Stone wall advise

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Richb2

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I have a old stone house which is about 90 years old and is made from the stones that were in a old stone wall which runs on our property. The living room has cheap wood paneling which has been painted white, perhaps covering the original plaster and lathe walls. Needless to say, the house is not insulated very well. In one large exterior wall there are two large 5 foot windows which I need to replace. Since this exterior wall is made of stone, i would like am considering taking off the cheap wood paneling and having the raw stone of the wall as the interior. We live in NJ so it does get cold here. I have no idea how messy the inside side of that wall is. Would this be a big mistake heat-wise and should I just leave it?
 

Randyj

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That sounds oddly strange to me. Are you saying that you're going to remove the interior wall so that the back of the stone wall is visible and actually becomes the inside wall of the house? If so, then what is going to hold up the roof? Normally a brick or rock wall is just a veneer or covering and is not a supporting wall. As for the inside temp control or insulation of the house you probably will be better off just solving your problems by stopping the air leaks. There's lots of ways to relatively inexpensively stop air from coming thru nooks and crannies. If the wood panelling is a problem you can either replace it or cover it up with drywall. Caulking the seams of the panelling, base boards, crown molding, around windows and door facings/jambs are a good start...then remember to seal switch and receptacle cover plates and check the weather stripping around doors. If it's merely the aesthetics and you're wanting a kewl looking rock wall inside the house I'd make sure the floor can support the load. Rock and Brick are like any other outside wall in that they have their advantages and their drawbacks
 
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Rancher

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The stone walls are probably the load bearing walls, the key was the 90 year old part, they didn't waste the time to put a veneer on a stick house. And out here we used to make homes out of the mexican fired adobe block, it looks nice on the interior, however it's cold, I've seen where they've built a double wall and insulated in the void. But a bare stone wall even in Arizona is going to be a very cold room. I would fir out at least 6" and insulate it.

Rancher
 

Jadnashua

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Stone, unless it is a veneer over an insullated wall, is going to be really cold, so I agree, a good insulated wall cavity on the inside is probably a good idea. One window that might look good in that space is from a company called VisionWall. They do commercial and some residential stuff. Their windows are much thicker than "stock" insulating windows and would fill the space of your thick walls more asthetically, and provide a high quality R-factor. They are available in a neat form I first found in Europe in that there is one handle, three-positions, locked, pivot in with a stop (great for ventilation and security even in the rain), and open (like a door).
 
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Rancher

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jadnashua said:
They are available in a neat form I first found in Europe in that there is one handle, three-positions, locked, pivot in with a stop (great for ventilation and security even in the rain), and open (like a door).
Yeah! I saw those in Europe too, I wanted em for my house here and couldn't find anything close. I also wanted those rolling shutter things that you could crank up a bit and expose the slots in the grooves, anybody know of a source for those?

Rancher
 

Jadnashua

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I've seen them, maybe it was in Fine Homebuilding. More popular in hurricane country.
 

Richb2

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Too bad. It would have looked awesome. On the windows thing, I was thinking of getting Anderson windows, one flat and one bowed. I did a similar thing in another wing of the house with two similair sized windows. I got windows with fake mullions on both sides, in order to better fit the character of the home. The walls of the house are about a foot thick, so the windows sit flush with the outside walls of the house, and that leaves about an 8-10 inch space on the inside. I guess I need to get someone in to sheet rock, since the fake paneling is so crappy looking. Thanks for the responses.
 

Toolaholic

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I've been remodeling homes for 45 years

From the limited info You supplied , there is NO way to give any helpful info.

Suggest You find an experianced home repair -remodeler in Your area to look at your home. I would open up a small area [maybe in a closet] to see what the stone detail ,wiring ect looks like. Also compromise is good! maybe feature only one wall , opened to stone. Good luck,I like the idea
 
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