Our house is 1905 and has a stone foundation. Our inspector (we bought two years ago) said that it was one of the best foundations ever used in home construction since it had some flexibility vs. the concrete block or poured cment construction seen now. That aside, when it rained heavily the lovely white paint job on the walls concealing wet spots, began to peel away and we do have dampness on the walls and floors. My husband poured sacrete outside down some big cracks on the uphill side of the house - oh yes, we are on a hillside too - where the moisture appears and it has reduced it somewhat. Bottom line: I'm just sharing with you in the hope that someone will clarify how much moisture is too much, in the course of answering your question. I know about possible mold mildew issues but I'm more concerned with long term damage to the strength of the foundation. Oh yes, previous owners had put in foundation supports many years ago and the inspector said those were to eep it from twisting, not rolling down the hill as I feared : Anyway.....thanks for letting me add on without really helping you. Nina

This could be a serious structural problem that won't be fixed by patching and it would be wise to have a structural engineer (or at least a specialist who doesn't have a financial interest in the outcome) look at this now. If you patch now and it doesn't resolve the problem, more damage could occur that would make the situation more serious and more expensive to fix. Maybe it will be a fairly easy fix; but, if it's not, now -- not later -- is the time to find out. In an extreme case, a deteriorating foundation wall can result in a house settling, things getting out of plumb, cracks in walls, etc. Better to prevent than fix...

My 90 year old house has a fieldstone foundation with crumbling mortar. There is a little pile of dust all around the perimeter of the basement. We get no flooding or puddles, but the basement is moist in the summer and we get some mold. We don't want to fully finish the basement, but we want to make it clean and playable for kids, pleasant and non-moldy for storage. Should we seal the walls? How? Should we seal the concrete floor? Thanks in advance . . . .

I have no experience with the Proform system which appears to be pretty new. I'd check on Hearth.com for further information and opinions. I did have a Supaflu liner installed more than 20 years ago which has performed extremely well without any problems at all. Others, however, have apparently experienced serious deterioration which may be due to improper mixing of the liner material. A cursory look at the Proform website shows that the liner is installed then inflated and cured with steam. This is different from Supaflu which pumps a semiliquid slurry around an inflated former. The material strengthens the interior of the chimney because it makes its way into any voids in the mortar and becomes firmly attached to the brick from bottom to top. I don't think this happens with Proform. I also don't think it's really possible to pour a true footer from within the chimney. Footers should be wider than the chimney and support its weight from below. Stuccoing (parging?) the interior would also be very difficult. Using this method on the exterior would be possible, but would not be, in my opinion, as secure as repointing the brick. Proform may be an excellent lining system, but doesn't seem to really do much for rebuilding and restoring your chimney. Rebuilding brick by brick, then using a stainless liner, which are fine, seems a better option to me.