Main wall crack repair

Probably the biggest job that we have undertaken so far has been the repair to the large crack in the original east wall of the chateau. This wall most likely is around 800 - 900 years old and over the years has seen a few modifications. Doorways have been removed, a window added and finally when a new and larger roof was added in the 16th century the wall was heightened. The wall has very little in the way of foundations, it literally just sits on the ground. About 100 - 150 years ago ivy was grown up this wall and indeed most of the front

of the chateau. Over time this grew to cover the whole wall and over the years has done untold damage. The wall is made out of stone and held together with a lime / sand mix, this mix relies on being able to absorb moisture to keep stable. The ivy sucks the moisture out which turns the lime cement into a dry sand which is not good for the wall. The roots also work their way deep into the stone work and crack it. All of this you can see in the first two photographs, especially the second where the route the ivy took is very clear. You can also see in the first photo how

the wall looked when we bought the chateau. A large tree growing out of the base of the wall, ivy growing up it, large cracks and all sorts of different renders that had been put on over the years. The final photo I took at the end of the day today, we have now finished the repair work and the wall looks great. A new gutter has been fitted too. The cracks that remain in the top render are very stable and next year we will remove or repair this render. Over the nexts months the new pointing will dry out a bit and lighten in colour assuming it ever stops raining! We have been really hampered over the last two weeks with constant rain - it is really starting to piss me off!