The house is just over 100 years old, in Southern California. It has a 1/4 basement with river rock retaining walls. In years past there have been problems with the water table and a sump pump had to be installed to deal with seepage through the mortar holding the rocks in place. The water problem appears to have solved permanently.
The problem I have is that the mortar continues to deteriorate and leaves piles of dust along the base of the walls. Maybe it would be doing that anyway, at its advanced age. I was wondering if anyone knows of any product which might be suitable for applying to the walls to seal the remaining mortar in place?
The foundation has been retrofitted so I’m looking primarily at a cosmetic problem, but rocks will fall out eventually if this continues. My ideal fantasy product would be an aerosol lacquer-type product.
Any help would be appreciated.
Get a stone mason in to look at it and recommend repairs. I sincerely doubt this is an issue that can be solved by spraying something on the walls.
Thanks for your response, Mozchron. Of course hiring a professional would be the ideal, or maybe I need to learn to ‘repoint’ (I think that’s the relevent term) riverstone walls, but I’m holding out hope for a, well, maybe ‘temporary fix’ rather than permanent solution. Maybe I’ll just run some experiments, not much to lose.
I may well be looking for a solution that doesn’t exist, of course.
The German firm Sika are probably the leading brand in waterproofing solutions. I’d advise talking to a local rep, but you would probably have to have any work done by an approved contractor. It might be more expensive solution than a DIY attempt, but you’ll get a good guarantee.
I have a similar foundation that pre-dates Portland cement. I have been considering this stuff, or their other product Ion-Bond. Supposed to get in deep and strengthen lime. But I am cautious, because I want to make sure water will still be able to escape. Probably a phone would help resolve those worries.
you can learn to repoint the joints. do small sections at a time.
it is important to use like material, mortar, of similar characteristics so the wall behaves uniformly.
you don’t want to seal the inside. if water gets into the wall you want it to come out through the inside. landscape and keep water from getting in the wall from the outside.