Help! We are renovating a 300 year old norfolk flint cottage. We are
having problems with severe rain driving in above our new bathroom
windows (downstairs). It was damp before, but we thought it was to do
with the old windows and thick artex from the 70's. It seems to be the
whole side of the house. I have tried Thompsons sealer, but it has not
worked. The pointing looks in good repair, so I thought it must be
pourous. So what should we do? Don't want to have a re-point if not
necessary.
Sandi

The message .com
from contains these words:

Help! We are renovating a 300 year old norfolk flint cottage. We are
having problems with severe rain driving in above our new bathroom
windows (downstairs). It was damp before, but we thought it was to do
with the old windows and thick artex from the 70's. It seems to be the
whole side of the house. I have tried Thompsons sealer, but it has not
worked. The pointing looks in good repair, so I thought it must be
porous. So what should we do? Don't want to have a re-point if not
necessary.

Well flint is not porous so if it isn't getting in through the pointing
it must be getting in somewhere else. The obvious place is via a leak in
the roof. Once in the wall water can take a circuitous route downwards
looking for a way out.

I have an old Yorkshire hovel with 2 foot thick rubble filled stone
walls. Twice in the last 30 years I have found a continuous thin stream
of water running out of the wall from above a window during heavy rain
but in neither case has there been a recurrence and I have yet to trace
the source of either leak. If it happened every time it rained I might
have a better chance of tracking the leaks down and more incentive as
well.

I believe flint walls generally have a mortared core rather than loose
rubble but such cores are likely to contain sufficient voids to provide
a pathway for water, particularly after 300 years, and could make the
actual leak even more remote from the resurgence than would otherwise be
the case.

--
Roger Chapman

Roger wrote:
The message .com
from contains these words:

Help! We are renovating a 300 year old norfolk flint cottage. We are
having problems with severe rain driving in above our new bathroom
windows (downstairs). It was damp before, but we thought it was to do
with the old windows and thick artex from the 70's. It seems to be the
whole side of the house. I have tried Thompsons sealer, but it has not
worked. The pointing looks in good repair, so I thought it must be
porous. So what should we do? Don't want to have a re-point if not
necessary.

Well flint is not porous so if it isn't getting in through the pointing
it must be getting in somewhere else. The obvious place is via a leak in
the roof. Once in the wall water can take a circuitous route downwards
looking for a way out.


That would be my suspicion too.

in my case in a timber farme it was the barge boards on the gable ends
...rain was blowing right through what was left of them into the wall
cavity, and it ended up oozing out of the window surrunds.


I have an old Yorkshire hovel with 2 foot thick rubble filled stone
walls. Twice in the last 30 years I have found a continuous thin stream
of water running out of the wall from above a window during heavy rain
but in neither case has there been a recurrence and I have yet to trace
the source of either leak. If it happened every time it rained I might
have a better chance of tracking the leaks down and more incentive as
well.

I believe flint walls generally have a mortared core rather than loose
rubble but such cores are likely to contain sufficient voids to provide
a pathway for water, particularly after 300 years, and could make the
actual leak even more remote from the resurgence than would otherwise be
the case.

Check barge and soffit areas.

Also if any drip boards are installed, but have rotted.

On 31 May, 17:01, wrote:

Help! We are renovating a 300 year old norfolk flint cottage. We are
having problems with severe rain driving in above our new bathroom
windows (downstairs). It was damp before, but we thought it was to do
with the old windows and thick artex from the 70's. It seems to be the
whole side of the house. I have tried Thompsons sealer, but it has not
worked. The pointing looks in good repair, so I thought it must be
pourous. So what should we do? Don't want to have a re-point if not
necessary.
Sandi

You really need to ask people with expertise on this, this is not a pp
oriented forum.
http://periodpropertyshop.co.uk/phpB...wforum.php?f=1


NT

wrote:
On 31 May, 17:01, wrote:

Help! We are renovating a 300 year old norfolk flint cottage. We are
having problems with severe rain driving in above our new bathroom
windows (downstairs). It was damp before, but we thought it was to do
with the old windows and thick artex from the 70's. It seems to be the
whole side of the house. I have tried Thompsons sealer, but it has not
worked. The pointing looks in good repair, so I thought it must be
pourous. So what should we do? Don't want to have a re-point if not
necessary.
Sandi

You really need to ask people with expertise on this, this is not a pp
oriented forum.
http://periodpropertyshop.co.uk/phpB...wforum.php?f=1



oh here we go again.

A flint wall is essentially a slightly more pourous form of concrete,
being made up of the same three materials..sand, cement and flint.


Thats as old as the hills and as modern as you like.

Not much has changed apart from portland cement replacing lime, since
Roman times.

Flint walls do not let water in. Not unless there are visible holes in
the wall.

so its getting in either through a visible hole, or far more likley, a
less visible one somewhere behind the outer layer.



NT