damp in basement

[surreygirl]

Well I have been told that I have rising damp in my flat which is a basement flat. I had a DPC put in about 20 years ago but it seems to have failed as I have damp coming up over the top of the DPC it is shown by red discoloration coming through the plaster and also on another internal wall the plaster is bubbling up. I can understand that the external walls could have water coming through from the outside but I do not understand why the internal walls are showing damp.

Also I have had some of the companies say I have damp in the bathroom and kitchen whilst others say there is no damp there!!

Others have said that I have a real problem whilst others have said that it is really only cosmetic and that the damp is not bad. Who to believe and what to do. Do I go for another expensive damp course or leave it and just replaster. Any advice would be appreciated

 

[JohnD]

you live in a basement so you might have penetrating damp and you probably have condensation. Show us some pics //www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=129539

how do you ventilate your flat, and how do you dry your washing?

 

[^woody^]

You can't have rising damp in a basement. If someone told you that you have, then you can safely strike them off the list of reputable, believable companies

If you have damp, then your tanking has failed, or its just condensation.

You might want to get a proper survey done by an independent surveyor who does not have an interest in selling remedial work

 

[surreygirl]

Thank you for your replies gentleman. I have had a surveyor in to inspect the property for damp and he said I did have rising damp however that said he was more interested in telling me to sell the flat than advising me on the damp and told me I would be surprised how many people would buy a flat in its present condition! I wondered whether he was one of them! He told me that there was no evidence that the flat had had a DPC put in but I wondered again how he knew this without taking a sample. The flat is dry where the DPC or render is but showing damp over the top of it. Some companies have said there is no damp in the bathroom or kitchen where it was tanked however when the house was painted air vents were put in which would have gone through my tanking! I am tempted really just to replaster with some kind of water proof render as the whole thing with putting in another DPC seems to be a mine field! I would upload photo's and I will try but I dont have the part which attaches to the computer.

In the lounge the plaster has bubbled (internal wall) up over the top of the DPC and also in wall which seperates the lounge and the kitchen. The colour is a brick colour, these are both internal walls. There is also damp on the walls which are external but no discoloration on those walls.

I only have a window vent in the bathroom and lounge and an electrical vent in the window in the kitchen having said that it was rented and the people dried there cloths over the radiators! The washer drier is one of those which is OK to dry without an outside pipe! forget what they are called!

I must say I am totally confused by the whole thing should I shouldnt I is it damp is it condensation etc, etc

 

[rjm2k]

Is your basement flat totally underground, or is it partially above ground?

 

[surreygirl]

No all the earth has been dug away except that the floor of my lounge is lower than the earth outside by about 8" and there are two wall - the kitchen wall and the back wall of the bathroom - which has earth three quarters of the way up or are earth retaining. I had tanking put in there and up to a few years ago it seemed to be working however the builders when they painted the building put in air vents which go along the bottom of the bathroom wall then go up horizontally so that they are over the earth retaining walls - if you see what I mean - and run along there across the back wall of the kitchen! so that they are up high.

Incidently the owner of the flat next door to me who had the survey done by a DPC company at the same time as me (10 months ago) has said that a surveyor friend of his has said he does not have damp in the flat except in a small part of the lounge where there is an earth retaining wall however the chap who came to do the survey (DPC) company at the time said the next door flat was in a worse state than mine However because his friend the surveyor has not found any damp there he is refusing me party wall access which makes it all very complicated!

The next door neighbours friendly surveyor has said the damp on the party wall was caused by a leak in the above flat's kitchen however as the kitchen in the above flat is nowhere near that wall I fail to see how that could be the case

 

[JohnD]

you live in a basement so you might have penetrating damp and you probably have condensation. Show us some pics //www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=129539

 

[surreygirl]

you live in a basement so you might have penetrating damp and you probably have condensation. Show us some pics //www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=129539

OK I will do my best, they will have to go on a memory stick! There isnt really a lot to see. Bubbling up on the party wall rendering and discolouration - brick colour- over the top of the original DPC of the internal wall seperating the kitchen and lounge. Some salts gathering in one small place in the bathroom which I treated with damp proof paint and which has not come back!

However I will take some photographs of what there is to see and see if I can upload!