Dry lining farm house

mengele

100 year old farm house here. Hasn't been lived in with 10 or 15 years. Needs to be brought up to standard.

TheThere is currently cement plaster on all the inside walls which I presume should be lime plaster. Would it be wrong to leave the cement plaster on it and just cover the walls with damp proof course and dry line then over that?

GrasstoMilk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058358998/dry-lining-farm-house

what type of material is the house built with ?
stone, slate,lime mortar, clay ?

We’ve renovated one farm building here which we live in, it was built with slate and granite and lime mortar. It was plastered on the outside in the 80s by a previous owner

We took it all away, those old walls hold moister and it needs to get away

On the inside we build a partition wall all the way around the external walls, brought it out 50 mm off the old walls to allow an air gap so the walls wouldn’t sweat. Put an insulated board then all the way around the inside and on the ceilings, it’s a super job. Takes very little to heat the house compared to what it would if we hadn’t done that

You could also do air tightness on the ceilings and around windows and doors which is a super job imo. It’s as good as insulating the whole house

minerleague

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122361439#Comment_122361439

Thinking of doing similar here- did you put any breathable fabric on inside or outside of that new inner wall ( if timber built) or was it concrete block wall?

Neddyusa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058358998/dry-lining-farm-house

Depends on the reason for renovating and how much you want to spend. Have done the full stripping cement plaster off job and re-rendering with lime here and very happy with it.

But it was a lifetime job for ourselves to live in. If your budget is tighter and you only want a shorter term job, dry-lining with a ventilated cavity between stud and wall can be a good option.

Ultimately those walls need to breathe though, so if they are limestone or limestone rubble walls, there will be damp and mould trapped behind your studs and slowly rotting timbers in roof, windows etc.

Kincora2017

Would it be wrong to leave the cement there? - in short yes. As mentioned elsewhere, cement doesn’t allow the building to breath or dry out. It traps moisture in the wall and causes untold damage that way.
Tackle that first and then access your budget for improving the efficiency of the house. make sure you get a heritage builder who has experience with traditional buildings, or if planning on doing it yourself, make sure you get the right professional advice.

There are grants available too - you might be eligible for some

JohnChadwick

Sorry to ask another question on top of the original post. But have a similar situation where I dry lined an old stone cottage years ago. I have since learnt a lot about breathable materials. Anyway the stone walls inside the dry lining have the cement render and a dpc resting up against them. Rockwool insulation between the dpc and dry lining then.

I am wondering about taking off plasterboard, cutting the dpc, remove the rockwool, and go about hacking off the render.

But all while keeping the stud wall standing.

After hacking off the cement render would repoint the stonework (with lime) and then, put a breathable cork board on the studwall that was previously holding the plasterboard.

I cant lose the stud walls as they support the ceiling.

Any thoughts on this approach appreciated?! Particularly the cork board.

148multi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122370161#Comment_122370161

Have you any issues with damp

JohnChadwick

See a bit of mould on outside of the plasterboard around one or two windows. Hard to know what it's like along the stone wall inside the dpc, it could be completely black with mould for all I know. I'd rather have the right job done with it, even though the house is very cosy as it is currently.

Kincora2017

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122370161#Comment_122370161

The most important part of the job is allowing the fabric to breath- so get rid of the cement render and whatever membrane you have.
Strictly speaking foil backed plasterboard shouldn’t be in an old building, but in your case, if you adequately ventilate the gap between the stone wall the the stud then that should be ok.
The aesthetic argument is that when you do what you’re talking about you lose the feel of a traditional building (you’re essentially living in a plasterboard box). whether that’s enough to justify additional outlay is up to you.

148multi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122370358#Comment_122370358

Probably no insulation at the window, could be more of a cold bridge problem.

You could vent the stud, top and bottom, the movement of air will carry out the dampness.

Wildsurfer

When people just lime render the inside of old stone buildings and don't use any insulation won't the house lose any heat through the walls? Can you use external insulation?

Neddyusa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122373447#Comment_122373447

I was afraid of that before we did it.

No insulation, just lime render inside and out.

But delighted we did it that way now.

For sure, if you left the house with no heat for 10 days in the winter, it would take an age to heat up again.

But if you have a low level of heat on every day, it's fine. The thick walls with their thermal mass act as a big storage heater and hold onto the heat, once you've got them heated initially.

Actually works really well with underfloor heating too.

Castlekeeper

Heat is over rated in houses, once there's no draughts, a good jumper and a wooly cap and you'd be roasting.

lmk123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122373715#Comment_122373715

you sound like a guy I worked with years ago, he reckoned good heavy curtains were better than double glazing 😂

Kincora2017

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122373789#Comment_122373789

believe it or not, in a traditionally built house he’d be right. You’d get far more bang for your buck in draft proofing old windows and getting a decent pair of curtains than you would a double glazed unit.

Obviously that doesn’t apply to anything built with modern materials (concrete block etc)

Lime Tree Farm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122373715#Comment_122373715

20240713_211950.jpg

Quench the lamp