The influence of the thickness of the walls and their properties on the treatment of rising damp in historic buildings

Abstract

Intervention in older buildings increasingly requires extensive and objective knowledge of what one will be working with. In old buildings, rising damp in walls that are in direct contact with the ground leads to the migration of soluble salts that are responsible for many of the pathologies observed. Our research allows us to conclude that the most efficient way of treating rising damp is by ventilating the wall base [2,4). This technique was experimentally validated to limestone walls 20 cm thick. As it experimental validation of different thicknesses and different compositions has not been possible, numerical investigation has been carried out in order to analyse their influence. In this paper we will present the results of the work developed in the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Coimbra in collaboration with the Department of Civil Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto. The main purpose is to analyse the influence of the thickness and composition of walls on the new treatment for rising damp in historic walls: the ventilation of the wall base.