STONE FOUNDATION REPAIR

The most common issue with stone walls is cracking and failing mortar. Pieces of mortar will separate and fall off the foundation, leaving the stone wall exposed. A good indication the walls need repair are piles of sand at the base of the wall. This happens whenthe sand mortar between the stones is loose. At best, this is unsightly and dusty, and at worst, it can cause shifting of the large stones that are integral to your foundations’ integrity. Typical repairs include rough casting or parging.

What is rough casting?

Rough casting is when we remove all the loose or failing mortar from the wall, fill any cavities, attach wire lath and then apply two coatsof mortar. This will keep your stone foundation from degrading and it looks great!
Note: Sometimes plastic sheeting is applied to the wall before the wire if there’s significant dampness or active water entering to createa solid moisture barrier.

What is parging?

Parging is similar to rough casting but no wire lathe is used. We remove all loose and failing mortar from the wall, fill any cavities, apply a bonding agent with two coats of mortar. This is a lower cost option to rough casting and looks great as well, but should only be done on dry foundation walls.