Sandstone Foundation

[DRJR]

Masonry sand is clean fine sand.

[Lily left the valley]

{snip}What is masonry sand?

From what little I know about sands, it's an aggregate made of the same type of rock types as concrete sand, but it's finer grains. Some also say it's a visual step up from concrete sand, so more desirable for concrete projects like pools or patios.

From a pro site:

The simplest way to think about masonry sand is as a middle ground between concrete sand and white sand. It is finer than the former while being cheaper than the latter. As such, it is commonly considered the most versatile type of sand, and suitable for nearly all projects that do not call for a specific type of sand exclusively.

Here's another site that explains the differences between concrete/masonry/white sands: http://www.braenstone.com/2013/07/concrete-sand-vs-mason-sand-vs-white-sand/

[Kashka-Kat]

I had someone over to give an estimate, and now I wait forever and a day to hear back from them w/ the quote. Not sure what to make of them refusing to tell me what mortar they would use - maybe they think I would steal the information and do it myself. They did do extensive repointing to my exterior 12 yrs ago and its holding up well, so I do trust them I guess.

In the meantime... a quick question. The PO's had made a lame attempt to "finish" out the basement about 20 yrs ago.
The parts where they had obviously hired out someone I will keep (a bathroom +a couple storage rms) but the rest of it is crap.

Today I tore out some of their work - some warped old panelling and fiberglass insulation from the basement corner where the exterior foundation repointing needs to be done. ... I wanted to see if the damage extends into the interior surface. It doesnt - no signs of cracks or leaks at all....except there is some dampness around the bottom where wall meets the concret floor.

My question is - does this framing + insulation around the outside wall of the basement serve any purpose at all? Its a basement fer crying out loud! Im seriously thinking of taking out the 2 x 4 studs and just leaving it a rock wall, at least the portion that is below grade. It makes sense to insulate the parts that are above grade .... that part happens to be brick so Im thinking I can just glue some foam insulation board to it???

But what about the portion further down - guess I dont see what insulation there accomplishes, except it gets damp and gross behind the wall. Yuck.

[Kashka-Kat]

Never mind, Im just going ahead and ripping out framing/2x4 studs + damp gross fiberglass from some (not all) of the exterior walls of the basement. So next question - WHAT PAINT or finish for these (sandstone) walls? There is some parging over most of it - should I reapply where its missing? Or is there something that can be directly applied to sandstone - Im looking into silicate or mineral paint for my exterior masonry (concrete block) walls, maybe that would be good for interior as well? Since sandstone is so porous I think it needs to be something that wont trap the moisture from outside?????? On the other hand, I do have some work to do to direct water away from the house so hopefully moisture wont be much of a problem in the future.

THANKS

[Mick_VT]

The framing is not necessary, though it is useful as a way to hold insulation. You will still get some heat loss below grade, at least for a foot or two depending on climate etc. Further down you can actually get a warming effect in winter and cooling effect in summer. I have used space blanket insulation on my crawlspace walls for it's lack of moisture retention and ease of insulation, though it is not the highest in R Value

[Gothichome]

KK, just maybe that siloxane stuff Devyn used on his Philly home is the stuff for you. Will seal but is breathable. I most definitely would stay away from any thing that seals tight.

[Kashka-Kat]

By my reading siloxane doesnt appear appropriate for sandstone - "for dense (?) concrete and masonry" It is a type or variation on silicone apparently. A clear repellent makes some sense for exterior (I will have to look into that), but inside all I really need is color/esthetics - repellency not so much. I think I will go by this - http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Content ... s=R:CS4216 which warns against coatings on sandstone.

Maybe it just gets to be an exposed rustic stone & brick wall - that might just be OK for a basement. Like many things I encounter in my old house, sometimes the best solution to a problem is to re-define it as a non-problem

[Mick_VT]

Sealants and stone can be very problematic. For example people often think they can protect marble gravestones with water repellants, and the result is the outside of the stone crumbles and comes off! I vote for the redefine

[Kashka-Kat]

Uh oh. I did find some water damage where water seeped through from exerior - about a 2 x 2 ft area where the mortar is missing and the parging came off. Not falling apart or anything like that though.

Most of the interior sandstone foundation is covered with some sort of parging or stucco that is mostly holding together quite well and I would like to restore it where its missing in places. Can I assume this is original to the house? Im assuming its pretty old because there are some repairs w/ more modern looking (harder) cement.

The top 1/4 of this interior wall is brick - some serious spalling in one place. Part of this job I think has to be finally getting some water resistant coating on the exterior concrete block and after 12 years of dilly dallying (also known as "researching" ) Im leaning towards a silicate or mineral paint (which can be semi-transparent which shows more texture or opaque)

[Kashka-Kat]

Here it is a month later and still no word from the person who was supposed to give me a quote. I wish I knew how to get trades people to be interested in my rinky dinky repair jobs - at least enough to return my phone calls and tell me they are too booked up with big major profitable jobs to have time for my rinky dink little job. But NOOOOOO, they arent going to tell me that, they just want to keep stringing me along just in case.

Guess its one more thing I have to do myself - sigh.