# Problem with interior plaster/render on old brick building



## Columbusohio (Feb 15, 2017)

Hello folks and thank you for looking at my thread,

This is a 2 story brick building built in 1925. The exterior walls appear to be brick, timber(headers and sills), and concrete render with what looks like (burns like) lime based finish coat that has been painted. It's in Central Ohio where temperatures can easily get into the 90's in the summer and we occasionally go negative in the winter months. Annual rainfall is about 40"/year.

So the interior Northeast corner of the building (up and down) has been showing serious signs of water damage for some time. Recently I noticed from a ladder (scared of heights) there is an issue with the rubber roof meeting the brick on the side wall in that corner, AND the gutter seems to be sagging/failing. I knew to look in that area because the wall on the interior is clearly damp and so is the exterior. I have a roofer coming out to give me a quote on the roof (scared of heights), but I'm left with the interior damage. 

My question is, what are my options to repair the interior. You can see from the pics that the damage is pretty substantial. The lime/plaster came of in sheets and the render(?) is cracked and failing in some spots. I've scraped and cleaned of everything that was ready to come off. I went a little past the problem areas to ensure no further damage. 

I've read TONS of information about old brick buildings needing to breath and the importance of heat/moisture transfer from interior > exterior and vise versa. I have a good amount of experience with interior drywall and mudding, but I don't even know what product to use on this. Should I just strip it down to brick so I can insulate, or will that cause further damage to the brick?

Sorry for the long thread and thanks in advance for any and all consideration.

Thanks,
Columbusohio


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## inspectorD (Feb 15, 2017)

Welcome ,
This is a tough one,
First ,do you have any pictures of the exterior?
Second, what kind of basement or crawlspace floor do you have, and ...last

what is your budget...


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## Columbusohio (Feb 15, 2017)

I don't have any pictures of the exterior and it's dark out right now. I can see from the ground that there has been some spot repair done on the north side and it appears the back of the building in east corner was re-tuckpointed recently. There are some telephone/cable/power line connections drilled into this corner which I am sure have exacerbated the problem. There's a tiny bit of algae on the north wall equal to the baseboard on the second floor bedroom. Again, I am terribly afraid of heights and with the power lines there I haven't gotten up there. 

I can see very clearly from the exterior that the brick is saturated, even on days it hasn't rained. This is why I assume (and hope) that the roof is the problem and not the old brick. Also, if you notice in the picture the damage stops above the window which is only 5' from where the roof is allowing water to run over the brick. If it were the brick repairs or the brick itself, I would think it would be evident in other parts of the building. 

Lastly, there is a full basement which was dryloked roughly 10 years ago. Some water comes through the floor but basement walls remain dry. 

Budget is small. If the roof repairs stop the water (don't bankrupt me) then I could settle for a skim coat and some paint. It's tempting to want to insulate and drywall the exterior walls but that is going to be costly and is sounding like it may be a bad decision. 

Thanks


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## Snoonyb (Feb 15, 2017)

From you description and the photos the interior finish appears to be typical gypsum plaster and you should be able to find the products locally, and the learning surve is short.
http://www.thebluebook.com/search.h...hTerm=Building+Materials+(DBE,WBE)&class=2860


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## Columbusohio (Feb 16, 2017)

Thanks for the reply.

What should I use to fill the larger gaps and cracks?


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## Snoonyb (Feb 16, 2017)

If they are in the masonry then there is an aggregate caulk by SIKAFLEX and if the are just in the gypsum plaster, route them out with a "church-key, then fill with putty coat.


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## Columbusohio (Feb 16, 2017)

So what should I use to fill gaps that are too big to caulk?


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## Snoonyb (Feb 17, 2017)

Speaking to that area alone, it looks like a brick has deteriorated and you should remove more of the gypsum plaster to expose any more and replace the brick that have deteriorated, then apply the gypsum plaster to replace that removed.


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