My cellar walls are crumbling, it was plastered over with cement from the previous owner and under that is...?

Question

a wall of what is now crumbling tiny stones that form the barrier between the underground and my cellar. The cement that was plastered on the loose stone wall is collapsing. I have a humidifier running daily to try and help things, but there is still a bit of a damp smell at times. What should I do to keep the walls from crumbling (any special paint or plaster) or should I just place a new wall (sheet rock?) in front of the deteriorating one?

Answer 1

I had a similar situation with my walls. Try to clear out the loose stuff & recemented them with a heavy layer of cement, &  painted them with dri-lock paint. It may not be the ideal solution but it will take care of things for about 5 plus years.

Answer 2

The previous owner simply did what's called "parging" the walls. If the surface to which the parge was applied is bad, the parge will fail. To address this problem will require that you remove all loose, crumbling parging. Inspect the existing original foundation walls. Remove all loose mortar etc. and tuck-point the joints with new mortar. Once this is done, you could apply a couple coats of "UGL Dri-Lok" waterproofing paint to all walls (use the water base kind, the oil base Dri-Lok has a terrible odor). Also, I'm assuming you meant to say "de-humidifier" and not "humidifier....a humidifier would only add to the existing problem.