the way around it
to keep off the driving rain and make frost protection easier.

The hard render was removed and disposed of from site. The walls were wet down and a coat of NHL2 lime mortar 3:1 with a well graded washed sharp sand was hurled onto the walls by hand and to larger areas with a compressed air spray.
A scratch coat was applied and finished with a traditional diamond scratch then tended and cured.
The garden wall was in a terrible condition and was structurally unsound. The roof was propped with strong boys on acrows and covered .The defective cement render was removed and the wall was scutch hammered to square up the concave areas. Hazel spars and Helifix ties were installed to create a bond between new and old. The worst areas of wall were rebuilt with Cob Bricks and the less damaged areas were were built out with a cob mixture hurled into place onto the Hazel spars and Helifix ties
The wall was re rendered with a Lime putty and NHL2 mortar with a well graded sand.


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THIS PROJECT IS IN PROGRESS AND WILL BE UPDATED AS WORK PROCEEDS
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