The importance of capillary imbibition and evaporation processes in the alteration of building stones under the action of salt crystallization can be estimated by various experimental techniques. The aim of this study is to understand the direct relationships between salt weathering, petrophysical and structural properties. We chose to work on calcarenite stone which was commonly used as building material in historical monuments in Morocco. Laboratory wetting-drying cycles were tested on calcarenite specimens with sodium chloride solutions of different concentrations. Results show that the permeability and specific mass of precipitated salt depend on the material porosity and solution concentration. Moreover, variations of thermal conductivity and permeability during applied cycles are less important for samples taken parallel to the sediment bedding than for those taken perpendicularly. The material anisotropy will also be discussed