I just tried to post this, but it appears to have failed. If it posts twice, I apologize.
I am in over my head with this entire house, but there are repairs I must move forward with or attempt. Currently, in attempting to replace old sidewalk adjacent to the house, I uncovered the base for the old exterior summer stove, badly tied into the foundation wall. Then I uncovered outright missing bricks from the outer skin of the two-brick foundation wall, missing or dusty mortar, old repair work that used too strong of a mortar, new bricks shoved in, a couple of cement blocks, and so on.
I know I need to use type O mortar to place bricks and tuckpoint as I can, and will be mixing a bag of type S down to specs with some lime and sand. My questions revolve around the following:
(a) Should I parge the exterior foundation wall before backfilling? If so, do I need to use a soft mix or can I use a modern quick setting mix?
(b) If I parge, can I get away with going below frost line (trench is currently about 42" deep), or do I need to go to the base of the below-ground foundation wall?
(c) Should I waterproof the parge (if parged) or the brick wall (if no parge) for the below ground foundation wall? If so, what material can I use?
I haven't yet found clear and consistent advice from online sources or some living souls yet, and NEED to get this wall done soon before more thunderstorms this summer. Thank you for any and all help!
I am in over my head with this entire house, but there are repairs I must move forward with or attempt. Currently, in attempting to replace old sidewalk adjacent to the house, I uncovered the base for the old exterior summer stove, badly tied into the foundation wall. Then I uncovered outright missing bricks from the outer skin of the two-brick foundation wall, missing or dusty mortar, old repair work that used too strong of a mortar, new bricks shoved in, a couple of cement blocks, and so on.
I know I need to use type O mortar to place bricks and tuckpoint as I can, and will be mixing a bag of type S down to specs with some lime and sand. My questions revolve around the following:
(a) Should I parge the exterior foundation wall before backfilling? If so, do I need to use a soft mix or can I use a modern quick setting mix?
(b) If I parge, can I get away with going below frost line (trench is currently about 42" deep), or do I need to go to the base of the below-ground foundation wall?
(c) Should I waterproof the parge (if parged) or the brick wall (if no parge) for the below ground foundation wall? If so, what material can I use?
I haven't yet found clear and consistent advice from online sources or some living souls yet, and NEED to get this wall done soon before more thunderstorms this summer. Thank you for any and all help!
