You are doing all the right things.👍You probably know but you can do a quick ‘Go/No Go’ test - (once you have restored the lime mortar) - just bond a piece of glass across one of the ‘fracture lines’ using epoxy - it’s a one shot system.😉👍
Dewatering the soil along the back wall of the house has caused subsidence. Just consider that as the water is piped away, voids remain which collapse in on themselves from the weight of the buildings stone walls. With a 100 year old house I would not be overly concerned. What I will suggest is determining how high you want the interior finished ceiling to be and running collar beams at that height on each rafter, the whole length of the two structures. A 2"X 6" piece of lumber X the appropriate length bolted to the rafter on each side with one threaded rod on each end is adequate. The purpose of the collar beam is to stop the rafters producing a lever force that pushes the bearing walls outward. So check those walls for plumb to confirm if this has happened over time. The collar beams will not restore the walls to plumb - but they will prevent the "spread" from getting worse in the next 100 years. This would also explain the big sag in the old roofline at the mid points. Clean those joints (which appear to be very dry! YAY) in segments. Don't do the whole wall at once. Point the joints with lime mortar. When you get to the big voids, have a good selection of native stone available to bridge the void. To salvage all of the native stone you will need for the entire home, you can carefully deconstruct the front face of the defunct fireplace that we see at 0:15 and as much of the sides as practical without interfering with the integrity of the common wall. If you deconstruct from the top, replace/repair any stone work and do your lime mortar pointing in 1 meter segments, you will be safe and secure. 👍
I concur with you about the cracks in the stonework. The house very likely moves seasonally. The weight of that slate roof that you just had removed also is very likely the reason for the cracking below the purlins. Hopefully, the new roof takes that long term problem away. Good plan with the tell-tales.
Well done on choosing to use lime, absolutely the way to go. I’d highly recommend a pointing hawk as well, makes pointing much easier especially with deep fill when you need a lot of muck.
Great video. If you see no signs of a crack on the outside of the house, I go with it is just movement from the weight of the roof. If it was my house, I would repair it as you suggested. Get the floors in and at tying the beams to the walls to reduce movement of them. Plus, as suggested, tie the roof beams to each other across the gable end. Keep going 👍🏻
Plenty of work there folks. When you say concrete, do you mean cement (e.g. Portland) based mortar; concrete by nature would usually have sand and rock or gravel.
Hello, I would check the wooden floor to get the actual reason why you have a difference of 5 cm between the center and the rear of the house (3 m ?). Indeed, the movement of the walls cannot explain that difference, (you can use simple trigonometry to compare the loss of height versus the hypothetical movement of the walls). If you don't believe this, you can check outside the verticality of the peripheral walls if you really think they are bending toward the outside (which I don't think you will really highlight, maybe 1 cm or so : the construction tolerance for old stone wall I would assume). In addition, as mention in other comments, one solution if cracks are increasing, is the use of tie-rod/collar beam to create the equivalence of a reinforced concrete belt which is the standard in today construction. My two cents on the root cause of the cracks ignition: The stone wall do not respect an offset between each horizontal stone line. As a result, the wall does not have a high stiffness due to the vertical alignement of stones which are stuck together only with friable mud. Then, after the first years of construction and the load coming from the roof being applied, the stone moved, and rearranged themselves until they found balance. This balance which is linked to the stiffness of the wall is mostly created thanks to the large mass of the wall (more than 40 cm thickness, right ?).
Hello. You could contemplate using a tie rod or tie bar (not sure about the right word -un tirant en français-) whether the cracks are active or not. Cheers.
Have you got the option to consult a structural engineer? They may have some recommendations and could probably tell you if it’s foundation subsidence or as you thought perhaps the weight of the tile. Either way I hope it is a manageable issue and within budget.
It might actually stop, since you have set up the weeping system in the back. So little to no water will be soaking the ground by the foundation. Look into putting hydraulic cement,along the bottom course since it won't shrink as it hardens, provides a stable base for the rest of the walls. Maybe leave about 5 centimeters on each side of crack with the lime mortar allow movement both ways
The cracks look like they maybe caused by the side walls getting pushed out with the weight of the roof and could be down to a period of time between the front and the back slates being changed at different times causing a imbalance of pressure on the building
Well.... Maybe he should contact each of his subscribers individually to find their personal preferences.. and supply a custom video to each one......!!! ..... or, maybe you should stop being a drama queen......
You are doing all the right things.👍You probably know but you can do a quick ‘Go/No Go’ test - (once you have restored the lime mortar) - just bond a piece of glass across one of the ‘fracture lines’ using epoxy - it’s a one shot system.😉👍
Dewatering the soil along the back wall of the house has caused subsidence. Just consider that as the water is piped away, voids remain which collapse in on themselves from the weight of the buildings stone walls.
With a 100 year old house I would not be overly concerned.
What I will suggest is determining how high you want the interior finished ceiling to be and running collar beams at that height on each rafter, the whole length of the two structures. A 2"X 6" piece of lumber X the appropriate length bolted to the rafter on each side with one threaded rod on each end is adequate. The purpose of the collar beam is to stop the rafters producing a lever force that pushes the bearing walls outward. So check those walls for plumb to confirm if this has happened over time. The collar beams will not restore the walls to plumb - but they will prevent the "spread" from getting worse in the next 100 years. This would also explain the big sag in the old roofline at the mid points.
Clean those joints (which appear to be very dry! YAY) in segments. Don't do the whole wall at once. Point the joints with lime mortar. When you get to the big voids, have a good selection of native stone available to bridge the void.
To salvage all of the native stone you will need for the entire home, you can carefully deconstruct the front face of the defunct fireplace that we see at 0:15 and as much of the sides as practical without interfering with the integrity of the common wall. If you deconstruct from the top, replace/repair any stone work and do your lime mortar pointing in 1 meter segments, you will be safe and secure. 👍
I concur with you about the cracks in the stonework. The house very likely moves seasonally. The weight of that slate roof that you just had removed also is very likely the reason for the cracking below the purlins. Hopefully, the new roof takes that long term problem away. Good plan with the tell-tales.
Well done on choosing to use lime, absolutely the way to go.
I’d highly recommend a pointing hawk as well, makes pointing much easier especially with deep fill when you need a lot of muck.
Fixing the foundation is going to be a lot of financial fun if you got to go that route
Well done on choosing to use lime, absolutely the way to go.
You can put some plaster over the crack and write the date on it. It will give you the reference to the further movement of the crack
Oui FM, la radio du rock!
Great video. If you see no signs of a crack on the outside of the house, I go with it is just movement from the weight of the roof. If it was my house, I would repair it as you suggested. Get the floors in and at tying the beams to the walls to reduce movement of them. Plus, as suggested, tie the roof beams to each other across the gable end.
Keep going 👍🏻
Check out the re-pointing device that @MartijnDoolaard used on his stone cabins. It injects the mortar and speeds up the whole process
Friend has a weekend house in the Adirondacks built on exposed granite schist , its tied into the rock and made of wood,so it moves as well. - Eric.
Plenty of work there folks. When you say concrete, do you mean cement (e.g. Portland) based mortar; concrete by nature would usually have sand and rock or gravel.
IMO houses used to be built to move , moving with nature instead of fighting nature like we do now. Enjoying the vids 😀 Eric.
Lovely bit of de-pointing there - I prefer the walls like that.
It's that pesky water...100 years of water... at least you're not dealing with the Millennium Tower.
I think the tower needs a bit more than pointing 🔨
Hello, I would check the wooden floor to get the actual reason why you have a difference of 5 cm between the center and the rear of the house (3 m ?).
Indeed, the movement of the walls cannot explain that difference, (you can use simple trigonometry to compare the loss of height versus the hypothetical movement of the walls). If you don't believe this, you can check outside the verticality of the peripheral walls if you really think they are bending toward the outside (which I don't think you will really highlight, maybe 1 cm or so : the construction tolerance for old stone wall I would assume).
In addition, as mention in other comments, one solution if cracks are increasing, is the use of tie-rod/collar beam to create the equivalence of a reinforced concrete belt which is the standard in today construction.
My two cents on the root cause of the cracks ignition: The stone wall do not respect an offset between each horizontal stone line. As a result, the wall does not have a high stiffness due to the vertical alignement of stones which are stuck together only with friable mud. Then, after the first years of construction and the load coming from the roof being applied, the stone moved, and rearranged themselves until they found balance. This balance which is linked to the stiffness of the wall is mostly created thanks to the large mass of the wall (more than 40 cm thickness, right ?).
Hello. You could contemplate using a tie rod or tie bar (not sure about the right word -un tirant en français-) whether the cracks are active or not. Cheers.
Have you got the option to consult a structural engineer? They may have some recommendations and could probably tell you if it’s foundation subsidence or as you thought perhaps the weight of the tile. Either way I hope it is a manageable issue and within budget.
It might actually stop, since you have set up the weeping system in the back. So little to no water will be soaking the ground by the foundation.
Look into putting hydraulic cement,along the bottom course since it won't shrink as it hardens, provides a stable base for the rest of the walls. Maybe leave about 5 centimeters on each side of crack with the lime mortar allow movement both ways
The cracks look like they maybe caused by the side walls getting pushed out with the weight of the roof and could be down to a period of time between the front and the back slates being changed at different times causing a imbalance of pressure on the building
I reckon you are spot on with the assessment of the cracks. It's there any good news with the house though?
Good video but I didn't really need the music in this one.
Well.... Maybe he should contact each of his subscribers individually to find their personal preferences.. and supply a custom video to each one......!!!
..... or, maybe you should stop being a drama queen......
I run a very small business. If I here the same thing from my customers, I get the message. @@andymccabe6712