Damp. Non motorhome related

[Okta]

As the problem is on an internal wall I think we can rule out rendering and repointing as possible solutions.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

As the problem is on an internal wall I think we can rule out rendering and repointing as possible solutions.

Not sure that is 100% correct, damp manifest inside more as you might not see it at all outside.

Our lounge bay was damp last year so we looked outside and found a tiny crack in the cement joints on the stone sill so we re-did them and the dampness stopped, just simple water penetration like you might get in a van so also worth checking for.

Our back porch is on the north side and single stone skin it runs with damp even though it is ventilated with an air brick, and the boiler is in there too.

 

[marchie]

Not sure that is 100% correct, damp manifest inside more as you might not see it at all outside.

Our lounge bay was damp last year so we looked outside and found a tiny crack in the cement joints on the stone sill so we re-did them and the dampness stopped, just simple water penetration like you might get in a van so also worth checking for.

Our back porch is on the north side and single stone skin it runs with damp even though it is ventilated with an air brick, and the boiler is in there too.

Kev, we were advised to insert an airbrick in our single skin 'Barn' [English Estate Agent's description!] in France at head height, directly above the bottom airbrick to create a mini cyclone of air flow to eliminate damp. It buggered yp my new plasterboarding, but it did address the damp issue, and was better than having a damn great dehumidifier running full-time

Steve

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Nowhere else to put one really Steve, so I just blast it with bleach mid-spring to kill it all off and repaint it, an hours job, it's not a place we use much, just in and out for the post and the washing machine is in there which of course helps a very lot

 

[Geek]

Pretty please can anyone reccomend a damp proofing company near Stratford on Avon. Unfortunately it's still an open door (me), rub hands (them), 'Oh look grey haired female..this will be easy!', world!

Any damp proofing company will use a resistance meter (designed for timber only) to assess moisture in plaster. They will diagnose rising damp.

If you have solid walls, injection damp proofing and cement render will cause damp, not cure it

Every building already has a dampcourse and they don't wear out. Damp proofing is a con.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Every building already has a dampcourse and they don't wear out. Damp proofing is a con.

Ours does not, at least the expert could not find one, except he did find in one corner which looked like it might have been rebuilt what looked like a few pieces of slate which works well as a DPC.

We are still looking for something that would work on a stone wall built directly onto the ground.

 

[TeamRienza]

Our previous house was stone and rubble built also directly built on the ground. The walls were in the region of 3 foot thick. It cost us £30,000 in 1984 and we spend probably nearly £20,000 to bring it up to a decent standard which included new staircase, new partition walls (timber) upstairs, new windows, rewire, replumb, central heating, but also wet and dry rot treatment (30 year guarantee). All of the floors were fitted with plastic membrane sheeting before being relaid in concrete. The walls were stripped of plaster to a height of about 3 foot and then an electric osmosis system was installed.
A wire was embedded in the wall at about 12 -18 inches off floor level. It ran continuously round the inside of the outer wall and about every 3 to 6 feet (can’t properly remember) it was laid directly into a predrilled hole by around 6 inches (memory again). It was plugged into a 13 amp socket with a plug which greatly reduced the volts and was never switched off in the 35 years we lived there. The walls were replastered with a waterproof plaster.
Guaranteed for 25 or 30 years, we certainly had no damp issues, although like most houses we occasionally got condensation which was easily dealt with by opening windows, and very rarely we might get some mould in a dead air corner, again easily treated.
I think the the theory was that the ground was electrically negatively charged, but the building was positively charged (or the other way about) and the electric damp course brought the two elements into balance thus removing the potential for rising damp.
Worked well for the 35 years that we lived there.

Electro Osmosis Damp Proof course | Damp

Electro Osmosis Damp Proof course

ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Davy

 

[Pudsey Bear]

We used plaster which could breathe, not sure if it is waterproof or not but doubt it.

 

[andromeda]

Thank you everyone. I have found a couple of leaking pipes and the dehumidifier has only pulled of a little water in the area with the washing machine so fingers crossed some water is just trapped from the floods. Going to leave all treatments etc for a little while with nothing near offending walls and then look again. Fingers crossed. Pictures if they load are of damage.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I hope it all dries out for you and was simply a leak.

 

[andromeda]

Drying out nicely at present. Found a couple more tiny leaks in the very old pipes. Dehumidifier is doing its job but bringing back memories of water up over the radiators last time we flooded.
Will stop whinging now; it's not making me ill or homeless. Thanks for all advice offered.

 

[Geek]

Our previous house was stone and rubble built also directly built on the ground. The walls were in the region of 3 foot thick. It cost us £30,000 in 1984 and we spend probably nearly £20,000 to bring it up to a decent standard which included new staircase, new partition walls (timber) upstairs, new windows, rewire, replumb, central heating, but also wet and dry rot treatment (30 year guarantee). All of the floors were fitted with plastic membrane sheeting before being relaid in concrete. The walls were stripped of plaster to a height of about 3 foot and then an electric osmosis system was installed.
A wire was embedded in the wall at about 12 -18 inches off floor level. It ran continuously round the inside of the outer wall and about every 3 to 6 feet (can’t properly remember) it was laid directly into a predrilled hole by around 6 inches (memory again). It was plugged into a 13 amp socket with a plug which greatly reduced the volts and was never switched off in the 35 years we lived there. The walls were replastered with a waterproof plaster.
Guaranteed for 25 or 30 years, we certainly had no damp issues, although like most houses we occasionally got condensation which was easily dealt with by opening windows, and very rarely we might get some mould in a dead air corner, again easily treated.
I think the the theory was that the ground was electrically negatively charged, but the building was positively charged (or the other way about) and the electric damp course brought the two elements into balance thus removing the potential for rising damp.
Worked well for the 35 years that we lived there.

Electro Osmosis Damp Proof course | Damp

Electro Osmosis Damp Proof course

ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Davy

The problem with electrosmosis is that there is no credible way that it could possibly do what it claims. Damp doesn't rise in houses. The dampcourse fitted during construction doesn't leave home. All you need to do is not have leaks, overflowing gutters, gardens and paths banked up against walls, and with solid walls make sure it's lime plaster and lime mortar pointing.

 

[andromeda]

Update the dehumidifier is drying out the wall nicely in the loo area. Where the subcontractors for the company appointed by the insurance company in 2007 did some boxing in of the unsightly pipes I have discovered no internal plaster on the outside wall and the holes from the damp prevention injection exposed. Obviously it was too much trouble to plaster properly as the pipes are caked in plaster also. I've also now found another minute drip point from the pipes.
Sounds daft but going to investigate whether damp rods can be put in from the inside as on that wall I can put them in from the inside in those holes. So leaving to dry out nnow as catching Covid this week has limited what little power I have to act.
Thanks again for all the thought provoking advice.

 

[trevskoda]

If I had some of the horror pictures on here in my home id paint it and put it o the market, some must be as old as the hills with single skin walls, all double here and full insulation, older homes are manly all knocked down or going to be soon.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

the only one which might work is the silicone injection but it needs to be done properly, id so damp cannot rise, but I believe it needs to be re-done at some point..

As for knocking houses down, never going to happen here unless the owner wants to and has pots of money to rebuild.

 

[Okta]

If I had some of the horror pictures on here in my home id paint it and put it o the market, some must be as old as the hills with single skin walls, all double here and full insulation, older homes are manly all knocked down or going to be soon.

A purchaser can seek compensation if know faults have been covered up and not disclosed.

 

[andromeda]

It would take a whole refurb to make my house worth selling so I could get what I would like. Lots of considerations besides house to make me move. I've great and fun neighbours and there's a great community spirit as shown during lockdown and floods.

 

[Drover]

According to my ex neighbour damp will only rise 1mtr. Anything above that does not come from the ground..
If you cant stop it "tank" the walls. He went to Poland for the ingredients to do his house as he said the UK stuff is rubbish.
To be fair his underground room is bone dry. A bit different to when he bought the house.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

We looked at that was advised against it as you are only masking the problem and water pressure can build up and push the tanking off the wall, lime plaster is the best way just let the walls breathe, or get a slate DPC fitted.

 

[Geek]

Usually damp in buildings is caused by too little ventilation and a small source of water.

The difference between being comfortable and very damp in a typical room of 75 cu metres at 20 degrees temperature is no more than three quarters of a litre of water. A tiny sustained leak is all it takes: one drip per minute is enough.