Stone house

[Jamc]

Hi all,

 

I have inherited my 2500sqft plus family home, it's an old stone farm house, recently renovated in 2000 with new roof, electrics and plumbing, but unfortunately still a very cold house/ with damp issue.

 

Any way is there any experience making this kind of building more renewable and warmer. I was thinking of underflow heating etc but maybe this is too costly and better making it more 'air tight'. The windows are double glazing but poor quality.

[TonyT]

 

best do a heat loss calculation to see how much heat is required.

 

look at faulty down pipes rainwater goods, external ground levels for damp.

 

consider additional ventilation in areas that generate moisture?

 

 

 

[Galileo]

Wonder if that renovation 24 years ago was done with any sympathy to an old stone building with for example a water permeable lime mortar etc? There seems to be a rule: air tight + stone house = damp

[Jamc]

I'm no expert, but I seen this a lot in Grand Designs, I doubt there was any sympathy for the stone and the internal walls were a standard plastering

 

[Susie]

Are any rooms less damp than others or some specific areas more damp. 
 

 

[Galileo]

Take a look at this post

 

 

Historic Scotland has some good reading on this:
 

https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/publications/publication/?publicationId=179c1909-3679-4486-9583-a59100fa98c1

 

There is a guy called Peter Ward that has a Youtube channel (and a book) talking about damp in old stone houses. Tread with caution though, his views do not align with a number of companies in the damp proof industry who he vigorously slates and I do not have the technical ability to say who is right:

 

https://www.youtube.com/@WarmDryHome

 

[Roger440]

A damp house will always feel cold

 

Damp walls are a thermal disaster.

 

Fix the damp (as suggested above) then worry about the heating.

 

Sadly, its a minefield.

[saveasteading]

1 hour ago, Galileo said:

Historic Scotland has some good reading

This is a good, and very sensible document,  and there is more  from them , but I've lost track of it.

 

 You don't need any specialist damp proofing, in fact it may cause problems.

 

Our steading , as most stone buildings , has 2 masonry skins filled with rubble and mortar. This stops most dampness and even has some useful thermal resistance.
As it is mostly granite, no rain gets into the stone, and a tiny amount will soak into the outer mortar then soon disappear again.

We built an insulated, damp protected, timber skin inside it. It was a shame to completely hide the masonry internally but it is the only way really. similar construction under the slate roof which we retained.

We did leave a feature area of wall exposed, with the bco permission.

We now have a building to new-build insulation standards, even though less was permissible. Cosy and dry right through its first winter as a dwelling.