couple of things...

[nickkinix]

Hi all I'm hoping someone can advise me....
I had a chemical dpc injected along the outside wall of my end terrace house in august. The walls however did not have the plaster removed as I was told it wasn't necessary (by Rentokil who did the work). The walls are still wet - especially where they used the tool to probe into the wall to check the damp levels (there are very obvious circles around the areas maybe 4cm in diameter.)
Please can someone tell me what to do as this is driving me to distraction!!
Secondly, I was about to hang a new blind in my bedroom window this afternoon when i noticed a vertical crack about and inch and a half in from the window which runs the whole height of the window. The crack is approx 3mm in diameter and the plaster has started to come away from the brick behind it.
This is my first house and I feel I was well and truly shafted, as there are numerous other things the previous owners covered up in order to sell. If someone can give me some advice Id be really grateful.

 

[noseall]

If you were to trawl through any of my replies to posts you would notice that in don't particularly reply to things concerning damp.

The words "damp" (regarding habitable dwellings) is so ambiguous it ought to be coloured grey.

All masonry will have a certain amount of dampness. It is the fact that mortgage lenders and D.P.M. companies work in cahoots to fleece potential homeowners out of money they need not spend, that gets my goat.

You are better off spending money on insulation and ventillation.

 

[nickkinix]

ok, i take that on board thanks
thing is though is the walls are sodden, and the paint has bubbled/flaked and the plaster is coming off the walls in some places.
the wet walls have 2 electric plug sockets on too which concerns me quite a bit!

 

[hotrod]

How old is the property nickkinix and do you have any photos of the damp? Do you have cavity walls or solid external walls?

 

[nickkinix]

hi there, the property is approx 1900's, and the walls are rubble filled from what I am told. I am uploading some pics now although they haven't come out very well. You can see the bubbling of the paint and the damp rings around the probe marks I was talking about. Hope you can help!

 

[nickkinix]

the link to the album with the pics in is:-

//www.diynot.com/network/nickkinix/albums/5312

Hope someone can help!!

 

[ajrobb]

Use the DIYnot BBCode for the pictures:

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• nickkinix
• 3 Apr 2010
• 1

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• nickkinix
• 3 Apr 2010
• 1

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• nickkinix
• 3 Apr 2010
• 1

Why not buy a hygrometer like one from Screwfix? Put it on the floor near the wall. If the relative humidity is high, it might show a ventilation problem.

I think the temperature at the bottom of the wall needs to be several degrees above dew point to avoid condensation. If it's not then you'll need to improve the ventilation.

With paint bubbling you might already have hygroscopic salts in the plaster and it COULD need replacing. You MIGHT need to use lime plaster and avoid modern gypsum plaster - see Heritage House.