The band of foundation wall between the soil and the siding takes more abuse than most homeowners realise. Rain splashes onto it, snow piles against it and frost works into every crack, so its protective coat does not last for ever.
Parging Services in Toronto
Goldstar repairs and renews parging on homes across Toronto. We remove failing coats, prepare the wall properly and apply a new cement finish that bonds to the foundation and gives the base of the house a clean, even look.
What Parging Does
Parging is a thin layer of cement-based mortar trowelled over an exposed foundation, whether poured concrete or concrete block. It hides block joints and form marks, sheds water splashing up from the ground and protects the wall surface from weathering.
It is a protective skin, not a structural repair. A good parge coat makes a sound foundation look finished and last longer, but it cannot hold together a wall that is moving.
Signs Your Parging Has Failed
- Fine cracks spreading across the coat
- Areas that sound hollow when tapped
- Sheets of cement peeling or dropping away
- Dark damp staining along the base of the wall
- Bare block or concrete showing through
Freeze-thaw winters are usually to blame. Water finds its way behind the coat through small cracks, freezes, expands and lifts the parging off the wall. Each winter the loose area grows until whole sections fall away.
Parging Is Not Stucco
The two finishes are often confused.
Stucco is the rendered finish on the main walls of a house, and it has its own mixes and methods, covered on our stucco repair page. Parging belongs on the foundation, and swapping one mix for the other tends to fail quickly.
How We Parge a Foundation
We tap the whole wall to find hollow areas, then chip away everything loose until we reach a firm base. The surface is cleaned and roughened so the new material has something to grip.
A compatible parge mix is applied in a controlled coat, pressed firmly onto the wall so it bonds rather than bridging over voids. We cut the edges neatly at ground level and around taps, vents and window wells.
Finally, the surface is finished to suit the rest of the house, whether smooth or lightly textured. The result is a tidy foundation that throws water off at the base instead of holding it.
When a Bigger Repair Comes First
Fresh parging will not survive on a foundation that has settled, cracked right through or begun to bow.
If we see signs of movement or water coming through the wall, we tell you honestly that the structure or waterproofing needs attention before any new coat goes on.
Problems above the foundation are handled separately. Loose brick or open joints on the walls themselves fall under masonry repairs or repointing, so the right fix goes on the right part of the building.
Book a Parging Estimate
Is the coat on your foundation cracked, hollow or peeling? Call Goldstar on (437) 243 1908 to arrange a parging estimate in Toronto.
