T&G on old wall

looksee

I have a wall in an old cottage that is damaged by damp (since improved but not entirely gone). Partly lime plaster with patches of cement plaster. I don't want to get into full restoration at the moment - and finding a lime plasterer for a small job is impossible too - so I am wondering if I can improve the look of it by putting t&g vertical strips on it. The damage is only the lower 1 metre or so of the wall so I only need that height of cover.

I propose to remove the skirting, it has a cavernous, messy gap between the old wall and the poured concrete floor behind it, put some vertical treated 2x1 timbers on the wall. Cross these with horizontal 2x1 timbers and put on vertical, treated t&g with a gap across the bottom to allow air to circulate. I would put a narrow 'shelf' on the top edge with either a gap or perforated to allow circulation from the gap at the bottom. I could put

Does this sound reasonable? I could put a bit of mesh in place in the gaps to reduce creepy crawly access 😁 The the place is spider-mageddon anyway.

10-10-20

Hi looksee,

In my opinion all of this is possible as a temporary measure - but any reduction in the air-flow around any damp-prone areas is going to potentially cause the buildup of more damp, especially if it's rising from the lack of a DPM in the wall. Do you know the source of the damp within the wall?

Rows Grower

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058336027/t-g-on-old-wall

That'll be a massive improvement that'll buy you a lot of time until you can get the issue properly sorted.

blackbox

Timber sheeting on a wall with an air gap behind it is very inflammable.

Plasterboard will not burn but is not stable if wet. Cementboard might be a better solution.

looksee

Thanks. The job would be a measure to improve the look of the place and help stop everything that stands near the wall from going mouldy. It should really be done more permenantly but as soon as I start thinking about it it goes from a strip of blown and somewhat damp plaster to a massive job.

Its the one, main wall that faces the weather. There are no foundations, just stone building on large rocks at ground level. It had been a suspended floor but the most recent builders - 20 years ago - who built the 'extension' house put in a concrete slab. The original lime plaster inside is mostly still there but is badly blown in places, and is patched with concrete in others. The outside of the wall was faced with concrete render which is presumably causing a lot of the problems. It is vastly improved since we removed a plastic strip that had been wrapped all round the outside of the rock foundation and was holding in water, we also put in a french drain across the front.

looksee

Thanks blackbox, you are of course correct and it is one angle I had forgotten about. It would only be about 4' high, and no electrics behind it. The advantage of timber is that I could do it myself, whereas sheets of plasterboard would not be manageable. Getting anyone to do smaller jobs is almost impossible here.