Listed Building and Traditional Solid Wall Building Surveys
Building Surveyor, Master Craftsman & Solid Wall Specialist
It is vital when engaging a building surveyor for Listed Buildings that the appointed surveyor has a comprehensive understanding of heritage buildings and traditional building craft methodologies because undertaking work on traditional buildings often works in reverse to that with modern buildings.
Why Start with a Listed Building Survey?
Listed Building Surveys and advice on Listed Buildings.
Sealing a building and preventing moisture movement (osmosis) is the wrong approach to resolve damp problems for a traditional building. An open approach is crucial to over come damp which helps explain why chemical injection is completely useless in traditional buildings.
It makes more sense to owners when they understand the two approaches and the purpose of capillarity function of mortar 'the lungs of the building', allows 'breathability' and therefore preserves the bricks/stone. Interfere with this process at the peril of the building and damp problems can be extreme and forever present and bricks/stone will degrade over time with water and temperature fluctuation. The science is quite simple. It should be enough to explain why a Building Surveyor, bricklayer, stone mason skills possessed by one person Adrian gill is an asset and truly unique find. We have not come across any one else with this unique skill set that Adrian possesses. Clients who engage Adrian quickly understand that Adrian can save them thousands of ££'s by avoiding chemical injection (sinful in a traditional building) instead 'conserving' their property for now and future generations at a much lower cost using traditional approaches than modern promises of chemical injection (sealing, closing) the building.
The starting point is a Listed Building Survey.
It makes more sense to owners when they understand the two approaches and the purpose of capillarity function of mortar 'the lungs of the building', allows 'breathability' and therefore preserves the bricks/stone. Interfere with this process at the peril of the building and damp problems can be extreme and forever present and bricks/stone will degrade over time with water and temperature fluctuation. The science is quite simple. It should be enough to explain why a Building Surveyor, bricklayer, stone mason skills possessed by one person Adrian gill is an asset and truly unique find. We have not come across any one else with this unique skill set that Adrian possesses. Clients who engage Adrian quickly understand that Adrian can save them thousands of ££'s by avoiding chemical injection (sinful in a traditional building) instead 'conserving' their property for now and future generations at a much lower cost using traditional approaches than modern promises of chemical injection (sealing, closing) the building.
The starting point is a Listed Building Survey.
Sacrificial brick vs Sacrificial Lime
Mortar is the mix between the bricks and must never be harder than the bricks.
Sacrificial brick occurs when hard mortars have been used the brick becomes the softest area and is forced to absorb the movement and becomes sacrificial.
Sacrificial lime is what should occur and is the ideal. Mortar (in between the brick) must be more porous than the masonry brick material to allow moisture to move through the mortar (Speweik, 1997)
Traditional buildings built with lime and sand mortar joints (breathable) allow breathability referred to as the lungs of the building (Speweik, 1997).
Repairs undertaken using modern materials such as cement based mortar (sand and cement) prevents breathability of the building through the mortar joints (in between the brick) therefore the outcome is highly likely to damage the brick structure (Speweik, 1997).
Cement changes the dynamic because no longer is there permeability and sacrificial lime. Instead the hard cement based mortar is impermeable which forces the water/moisture through the brick, this is called sacrificial brick which can deface the bricks and damages the structure and integrity of the building. (Speweik, Old House Journal 1997)
Sacrificial brick occurs when hard mortars have been used the brick becomes the softest area and is forced to absorb the movement and becomes sacrificial.
Sacrificial lime is what should occur and is the ideal. Mortar (in between the brick) must be more porous than the masonry brick material to allow moisture to move through the mortar (Speweik, 1997)
Traditional buildings built with lime and sand mortar joints (breathable) allow breathability referred to as the lungs of the building (Speweik, 1997).
Repairs undertaken using modern materials such as cement based mortar (sand and cement) prevents breathability of the building through the mortar joints (in between the brick) therefore the outcome is highly likely to damage the brick structure (Speweik, 1997).
Cement changes the dynamic because no longer is there permeability and sacrificial lime. Instead the hard cement based mortar is impermeable which forces the water/moisture through the brick, this is called sacrificial brick which can deface the bricks and damages the structure and integrity of the building. (Speweik, Old House Journal 1997)