Jointly measuring moisture and salts in old masonry by means of permanent sampling points

The presence of rising damp (usually accompanied by soluble salts) is one of the main concerns in old masonries, as it affects their thermal performance, hinders the inhabitants’ health and threatens the integrity of building materials, hence its elimination is of paramount importance. Monitoring moisture and salts in old masonry is essential for a correct diagnosis of the phenomenon and for controlling the effectiveness of repair systems. Nevertheless, such measurement is not easy, as it should provide quantitative, accurate and reliable data with a minimum destructive action. In the past, a method for monitoring moisture, based on the use of permanent sampling points created in the masonry, and allowing to skip the problems connected to bricks heterogeneity, was proposed by the authors. In this paper, the applicability of this method also for the measurement of soluble salts was investigated and experimental tests were carried out on laboratory-scale masonry models for the validation of the method.