Internal Damp

[Stephen Ireland's pants]

Trickle vents on Windows should always be open . Just a tip

 

[antspider]

Only 3 ways you can get damp in a house.
Penetrating.
Rising .
Or a leak.
Think we can rule the 1st out as its an internal wall.
Rising can only rise to 1m high is it higher than that hard to tell of the pictures.
But in my experience if a damp course fails in a house it will fail all the way around not on certain walls.
So we're probably down to a leak.
Sounds like it's on the chimney area or close to it and work has been carried out on the chimney previously.
Check the stack and flashing would be my first job

Hello mate, your point about rising damp will only go up to 1metre in height is factually wrong . Loads of damp proof surveys will wrongly tell you this, then hope you will pay them to take off to a metre plaster , inject a dpc (waste of time) then re render /plaster with a waterproofer. This will in most cases just keep in any damp that penetrates the wall .

 

[antspider]

Damp Proofing Old Houses | Heritage Conservation

We see and hear about damp problems in old houses all the time. If we had a pound for every time someone rings about a damp problem, we'd all be very rich. Damp in old houses is perhaps one of the most mis-understood scientific disciplines within the building industry. It has become a fertile...

www.heritage-survey.org

Really good info

 

[Betterdeedthan red]

Hello mate, your point about rising damp will only go up to 1metre in height is factually wrong . Loads of damp proof surveys will wrongly tell you this, then hope you will pay them to take off to a metre plaster , inject a dpc (waste of time) then re render /plaster with a waterproofer. This will in most cases just keep in any damp that penetrates the wall .

Yes correct but as a rule its normally 1m.
But it this case it doesn't sound like rising damp as it's in an isolated area on a chimney

 

[antspider]

Yes correct but as a rule its normally 1m.
But it this case it doesn't sound like rising damp as it's in an isolated area on a chimney

I’ve worked on lots of old properties, chimneys, especially redundant ones can be a “damp” pain in the arse !

 

[Coatigan]

Damp Proofing Old Houses | Heritage Conservation

We see and hear about damp problems in old houses all the time. If we had a pound for every time someone rings about a damp problem, we'd all be very rich. Damp in old houses is perhaps one of the most mis-understood scientific disciplines within the building industry. It has become a fertile...

www.heritage-survey.org

Really good info

There is a lot to agree with there. And a lot to disagree with. Mostly the BBA bashing which like it or not is the baseline standard. But fair on the chemical injection being pap.

Hello mate, your point about rising damp will only go up to 1metre in height is factually wrong . Loads of damp proof surveys will wrongly tell you this, then hope you will pay them to take off to a metre plaster , inject a dpc (waste of time) then re render /plaster with a waterproofer. This will in most cases just keep in any damp that penetrates the wall .

'Rising' damp is a very contested topic in the industry. Some claim to have completely disproved it. And I guess, in the sense that water is sucked up through capillary action, or 'magically' moves up your wall as someone here described it, they are kind of right. But as a general description of low level damp along floor edges that gets bigger over time, 'rising damp' is a thing. Mostly when it saturates layers and has nowhere to go but the next layer. Most often caused by failing or bridged over DPCs. Or poor solum venting.

Heating, ventilating etc, is just management, or just a way of 'living with' damp. Perfectly fine for consdensation and internal environment humidity, but not so much for fabric issues or interstitial damp. It is not addressing the issue. Works, and is cost effective. But then so is just accepting seeing damp too. Probably too wide a discussion though that would take away from specific issues here.

 

[jrb]

I think I've found the problem? Possibly. I'll upload the pictures in a few minutes. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

 

[jrb]

Pictures taken from the garden. Zoomed in best I could with my camera phone. 3rd picture, bottom right corner on the chimney, mortar and lead flashing shot, or is the damage and location on the Chimney not sufficient enough to let water in? Can't get good pictures of the capping to see if it's been done properly or not. Click on pictures to enlarge.

 

[Coatigan]

I think I've found the problem? Possibly. I'll upload the pictures in a few minutes. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

Do you have any damp at high level in that area of the chimney?

 

[jrb]

Do you have any damp at high level in that area of the chimney?

In the living room? No, just on isolated areas along the base of the living room wall.

The only place where the damp has really risen by a metre or so is on the hallway wall and on the right side of the living wall that backs on to the hallway wall. As well as on the left corner of the living wall, which is opposite a cupboard that houses the combi boiler. The cupboard wall internally is damp free.

Repainted paint to the left of the socket and below the socket.

 

[Coatigan]

In the living room? No, just on isolated areas along the base of the living room wall.

The only place where the damp has really risen by a metre or so is on the hallway wall and on the right side of the living wall that backs on to the hallway wall. As well as on the left corner of the living wall, which is opposite a cupboard that houses the combi boiler. The cupboard wall internally is damp free.

I would think it rare for it to be such a direct leak in the chimney without showing up at high level as well, if not first. From the side like that at least.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

Plumbing to combi boiler leaking?

 

[BerkshireBlue]

In the living room? No, just on isolated areas along the base of the living room wall.

The only place where the damp has really risen by a metre or so is on the hallway wall and on the right side of the living wall that backs on to the hallway wall. As well as on the left corner of the living wall, which is opposite a cupboard that houses the combi boiler. The cupboard wall internally is damp free.

Repainted paint to the left of the socket and below the socket.

Is the combi boiler in the cupboard of the last pic?

 

[jrb]

Is the combi boiler in the cupboard of the last pic?

Yes.

I’m still using the temp electric fix. I can’t fix the down stairs sockets that keep on tripping the RCD switch until I find the source of the damp and get that sorted first. Arrrrgh!



Sorry about the shit picture. As you might be able to see, there is no damp on the wall in the combi boiler cupboard.

 

[jrb]

Plumbing to combi boiler leaking?

I‘m not losing any pressure in the combi boiler. Wouldn’t that be the case if there was a leak in the pipes? There are pipes that go from the rad up the kitchen wall into the wall/ceiling. Where the pipes go into the wall/ceiling after that I don’t know. Those pipes are nowhere near the left side of the living wall which has damp. They are next to the hallway wall and the right side of the living wall which has damp. I boxed the pipes in a few years ago.

 

[BerkshireBlue]

I‘m not losing any pressure in the combi boiler. Wouldn’t that be the case if there was a leak in the pipes? There are pipes that go from the rad up the kitchen wall into the wall/ceiling. Where the pipes go into the wall/ceiling after that I don’t know. Those pipes are nowhere near the left side of the living wall which has damp. They are next to the hallway wall and the right side of the living wall which has damp. I boxed the pipes in a few years ago.

View attachment 111956

View attachment 111957

a drop in pressure might occur but it only measures your central heating pressure and I presume the combi boiler is supplying your hot water as well. Are any of your radiators not full? do you know where the pipe work for your hot water goes

 

[BerkshireBlue]

looks like the hot water out pipe goes down from the boiler, the one going up will be the hot water out for radiators, and there's a radiator return pipe coming up as well as a supply water in coming up as well

 

[jrb]

a drop in pressure might occur but it only measures your central heating pressure and I presume the combi boiler is supplying your hot water as well. Are any of your radiators not full? do you know where the pipe work for your hot water goes

As far as I aware all the rads are full. All of them heat up when the central heating is on. It has crossed my mind about a leak from the pipes that go into the kitchen wall/ceiling, but bar the damp, there’s no evidence that is happening from what I can make out. I could be wrong though. Taking the skirting board off this weekend might reveal something? Hopefully!

 

[Gaylord du Bois]

Is that a party chimney? If so have you asked if the neighbour is having issues ?
The chimney will have a double skin of brick. In other words there's another inner layer of brick inside. Both layers are attached if you get what if mean.
There's a possibility of it being the flashing but it could also be a broken tile/slate issue.
Have you thought about having it taken down if it's not shared ? You could pay out a hell of a lot of money trying to get it fixed because unless the problem is accurately diagnosed you could be chasing it forever without remedy.

 

[jrb]

Is that a party chimney? If so have you asked if the neighbour is having issues ?
The chimney will have a double skin of brick. In other words there's another inner layer of brick inside. Both layers are attached if you get what if mean.
There's a possibility of it being the flashing but it could also be a broken tile/slate issue.
Have you thought about having it taken down if it's not shared ? You could pay out a hell of a lot of money trying to get it fixed because unless the problem is accurately diagnosed you could be chasing it forever without remedy.

The Chimneys are separate. My neighbour has their own chimney. Taking the chimney down has been mentioned on the thread and is something I would consider. Obviously cost would be a big factor in my decision. I want to try less expensive ways of trying to find where the damp is coming from first, if that’s possible?

TBH it’s a bit of a mare isn’t it. I could find the cause straightaway or it could drag on whilst every reason for the damp is looked at costing me more and more money. Imagine taking the chimney down, the cost of that, and the damp is still coming through the wall. :-(