I have a cottage with a natural stone wall in an arid climate that sees rain only in the winter.
The wall is really nice to look at:
The stones were collected from the area, and attached to the wall with cement. However, it appears that when the cement dried, it shrunk, and left many small holes in between the stones.
Apparently as a consequence, there is water damage on that wall inside:
It appears that the wall isn't completely watertight, and rainwater is coming through.
I bought the house only recently, so I do not know whether this is the damage from one winter, or from ten.
Still, something needs to be done because this corner is the only one that can house the wardrobe.
The only way to fix this that I can see right now is to plaster the wall. However, the thought breaks my heart because I'd of course be destroying its beauty.
Is there a way to water-proof a natural stone wall while preserving its look?
Best Answer
Where is the water damage relative to the exterior ground level? I note in the outside picture that there is significant slope to the ground - if the ground on the uphill and slope-side sides is not shaped to move water away from and around the house, it would be likely that there would be water damage on the lower parts of the walls from water flowing over the ground into the house - that would be corrected by reshaping the ground, not anything on the above-ground wall.
You could certainly try a clear-spray-on waterproofing material on the stones - but that won't solve ground drainage issues, if those are the problem. Digging out the soil around the house and applying waterproofing to the below-ground wall and placing a drainage pipe in the bottom of the trench before refilling will address those more throughly if reshaping the ground does not completely solve the problem.