Damp House Renovation Advice

[James204]

I am buying a house that is covered in Damp. Im not sure if its due to the l roof leaking or just previous old person living there and not ventilating etc (there is no central heating either) (black mould in cupboards etc and mostly in corner of walls both upstairs and down. Its really a gut job but I cannot afford to do that and will have to live there.

I have been told it will be about 3k to get the damp fixed by the agent who had a free damp survey done. Is this possible to attack/fix yourself or should it be left to the professionals? Would it be best to install central heating asap to help dry it out?

Any advice or help appreciated, I dont really know where to start.

 

[TheVictorian]

Start by fixing the cause of the problems, i.e if the roof leaks then repair it!

Then make sure that the place is really well ventilated and heat it up if you can.

Finally remove any obvious signs of damp such as wet plaster or mouldy woodwork.

99% of the time 'damp treatments' are not needed, just proper management of the building.

 

[foxhole]

Agree, though I think it's nearer 99.9% damp treatments are not required.
Good ventilation is the key.

 

[James204]

That's a great help, thank you.

 

[Johnmelad]

Some pictures might help.

 

[James204]

I haven't moved in yet but can take some pictures on my next visit.

 

[James204]

I have since been back to the property and the damp is far worse than I expected. One wall is completely wet (corner wall of downstairs and ustairs and downstairs wall that a joins the neighboring property (there wall is not damp next door so guess its the roof or guttering)

The property has rising damp all the way around the ground floor (all wet/damp). There was a survey done in January to inject dampproofing all around ground floor walls inside and out 4k + Vat. I am wondering if this is due to roof, drains or just the membrane failing. Providing the roof gets fixed and drains looked at, can anyone tell me would the damproofing for rising damp actually work or is this a waste of money? (Pics attached in album link - //www.diynot.com/network/James204/albums/

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[Dextraneous]

Nice house. Reckon your best bet is to get the walls stripped of their coverings and remove any failed plaster. Then fix any obvious cracks in external render and fix the roof; heat and ventilate as previously stated before throwing money at chemicals.

 

[James204]

Do you think its worth removing all the plaster downstairs to brick or just affected areas?

 

[Dextraneous]

I'd just do the affected areas as a starting point. Don't start fixing things if you're not sure that it's broken It's been a long wet winter and condensation in an unheated and unventilated house may well account for a significant amount of the problems.

 

[foxhole]

I have since been back to the property and the damp is far worse than I expected. One wall is completely wet (corner wall of downstairs and ustairs and downstairs wall that a joins the neighboring property (there wall is not damp next door so guess its the roof or guttering)

The property has rising damp all the way around the ground floor. There was a survey done in January to inject dampproofing all around ground floor walls inside and out 4k + Vat. I am wondering if this is due to roof, drains or just the membrane failing. Providing the roof gets fixed and drains looked at, can anyone tell me would the damproofing for rising damp actually work or is this a waste of money? (Pics attached in album link - //www.diynot.com/network/James204/albums/

Thanks again!

No such thing as rising damp.
leaking pipes, drains, gutters,downpipes,roofs and render where it's not required and poor ventilation explain all damp problems.

 

[Johnmelad]

I see no signs of rising damp at all.