1840’s Rideau River Farm House
- Complete exterior repoint
- Foundation repoint and water control
- Sections of rebuilt stone work
- Stone replacements
- Dry laid stone retaining wall and staircase systems
The owner of the property contacted Solid Masonry for a consultation regarding plans of completely gutting the house down to its stone skeleton. Solid Masonry worked closely with the general contractor and the home owner to restore the structural integrity of the house and to accentuate the beauty of the stone in accent features throughout the house.
Foundation repair:
The stone foundation had leaking issues and so the entire foundation was excavated, repointed and waterproofed. The interior foundation walls were also completely repointed. A large section of the basement was then converted into a wine cellar highlighting the exposed stone walls.
New doorway openings:
A beautiful feature of this house is the doorways from the original stone structure into the addition built adjacent to the house. A window from each the basement, the first floor and the second floor were all widened into doorways. The stone around the doorways was left exposed create a wonderful transition between new and old construction.
Exterior Repoint
The entire structure was chipped out and repointed. Many areas had large sections of loose stones and many more had deep voids as much as 8 of 10 inches deep. Both these issues are the result of the previous repair where the wrong mortar was used used.
In the 70’s or 80’s the entire house was repointed using a mortar that was far too hard. This was an extremely common practice at this time and can be seen on almost every stone building in Ottawa. The hard mortar traps water in the wall due to its lack of permeability. Water itself causes damage to masonry but this is accelerated by this freeze thaw cycle of the winters causing further damage.
Dry-laid staircase and retaining walls:
Dry-laid stone is made up of stone carefully cut and pieced together without mortar. A couple of the advantages of dry-laid stone is that there is no maintenance and the structure can virtually last forever.
Two dry-laid stone staircases were built with a locally quarried limestone.
Stone replacements:
Some stone sills and thresholds had deteriorated and needed replacement. Smith and Barber Sculptural Atelier did the stone cutting. Smith and Barber are always mindful to match the original stone down to its smallest detail and always provide the highest quality and craftsmanship. http://smithandbarber.ca.s42870.gridserver.com/
