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Timber framed pink house problem, brick infill

Started by sostreet, October 10, 2018, 08:35:49 AM

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sostreet

Hi
First time I've ever posted on a forum.

I'm currently living with my sick mother in her 130 year old house in Germany, which has started to deteriorate,  mainly after the last renters painted the wood beams with tar, which has now been scraped off, but left a lot of rot.
The middle beam has slipped down about 15mm as the bottom timber has completely perished, it's now sat on some pine scraps.

This wall in question is taking the full hit from the weather, the others are not so bad

My main question I'd like to ask you wise guys is...
When I remove the brick infill panels can I replace with a 2×? Frame and insulation and some kind of chicken wire screen to hold the new render, or even a ply sheet instead of render.

The inside of the wall is polystyrene backed plaster board. No vapour barrier.

It is not a listed building and no neighbours to complain, as you can see it's pink at the moment😂

Also, you can see where a previous builder has cut out and replaced part of 3 beams, it looks like a butt joint and has started to bow inward as nothing holds it together. What is the best joint to use here for a repair?

In other places the brick infill has bowed out from the frame, allowing water ingress.

I appreciate all the help anyone can give, it's very hard to find resources on such things.

Also any tips on jacking up the main beam?

Many thanks in advance

I can't see how to add photos


D L Bahler

There may be laws in the town/commune limiting your repairs to certain historically accurate repairs on such a house. You will first need to determine what is allowed, even if it's not listed. 

Fachwerk.de should be a good resource for you, they have forums filled with people who have done this sort of thing.
There are lots of concerns on a fachwerk house with what you can and can't do. The first thing I would say is an issue is the polystyrene backed board. There is no vapor barrier, because the polystyrene itself will behave as one. But it will also hold the moisture against the wood. 

After the war, there were a lot of lessons to be learned on repairing old houses. Notably a lot of bad things were done from that period into the 70's or even later that people didn't realize at the time would be detrimental to the frames. 
You should look into the use of "leichtlehmbau" or in ENglish it's usually called "light straw-clay". This was developed to be a suitable means of repairing Fachwerk, it's superior to brick and offers some moderate insulation value. It's also easy in inexpensive. 

Of course if you are allowed, the use of a quick frame covered with paneling is also good as you said. Just be cautious when using any sort of plastic or portland cement products in contact with the old wood, particularly where there is already some degree of damage. This will be a quick and easy fix, but it will only accelerate the deterioration. 

Regarding joists to repair rotted beams it's hard to say with no pictures, but I once again refer you to Fachwerk.de. 

To upload pictures, mouse over the tab "extras" at the top of the page. In the pop-down menu, click the tab "Forestry Forum Gallery" Then there should be a tab labeled "Upload File" 




sostreet

Hi
Thankyou Bahler for that information, i will check out the german forum.

Intresting what you say with the polystyrene acting as a vapour barrier, i had not thought about that, maybe i should check if the wood is rotting more from the the inside, rather than outside. Although at the moment i think most the damage was from the tar paint.

I have added images to my gallery

I will do some quick repairs this week and then a proper fix next year. I have decided to stay in germany and as i will inherit the house in future, i want to make sure it will last. I have converted the upper floor into an apartment with kitchen and bathroom and the outbuilding into a workshop. Being a 10 minute cycle to the centre of the city, makes it quite a unique location.

I would also like to replace alot of the brick infill with windows, to bring more light into the house, as unfortunately it faces North. 

I attach photos ...

 

 

 

 

 

 



D L Bahler

Is the rendering over the brick lime (Kalk), or is it portland cement? It's not possible to tell from the photos alone, but it does look suspiciously like cement. If this is the case, I would attribute the rot to this before the tar paint. 
Tar can be a good treatment for wood. The Norwegian stave churches have been painted with tar for a thousand years. But it can be bad in some cases also. Here I suspect you may have a 3-fold issue. The vapor barrier is essentially on the inside of the wall, with tar paint and portland cement on the outside. The cement will attract moisture, the plastic will prevent it infiltrating into the living are, and the tar paint holds in in the wood, since the timbers are untreated within the wall itself. 

If you do in fact have portland cement, I highly recommend you get rid of all of it. This to me looks like a classic post-war era reconstruction damaged house.  
 
Ich könnte mit dir auch auf Deutsch schreiben, aber um der anderen willen in diesem Forum söllten wir eher auf Englisch. Bitte vergib meinen Schweizer "Schreibdeutsch".

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