clear coating a cob wall?

Firstly, that ain't a fucking cob wall. Cob is mud, straw, hair and shit. That there is a stone wall.

Now, sealing that cunt:

PVA or silicon waterproofing will do it, but think hard before you do. Walls should breathe and both will, if liberally applied, cause issues later (damp behind for example).

However, if it's just the mortar flaking, then a bit of pva should bind it in - just don't go mad.

The stone doesn't matter - varnish would give it a nice finish, that stuff looks quite hard so shouldn't be causing dust.

As far as re-pointing, make sure it's cement mortar, not lime based. Don't mix the two.

>>1139670
ok thanks. a bunch
we already have a bit of damp that makes the paint flakey and not adhere to the plaster, kind of salty on the other side of this wall, above ground in the kitchen.
the damp patches appear to line up with where the pointing is missing. Its effectively mud in a few places... hopefully a re point will solve this??

in regards to breathing, do you recommend i just PVA the render/pointing? there a 3 more walls just like this that are external walls - would they be able to take up the slack in terms of breathing issues?

thanks for your response mate

>>1139670
sorry me again..

or would chipping out the old flakey render and repointing most of the wall be a better option?

If there's a lot of damage, then repointing is the best way to go - but like I say, make sure it's not lime mortar first. (It's much softer - google for comparisons).

You can mix pva in with the cement if you do, that'll prevent it going dusty.

BTW, salt on the wall is efflourescence - caused by dampness.

>>1139691
ok thanks for the advice lad.
nice one