Stone Foundation Repair - What to Do?

Owning an historic property with an old stone foundation can be an interesting experience. Those with a strong will and a sound pocketbook can be true caretakers of a piece of history. The foundation of that history is the simple, bold and strong field stone foundation wall.

Older buildings with a stone foundation will generally have the original stone facing visible on the exterior and interior of the building. However it was common to apply a coating of plaster to the interior foundation wall in the basement area, as a means of waterproofing so the stone may not be visible from inside of the building.

Foundation

Most of the original plaster would have worn off by today but if you are lucky, you just may run across an old stone foundation still in pristine condition but this would be the exception.

Stone Foundation Repair - What to Do?

Usually after 30 - 50 years the foundation would have shifted cause cracks to appear in the foundation wall and it wasn't uncommon to apply a second to the foundation with a masonry cement stucco. If the second layer is cement stucco than it would indicate that the second coating must have been applied after the early 1900's, when mass produced cement stucco became available.

Regardless if plaster or stucco was applied to the walls, they will look lumpy as the individual stones shapes will show beneath the plaster or stucco.

What to look for -A lot of these older stone foundations were never well maintained and can challenge a building owner with problems ranging from water leakage, mortar turning into sand, loose stones and bulging walls. Anything beyond these few maintenance problems could be considered 'in failure' and may need an engineer's inspection.

Stone foundation walls that leak - It wasn't uncommon for these old stone foundation walls to leak. When they were originally constructed a hole was simply dug to the dimensions of the building and a trench dug where the walls were to be placed. Large field stones would be placed in the trench and became the bed stones of the foundation wall.

Drain tile were not in use around the foundations of older building so static pressure would have been a problem from the beginning depending or the soil type and topography. A high quality builder would have trenched to daylight from the low corner of the building site to take water away from the foundation, if the site permitted. The trench would be partially filled with rubble stones before covering but this simply drainage technique would be an exception and not the rule.

Most of the older homes were constructed high off the ground to keep moisture to a minimum. The basement area for these homes where never intended to be used as living space so a little moisture would have been common and of no concern.

Stone foundation wall problems - Decades of water infiltration will cause deterioration to the stone foundation walls. The result can be bulged walls from excessive static pressure or settlement of the foundation, deteriorated mortar joints from excessive moister or loose stones and missing mortar joints from simple aging and movement.

Bulged walls - This problem presents the biggest hurdle for a building owner depending on the degree and severity of the bulging problem and the location within the foundation wall. Generally though, a portion of the foundation wall can be removed and rebuilt but proper shoring must be in place to support the building load before you proceed. This should not be out of the range of an experienced mason contractor and you should seek their advice.

Loose stones and missing mortar - These items are simple to remedy. Loose stones should be taken out and re-set with fresh mortar. Care should be taken not to undermine any critical support areas within the foundation. If you suspect an area of loose stone is carrying a beam load or other loads then consult a professional for advice.

Holes and missing joints can be filled with mortar or tuck-pointed to help tighten the foundation walls. Any brand of masons mix available at the local box store should be adequate.

After you have completed the repairs mentioned above you may wish to apply another layer of cement stucco. This will help to smooth out imperfections, close small holes, 'stiffen' the walls surface and hopefully provide some protection against water leaks.

Check the foundation annually and make any necessary repairs immediately. By taking immediate action and implementing the repairs recommended above you will be one step closer to keeping that old, stone foundation in shape.

Stone Foundation Repair - What to Do?

Michael Olding is tradesman and consultant in the field of restorations and repairs and currently operates a restoration and repair business in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is also a Master in the field of masonry construction, restorations and repairs.

In addition he is a writer and speaker as well as a marketing, training and business consultant for the contracting industry. If you interested in his services he may be contacted by visiting http://www.cincihomepro.com

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How to Create a Watercolor Look Using a Waterbrush or a Blending Pen

Do you love the look of watercolor painting, but you yourself are not a painter? Well, you're not alone! I, too, love the appearance of watercolor paintings and I would not consider myself a painter by any stretch of the imagination. But, you know what? You're in luck. There are a few simple tools that can help you easily create this appearance without the fuss.

The first tool is called a Blending Pen. In my opinion this is the easiest way to achieve the watercolor effect. It is a water-based pen that helps merge colors. Think of it like an invisible marker. You are able to pick up colors from either an ink pad lid or from a small amount of re-inker and color in images using this marker. It blends the color beautifully.

You can also use watercolor pencils to first color in images and then smooth out the look by coloring over the pencil with the Blending Pen. The look will be more fluid and watercolor in nature.

The second tool you can choose to use in order to create a watercolor look is called a Waterbrush. This is similar to a paintbrush in that it has a brush tip with a plastic barrel handle that you add water to. You gently squeeze the barrel to release some water into your brush tip and follow the same process as described above with the Blending Pen.

I find that this tool has a little higher learning curve (but not much) to it because you control the amount of liquid by squeezing the barrel, whereas the Blending Pen stays consistent throughout. This means you need to get a feel for how much pressure you should apply to achieve the look you want. The Waterbrush will give you a slightly softer, more muted look than the Blending Pen because of the larger proportion of liquid released through the brush tip.

Both tools will give you great results without needing a lot of experience or knowledge of watercolors. Plus, you have a lot of versatility--you can choose to work with several mediums to achieve this watercolor look. You can use ink, chalk or watercolor pencils. But perhaps one of the best benefits and strongest selling points of both tools is the low-cost. So it's a very small investment to get such stunning results. You can find both tools at most craft stores or online for around $3 (for the Blending Pen; sometimes called Blending Marker) and around $10 for the Waterbrush.

Kristina Baldwin is an expert stamper and scrapbooker. She owns her own business where she not only teaches technique and project-based classes, but sells the stamping and scrapbooking products she herself loves using. You can find more inspiration and information about her classes as well as starting your own business at her blog http://SunnyDayMemories.com

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