Rain damage stone house
We have had some rain lately quite a lot of rain actually and its showing up the usual damp problems in the old houses of Portugal. Normally nothing to be worried about as it can be sorted out with a little work. One of the more major problems caused by heavy rain is the rain damage severe enough to make a stone house collapse. We are not talking about subsiding foundations or flood damage just the effect of normal rain.
I pass this house outside of Penela on a regular basis and each time I pass I look to see how much more the fabric of the house has deteriorated. Rain water and gravity is a potent mixture.
It all starts very gradually. A broken or missing roof tile allows water to run down the roof joists and collect on the top of the stone wall were it pools and soaks into the wood. Because the wood is embedded in mortar the water stays there causing wet rot. This coupled with the inevitable wood worm and the inevitable is about to happen.
The roof joist will start to sag causing more roof leaks and more rot farther along the roof. In this case the roof timber sagged so that water was channeled towards the gable wall. As the roof continued its deterioration and rot. The rain water got into the gable wall loosening stone which fell to the ground and inside the house onto the wooden first floor. As more stones were washed away the roof fell further causing more water top fall on the wall. You can see that the sides of the cut through the wall are wet.
This fissure in the house wall has taken four years left any longer a strong wind may collapse the house into a pile of rubble.
Its bad but is it salvageable ?
Absolutely, because the stones making up the wall were bedded together with soil and lime the stones act as individuals and when they are loose enough to fall out they tend to fall on their own not in large sections as they would have if held together with modern cement. Obviously the wall will have to be stripped back before it is re built. Once the masons establish a firm base to build off they can relay the stones and the house will look better than ever.
If you are considering buying or renovating an old damaged stone house Castelo Construction can help you to establish what is worth keeping or replacing. You could save a lot of money with some timely advice.
info@casteloconstruction.com
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