Having recently visited Iceland, Amsterdam, Alsace, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, Luxembourg, northern Italy, southern, western and northern France, I saw no evidence of rising damp treatments and, on asking, I was met with confusion as it did not exist.  Period!  Okay, some of these areas may not have the same weather patterns we in the UK face but even Venice deals with moisture differently.

The back streets (canals) of Venice appear very run down but this is because the ‘cement’ renders and ‘cement’ pointing is failing. Yes even Venice, one of the most beautiful and historic cities in the world has suffered from the ravages of having used the wrong materials.  It will be so costly to put right that nature is being allowed to help and moisture is forcing failures of renders everywhere.  Thankfully the ground floors are mainly used for storage with living quarters on upper floors but the use of incorrect materials has caused havoc and untold damage with dreadful spalling to historic brickwork and stone.  Fortunately a lot of the base courses are of granite so the use of cement hasn’t caused excessive structural damage.

So, the solution?  There isn’t really one for Venice apart from the new flood barrier it is building, but the use of lime mortars, plasters and renders will return Venice to a better condition than it is at present.