Hi there,
Hoping someone can help here! We're in the process of selling our Victorian mid terrace, and a number of people viewing the property are being put off by a damp patch that has appeared on one of our walls upstairs (nothing recent, its appeared over the last few years and we've lived with it).
We have had the local damp specialists out to look at it and they have quoted approx £1500 inc VAT to get it sorted using a newton mesh cavity system and replastering. The wall has the original lime plaster underneath a decorative wallpaper finish (paper will have to be removed of course).
According to the specialists, the source of the damp is due to the adjoining chimney breast that belongs to our neighbour (this particular stack is single sided only, facing into their property and they use a wood burner in winter with no liner). Apparently the specialists reckon the parging and residual soot will have absorbed moisture over the years and it is this that is leaching into our plasterwork).
I have discussed the issue with the neighbour a while back and he stated that whilst they too get damp patches, they are not too bothered as they just keep painting over it. They of course are not selling and any good surveyor will find it very quickly even if we did just paint over - so we need it sorted asap.
So my questions are:
- does the neighbour have to contribute given that its their stack, not ours that is causing the issue?
- if so, how do I go about making them do something about it? What is the process?
- is the quoted Newton system the best way forward to solve the problem? Is it acceptable to use this technique on a period property - it feels like a way of removing symptoms rather than fixing the source of the issue as such (a la chemical damp course 'solutions' that some renovation specialists seem to frown upon).
For info, the stack has already been reduced in height at some point in the past, and has had the pots removed and replaced with a slab of concrete, elevated by bricks to allow the smoke to escape.
Many thanks for any advice you can provide.
Richard
Hoping someone can help here! We're in the process of selling our Victorian mid terrace, and a number of people viewing the property are being put off by a damp patch that has appeared on one of our walls upstairs (nothing recent, its appeared over the last few years and we've lived with it).
We have had the local damp specialists out to look at it and they have quoted approx £1500 inc VAT to get it sorted using a newton mesh cavity system and replastering. The wall has the original lime plaster underneath a decorative wallpaper finish (paper will have to be removed of course).
According to the specialists, the source of the damp is due to the adjoining chimney breast that belongs to our neighbour (this particular stack is single sided only, facing into their property and they use a wood burner in winter with no liner). Apparently the specialists reckon the parging and residual soot will have absorbed moisture over the years and it is this that is leaching into our plasterwork).
I have discussed the issue with the neighbour a while back and he stated that whilst they too get damp patches, they are not too bothered as they just keep painting over it. They of course are not selling and any good surveyor will find it very quickly even if we did just paint over - so we need it sorted asap.
So my questions are:
- does the neighbour have to contribute given that its their stack, not ours that is causing the issue?
- if so, how do I go about making them do something about it? What is the process?
- is the quoted Newton system the best way forward to solve the problem? Is it acceptable to use this technique on a period property - it feels like a way of removing symptoms rather than fixing the source of the issue as such (a la chemical damp course 'solutions' that some renovation specialists seem to frown upon).
For info, the stack has already been reduced in height at some point in the past, and has had the pots removed and replaced with a slab of concrete, elevated by bricks to allow the smoke to escape.
Many thanks for any advice you can provide.
Richard