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Konrad Fischer: Altbauten kostengünstig sanieren
Deutsche Startseite "Architektur-Magazin Altbau und Denkmalpflege Informationen"
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BIG English Version
- wizh my posts in english forums + more information roundabout the scientific fake & hoax ref. building construction + climate debate
Mold attack - What to do? A Guide +++ Rising Damp - A Fake?
Heating Costs Saving and Health Protection by the Interior Room Surface Heating System +++ Low-cost Repair, Renovation + Refurbishing of your old House
Traditional Craftmanship in Modern Mortars – Does it work in practice? (in english)

Altbauten kostengünstig sanieren: Heiße Tipps gegen Sanierpfusch im bestimmt frechsten Baubuch aller Zeiten (PDF eBook + Druckversion)



Castle, Palace, Old House, Fort, Fortress, Ancient Building, Manor-house, Manoir, Mansion, Restoration, Rehabilitation, Renovation, Conservation

The Hammer of Restoration and Conservation Restoration of the old house + Conservation of the historic Monument
Architecture Magazine for Renovation, Restoration and Repair

Dragon Advice, database and tips for the owners, landlords and tenants of the historic buildings

Common Mistakes + What Really Works


Konrad FischerDipl.-Ing. Konrad Fischer, Architect and Engineer
Hauptstrasse 50, 96272 Hochstadt a. Main, Germany
Phone: +49-*9574/3011/Mobile/Cell: +49-*170/7351557, Fax: +49-*9574/4960, e-Mail
Enquiries in:
German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish.
Answers in German or English.

The Author in a television discussion: Collapsing Roofs and Halls. The author in a discussion on the television: Collapses of the roofs - VIDEO-CLIP.WMV 3MB - A Scandalous Chronicle of Damaged Roofs (German) +++ An Ironical Criticism of the Ecological Building (German) +++ An Ironical Criticism of Energy Saving in the Old Building (German) +++ An Ironical Criticism of Repairing the Ancient House (German)


The ape Building facts you've never heard about: Did your audacious restoration, renovation, refurbishing, reconstruction, remodeling, improvement, rehabilitation or modernization of your historic building change to a disaster? Have you lost all your money and hope?

Death skeleton Did you insulate your old house by thermal insulation? Your house is locked hermetically and airtight now? Mold fungus at the walls and in the roof? All is poisoned with insecticide, fungicide, algicide, pesticide, synthetic softener, solvent and fire protection? From the ceiling the water drips and the dry rot grows? Your children suffer of dermatitis? Do all have asthma and cough? Are finally your eyes tearing and your thumbs completely blue?

You always found the perfect expert in your neighbourhood and the fabulous consultant in the InterNet Forums. The best and cheapest offers of the market too. Did your architect get your money? But the real planning is made by his industrial friends and producers of building materials. Free for him but too expensive for you. This isn't rare. At the rescue of the cultural heritage too. Do you know this? I congratulate! But: Perhaps your work may succeed better, healthier and even more cheaply? Do you know how?

You are welcome! Thank you very much for your visit. This web site is made just for you. Perhaps it is not too late? Here you will find free, independent, critical and controversial information regarding your house. Topics: The repair of old buildings and the restoration and preservation of historic monuments. Mostly in German language. Some pages are in other languages (English, Russian, Spanish, ... Look at the flags). Now this page in your language. Thanks to machine translation ;-) Please: Help me to improve the text. Send me corrective suggestions. This will help all visitors. Thank you !

But why text in your language? Because old houses, buildings and historic monuments must be restored also in your country. Many technical and economical problems and other questions we have in common. The errors too. With the same disasters for the historic buildings. The international building industry and your experts don't sleep. This also costs your money. Do you want to see examples? Click the pictures for further information:

The natural stone is damaged some years after chemical strengthening (1) + Broken stone mason work by chemistry restoration(2) + Potassium silicate paint with water glass priming damages old plaster(3) + Whole front damaged - by modern painting of silicate(4) + Formation of mould in the bathroom - by airtight isolating windows(5) + Brick-work in the water - dampness does not ascend !(6a) + Flourishing of salts after borehole injection with chemical means(6b) + Algae are growing on the surface of External Thermal Insulation Composite System(7)+ Damaged thermal insulation(8)+ Soaked thermal insulation outside - inside mould !(9) + Fire catastrophe by inflammable thermal insulation (polystyrene)(10) + Cement mortar and brick - a pre-programmed damage(11) + Cement mortars and natural stone - always a damage(12) + Salty flourishing out of cement mortar - a typical damage(13) + Synthetic resin paint on natural stone and plaster - damaged soon(14) + Synthetic varnish on wood - soon damaged(15)+ Synthetic resin coating on weathered wooden fence - cracked very fast(16)+ Joint sealing with PUR-Foam - Very nice?(17)

Explanation of the pictures: (1), (2), (3), (4): Destroyed surfaces and crusts as typical result of potassium silicate strengthening and coating; (5) Mold fungus in the bathroom; (6a) No ascending or rising dampness in the brick-work in a bath tub ! (6b) Salt flourishes out of the wall after a horizontal sealing with salty and poisoned injection in drilled holes - borehole injection; (7) Growth of algae on the surface of External Thermal Insulation Composite System, from: B+B, Magazine for building maintenance and care of monuments, January 2002, photographer: University Wismar; (8) Soaked thermal insulation in the garden, from: "Building craft and reconstruction of buildings 2/01", photographer: H. Paetzold; (9) Wet thermal insulation outside and mold fungus inside; (10) Exploded and burned down thermal insulation, from: "Pictures of the damages up-to-date", Bavarian fire insurance Munich; (11) Cement mortar, brick-work and frost; (12) Cement and natural stone; (13) Lime from the mortar on the new front; (14) Synthetic resin coating on a historic front; (15) Synthetic resin coating on a window; (16) Synthetic resin paint on a fence; (17) Window and technology today

Is this information controversial and unusual? However, the information corresponds to the old one tradition and art of the skilled crafts. Many years experience at the restoration work are the basis: Historic monuments and ancient buildings from the farmhouse to castles, manor houses, mansions and ecclesiastical buildings like churches and monasteries. Also my father had been architect and did this conservation work since 1958 until his dead 1979, when I started. I could learn much from him. After my studies I had been a scientific volunteer in the office for care of monuments in Munich for two years.

Building Rehabilitation, Conservation, Preservation, Repair, Maintenance, Restoration, Renovation for Public and Private Use

The best specialists of the industry, the famous experts from the handicraft, the very trustworthy engineers, the always dark black dressed architects and also your so friendly friends nearby will have mostly another opinion. Perhaps they will give better advice. But you must decide by yourself whether my information for you is meaningful and useful. However, you also can follow your wise experts on the broad one Street of the success (only for the experts?).

Famous and recommended home repair and advice books from one of the best British authors and the UK's top (and only?) building expert, my dear colleague: Jeff Howell, webmaster of AskJeff.co.uk:

Perhaps you can find here no answer to your questions. Alternative: There are over 1.500 pages in German language: Restoration. Preservation. Conservation. Technical and historical investigation and survey of buildings. Building materials for old houses: Brick, lime, mortar, plaster, brick-work, wooden framework, concrete, painting from synthetic resin and potassium silicate. Restoration, consolidation and strengthening of sandy and corroded natural stones. Problems with the restoration and renewal of the building and its parts from the foundation to the roof. Economy and financing. Deceit and corruption at the industry and the planning of houses and restorations. Last, but not least - an adventure: The climatic change - what's true? Here you can find the way:

- Do you want to buy a German castle or palace? Examples: Palace / Castle / Manor-house / Mansion for Sale.

- Ascending dampness and rising damp. What will not work against dampness and wetness in the masonry of walls and brick-work. Failures of the struggle against damp and salt attack in the cellar and in the foundation, at the front and in the layers of plaster. Ineffective, destructive and expensive masonry drying methods: Horizontal isolation by injection in drilled holes (borehole injection), drilled metal plates or foils after masonry cutting, hermetic mortars and paints with synthetic resins or very funny electronic dewatering by electro-osmosis. Methods, which do not work and make all worse: The largest business for the swindlers not only in Germany. Also in English language: Rising damp does not exist

The ascending and rising damp in the brick-work and masonry does not exist ! The House in the rising water - no ascending and rising dampness ! Quai wall in the port - no capillary ascending and rising dampness ! No capillary ascending and rising dampness in the brick-work and masonry. Not in the laboratory, not at the building in the water, not at all at the brick-work in the harbour. But why? Because the capillary transport is impossible from the material with small pores (brick and natural stone) into the material with large pores (mortars)! Enlighten yourself ! The capillary transport in the pores of the stones and the mortar joints will not defeat the gravity more than 10 to 20 centimeter. Only the water-waves and the salty water of the high tide make the walls wet! So it is in good old and modern Germany. Should it be possible in your beautiful and mysterious country? Test it in your bathroom, if you don't want to believe this! Don't believe in bad guys and silly theories. Don't believe me too! Neither a colored silk tie and a wonderful luxury class car nor a colored web page can improve bad advice ! And what will you believe? Hoax and witch work? Enlightenment must be !

- Mold fungus and black mold. The usual result of the modern building methods: Wrong thermal insulation, hermetic airtight rooms and heating of the room air. So your most important food is abused: The air to breathe. Also in English: How to get rid with mold attack.

Mildew / Mold fungus black mold mould

Climate Kamikaze: Mold attack
Götz Wiedenroth: Climate Kamikaze

- Climatic change - Global warming and cooling: Climatic change - Global warming and cooling: scientific facts Scientific facts and Climatic change: perfidious green horror cruel green eco-horror. The decrease of carbon dioxide as a perfidious weapon against nations and people worldwide. Faked and man made in USA & GB - Climategate!

- The fraud with the thermal insulation. Wrong energy saving, terrorist ecological laws and corrupted governmental regulations force you, to destroy your own house and your family or tenant: With industrial and ecological materials for the wrong thermal insulation. Expensive packed air in foam and fibers, artificial and ceramic stones with pores, wool, cotton, hemp, cellulose, recycled newspapers, sea-grass... costs your money. However, these materials will certainly moisture up soon. Then follows the algae. The poisonous black mold fungus also. And the white mildew, the spiders, cockroach, bookworm / fishmoth / silver fish, gnawing beetles like death-watch beetles (Xestobium rufovillosum), furniture beetles (Anobium punctatum) and termites, the worms and the book louse (trogium pulsatorium), the mice, the rats, the weasel and the woodpecker. Maybe asthma, headache, dermatitis and cancer too.
Algae are growing on the surface of External Thermal Insulation Composite System Algae on the surface of an External Thermal Insulation Composite System.

Be cautious against the dangerous technology of the passive house! German junk science! There are also today in Germany cheats! The modern science can be very corrupt.

The R-value without any good effects
Diagram: Consumed heat energy in rooms. The walls have different construction. The R-value / k-value (heat conduction / thermal conductivity) without sense and effect: Research of the Fraunhofer-Institute 1983. X-axis: k-value of the wall construction. Y-axis: Consumed Watt of heat energy in the measured time. Purple and red: Thermal insulation with 23 and 10 centimeter polystyrene. Green: Only brick.

Thermography - a hoax
Original text under the picture: "A thermal imaging of the front proves large losses of the heat. Measurement at temperature outside 10oC, still wind and unknown temperature in the room. A cause for the visible loss of the heat is that the window is implemented in solid masonry." From the Danish newspaper Byg Tek (Building Technology) 25.10.04 of journalist Michael Rughede.

Enlightenment!!!That is only advertisement of the international chemical industry and the manufacturers of insulating material. The producers can be connected financially with some engineers, architects, craftsmen, scientists, officials of the state, politicians and media. They want to sell airtight houses and maximum thermal insulation to you. No benefit for the house owner. Maximum cash for the other side.

The picture shows only the heat radiation from the solid wall surface 12 o'clock. Sun warmth only! The southern wall radiates much and red. The western wall radiates little and blue / green cold. More Enlightenment !

- The Room Envelope Heating System - Properly or Risky Heating (in english) - Heated air or warm walls?
Convection heating by hot air - convector The usual convector heater: Hot air is heating. Head hot and feet cold.
In your room: A dusty typhoon or zero wind? Much or little consumption of energy? Asthmatic children, flu in each winter by wrong heating? Condensate and mold fungus at the cold walls? Or gentle heat radiation from the room surfaces? The energy saving with thermal radiation heating needs little technology. The result: Always dry constructions and houses. Healthy, cool and pure room air.
Heat radiation heats - infrared thermal radiation Radiant warmth is heating by infrared thermal radiation.
The room air is cooler than the room surface. No airtight hermetic isolation of the rooms. No senseless thermal insulation with soaked building materials. No condensate into cold surfaces. Many facts about the disadvantages of heating pipes in the floor and behind the plaster in the walls. Also: The better alternatives. Here one of many examples of the cheap and well preserving heating with radiant heat: Thermal radiation heating in the palace Veitshoechheim Palace with thermal radiation heating (english version)

- Poisoned wood protection and not poisoned natural wood preservation. The struggle against destructive fungi, dry rot and insects (wood worm, termites, gnawing beetle ...). The durable care of weathered wooden constructions outside. Terraces, balconies, landing stages, bridges: All in good shape now. No poison, but natural know-how.

Weather and wood - poisonous protection
Weather and wood with poisonous protection.

- Old and new windows and their coating. Many technical explanations. Synthetic resin coating on the weathered window After only one year: Old windows and new synthetic resin coating.

Glass is not penetrable for IR-radiation / heat radiation Electromagnetic waves and glass
Enlightenment!!! Diagram of Professor Dr. Claus Meier: Window pane glass is not permeable for the wavelengths of the ultraviolet radiation (< 0.3 µm) and infrared radiation (infrared radiant heat &lg; 2.7 µm). Only the wavelengths of light can penetrate glass. The sunshine comes in the room. There is fire protection from fire resistant glass. The light of the fire is visible behind glass. But the heat of the fire can not penetrate the glass pane. The materials will absorb the electromagnetic waves of the light. Then the materials will emit the light energy in the infrared wavelength. So: Light can heat your room.
X-axis: Wavelength and transparency of the window panes. Y-axis: Intensity of the radiation.

Two window panes filter more free solar energy than one. Double glazed windows will force condensation in the wall. Sealed windows increase the dampness in the room air. Thus the heating consumes more energy. Therefore modern windows will increase energy consumption and mold attack. Enlightenment !

Neuenburg castle restoration
The Neuenburg castle.
Planning of the restoration (architecture, construction, civil engineering / technology: Water, waste water, heating, ventilation):
Konrad Fischer and staff employees.
( Neuenburg Castle Museum E. Kane's english information: www.roadstoruins.com/neuenburg.html )

- My english lecture in a RILEM seminar 'Characterisation of old mortars with respect to their repair - Historic Mortars - Characteristics and Tests', University of Paisley, Scotland, May 1999: 'Traditional Craftsmanship in Modern Mortars - Does it Work in Practice?' (English)
My sketches of the excursion to Glasgow, castles, historic kilns and other places. Sketches of castles

Cistercians abbey monastery Waldsassen, front restored in lime technology
The abbey in Waldsassen
The front we repaired with pure hydrated (caustic, not hydraulic !) lime mortar and lime-casein-wash. Cheaper and better than destroying methods based on cement, synthetics or soluble glass / potassium (potash) silicates.

- Decay of concrete and cement. Rusty reinforced concreteRusty corroded and decayed reinforced concrete. The disaster with the self destroying constructions and building materials of the modern architecture. Wrong and correct repair of rusty constructions of reinforced concrete.

- Konrad Fischer playing cello in the Christmas oratory from J.S. Bach The author / Reference - my biography. References to some projects since 1979 (> 400). Official reference testimonials. Note: Click on my picture. Download a 2,8MBwmv sample. Konrad Fischer playing cello in the Christmas Oratory from J. S. Bach. Conducted by Marius Popp 2005.

- Building materials - The problems of the modern structural systems. They can damage the old house and its inhabitants. There are alternatives.

Increase of the temperature under different building materials / insulating materials
Diagram: 'The experiment of Lichtenfels': Increase of the temperature under different building materials / insulating materials (4 centimeter) after 10 minutes of irradiation with a red light lamp. The materials from above: Mineral wool, polystyrene, foamed glass, clay brick, wood fiber, gypsum cardboard, pine wood. X-axis: Time of the irradiation. Y-axis: Temperature in ° Celsius.

Note: The Rth-values/U-values (= "U") are not common with the changes of the temperature and the practical effect of the thermal insulation. The crazy joke: Enlightenment!!! The experts of R-values define their results without any regard of the time and amount of heating energy in the proof before they start measuring. Heavy materials suck up and store huge amounts of energy. Therefore they can lose much more energy than air filled insulation. Some experts neglect the free daily energy radiation outside the building from the sun and the surroundings in their dark laboratory and soul too. Think about it, then you will detect the reality even if you are no doctor and only a normal stupid guy.

Porous material like modern light bricks, aerated concrete, industrial or ecological thermal insulation are technically very problematic. Mostly they prevent the capillary drainage of the materials by totally or partly lack of capillary activity and with synthetic coatings, what causes severe problems of wetness and moisture storing: The capillary pores of the materials are densed and sealed / 'insealated' by synthetic coatings. The transport of water in materials by capillarity and by diffusion relates 1000 : 1! So if the capillary activity is blocked, the materials will never get out the dampness and moisture. And in the case of front insulation this materials store every night much water in by condensate: The lightweight materials have not any sufficient storing / store capacity for the daily solar radiation and energy.So they are cooling very quickly by radiation change with the icy heaven after sundown. And start to suck condensate from the cooling air outside during the whole night. Many insulating materials are toxified and threaten your health with terrible poisons such as toxic boron salt, fungicide, pesticide, insecticide, algicide. Mineral wool, PUR (Polyurethane), expanded or extruded polystyrene, poly-icynene (open-cell polyurethane) sprayed-in foam, polyester, fibre glass, foamed glass or wood fiber, sheep wool, cotton or cellulose wool, hemp fiber or hemp wool, linen fiber, coco fiber, seaweed, sea-grass, light loam, vermiculite - a naturally occurring mineral that may contain asbestos fibres!, wood wool, newsprint recycling, cellulose flakes blown-in and sprayed cellulose are only some typical products for failed thermal insulation which must be wet after more or less time. Enlightenment!!!They give no better thermal insulation than the traditional solid building materials like wood, brick and natural stone. An additional front insulation will increase the heat consumption: by shadowing the wall behind. And all the poisoning and sealing of the insulating materials will not help against humidity problems. This materials store humidity and condensate. That makes the mold fungi like black mold, dry rot, mildew and mites, also lice, ants and beetles, mice and rats very lucky. As soon as the cruel condensate has defeated the synthetic foils, the parasites will come! Besides fiberglass and similar insulation materials can cause severe itching, inflammation and other harms. The clever homeowner should not trust too much in all the computations of the theoretical thermal conduction / thermal conductivity. Consider the sun power by solar radiation. Enlightenment!

Renovation mortar systems according to WTA - a harmful alternative for salty and damp walls

Information to lime, brick, mortar and masonry:
- Mortar from lime and its improvement
- The restoration of plaster and painting on historic fronts - problems and solutions
- The most frequent errors with the use of mortar, plaster and paint of lime
- Renovation mortar systems according to WTA - a harmful and risky alternative for salty and damp walls (see image on the left)
- Lime mortar of lime
- Plaster and mortar from lime at the ancient building
- Building materials for walls and masonry in the comparison. Many interesting and rare building material tables. Important information for building in warm, hot, cool and cold, dry and damp regions. Problems of modern building materials for restoration. They age by changing temperatures and dampness very fast and thereby destroy historical substance. Notice: Cement mortar is not permeable for water, so water is trapped in the walls. Once saturated, the wall begins to erode.

Baroque timber-work house before the repair . Baroque timber-work framework-house after change, renovation and restoration
Baroque timbered framework-house before and after repair with traditional and economical technology, planning: Architect and engineer Konrad Fischer and employees

- Careful and tender restoration and preservation. How to repair and restore the old buildings and constructions: Traditional, innovative, sensitive, reversible and economical methods. In contrast to modern methods: How do they find the way to the old house? By beautiful gifts of the industry to responsible persons and staff for planning (professors, restorers, curators, architect, engineers). Later the modern solutions damage the building after some years. How were the historic buildings constructed, how the modern? In former times: Masonry and walls from stone (natural stone, break stone, brick and timber-work). The plaster only with mortar of sand and lime. The coating a paint of lime and of natural oil. Everything to repair well. Today: Terrible brutalities from reinforced concrete, rusty iron, lime sand brick, plastics, porous bricks and insulation of foams and fibers. Everything badly to repair.

- Economy and restoration and Financing. Economic and financial questions concerning the repair of old buildings.

Kloster Reichenstein - Fundraising-Video

- Perhaps will you understand my German texts better if you translates my german InterNet pages? Try Online-Translator or Google Translation

- If you need some more consultation: 200 EUR for the detailed answer to 1-3 questions by e-mail. 500 EUR for 4-10 questions. Local consultation: 150 EUR for each hour of consultation and travel. Additional the costs of the travel. I will submit an offer if you want. Payment (Bank Account) in advance with the commissioning. For local consultations 70 per cent in advance. You know why. Is this too much for saving a lot of money and misfortune during the restoration? You must decide. If you want to accept my offer: Please send me some pictures of the problems and the construction of your house with your questions and the voucher of payment, my answers will follow as soon as possible. More details in german language and my e-mail-adress here: Consultation. There are pictures of references too. If you want to book me for a Restoration/Preservation/Conservation Lecture/Seminar (example)- contact me by e-mail or telephone. Examples: Many Questions and Answers FAQ

Naturally I know that you are very cautious by spending your money. Me too! Your alternatives: You get any advice everywhere. You know the forum intelligence in the InterNet. Please try it, I wish you much luck! Two consultants, three solutions, four disasters. Wisdom of the industry behind. Experienced craftsmen. Super intelligent experts. DO-IT-Yourself. Clever pensioner. Curious neighbours. Unemployed technicians. Academic theoreticians. Physicists. The very clever uncle and aunt. Isn't it?

That was it for today. Thank you for your time and interest. I wish you much success! Or save all your money: Let your house age in dignity and enjoy more holidays and drink expensive red wines.

Good-bye and come back soon!!!

(Also keep in mind your friends. They don't know these information yet ...)


Medieval Castle, ancient palace, old house, historic building

German home page "Old Building and Care of Historic Monuments Information