Principles of Maintenance

Maintaining a listed or period property is a never-ending task. Regular maintenance is essential to keep the property in good condition. Even a few weeks without any maintenance can start a cycle of damage that can take years to correct.

While maintaining our house we have discovered a number of principles that we try to employ wherever possible. We have provided these to help others who are just starting out with an old property or who want to maintain their property more appropriately:

Damp

The biggest problems in old properties are caused by damp. Damp is the condition that leads to a whole multitude of other problems such as dry rot, wet rot, beetle attacks etc. Keeping an old property free from damp is essential. Many companies will try to sell you chemical damp proofing, but this is completely inappropriate for older properties. Old properties never had damp proof courses. They deal with damp through evaporation. It is therefore vital that this process in not hindered. To deal with damp in old properties requires the following of two vital principles:

Deal with the causes of damp

Regularly check gutters, downpipes etc to ensure they are working correctly
Ensure that the roof is sound and that no tiles are missing or that the thatch is sound
Watch out for run-off from roads, paths etc. and ensure drainage is adequate
Try to eliminate as much condensation as possible – improved heating and ventilation are the key

Allow the building to breathe

Don’t seal the building in a shell of modern plasters, cements and paints
Don’t introduce underfloor, membrane based, tanking systems
Use traditional renders, plasters, mortars and paints based around lime

Also remember that rising damp probably does not exist. It is a term designed to explain why you need chemical damp proofing! Also remember that electrical damp meters only give reliable readings on wood. They are not designed to work on plaster, brick or any other material. Anyone who tries to convince you that your walls are damp by using an electrical meter is lying to you!

Materials

Modern plasters, paints and cements work on the principle of sealing the building to stop moisture getting in to the property. Old buildings don’t work in this way. They must breathe. During wet conditions, such as rain and condensation they absorb excess water. They then release this water during drier periods and when the fire is going. To allow this process to work, the right materials must be used. All rendering, plastering, brick laying, pointing etc. must be carried out using mixes of lime putty and sand. No cement should be used. Lime allows a building to breathe and move without damaging it structure. Cement does not allow breathing and can break or damage bricks and stone as the building moves.

Paints should be lime based: either lime wash or lime paint. These again allow the building to breathe, whereas modern paints tend to seal the building behind a waterproof coat.

Craftsmanship

Most modern materials are designed to be easy and quick to use. Even the most amateur DIY enthusiast can do a reasonable job with materials from B&Q. Old properties were built by crafts people who were masters at their trade. Any work done on an old property should be done carefully and to a very high standard. Either get the appropriate people in or spend lots of time perfecting a skill before trying to carry out the work on a historically important old property where any mistakes may damage the property forever. If in doubt, consult a specialist.