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

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

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.