repairing parging on block foundation
 

I have a 60+ year old block foundation. The exterior was parged after being built. In some areas where water has been been against the cement the parging has crumbled and fallen off the block wall.

I'd like repair this, or at least make it look nicer.

I was thinking that just knocking off the loose stuff, then maybe wetting with a bonding agent, followed by new parging will probably not hold up very well, is that right? So instead I was thinking maybe I should dig down about a foot around the whole foundation, knock off whatever loose existing parging that I can, re-point between the blocks where mortar has eroded, and then screw a metal mesh over everything and apply new parging to that. Does that make sense or am I making this worse?

Basically what is the best way to repair what can be seen in the lower left of this picture, near the bare dirt under the basement window--
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5308/5...eefe9b45_b.jpg

(BTW, this is an older picture... the windows & doors have been replaced, the deck is being torn down, the area under it re-excavated with a retaining wall setup built, and a new larger deck is to be built)

Forget the parging, you need a new deck, windows & door first.................

OK, in all seriousness, you're first plan is better than the second and should pose no problems. Just make sure to get it as clean as you can, and get every last peice of loose plaster off. You're biggest challenge is going to be "feathering" the old & new together, take your time with it.......:thumbsup:

You might have missed the footnote under the pic--the pic is from last spring. The windows are already replaced, the doors are replaced and I have a contractor lined up to demo the deck, re-excavate under it, build retaining walls around the footprint of it, and then build a new deck that is 2X as large :yes:

The lawn is much improved as well, tho I expect it to get trashed from the excavation work.

This is just about the "simple" things that I can handle, like parging....