Hi all,
I've got a long standing problem in the bottom corner of my living room which i'm hoping to get some ideas on.
The property is a bungalow and externally the corner is hit by driving rain. There is a down pipe from a gutter quite close to the area in question and this goes down into the tarmaced drive. The property was built in the 60's and the mortar is a very sandy mix.
This is what the corner looks like now that i've removed some plaster, and some skirting which was rotten towards the corner:
As you can see, the damp and black mould extends up around 12-18 inches in the corner but then there is an affected area along the wall for 10 foot or so, along the skirting:
A close up of the corner on the left:
and on the right:
The hole to the right in a mortar join was from a chunk of wood used to nail the old skirting into. It wasn't rotten.
I've used the gap to gain access to the cavity and see if there's soggy cavity wall insulation in there. I pulled a bit of the blown insulation out and it seemed dry - when pressed against toilet paper there was no dampness. There didn't seem to be very much insulation in that area.
I've had a damp company surveyor out who saw this before I stripped it down and suggested that the plaster was probably in contact with the floor/concrete and therefore wicking up moisture - this seems unlikely given the gap between the concrete on the internal wall.
Another damp company suggested it was entirely condensation related. Whilst there was condensation in the area, partly due to poor circulation and blocking furniture this could be the only cause as the corner of internal wall is 10C below the room temperature (8c versus the 18C in most of the room today) - with a 10C difference this corner will always be below the dewpoint for the room, so I know i have a coldspot problem and or damp problem, presumably related.
I've also noticed a difference between the 2 close up pictures. the felt/rubber damp proof course is below the mortar course to the left of the corner, whilst to the right the damp proof course is above the mortar course meaning that the damp proof course to the right is above floor level by half an inch or so. Could it be that plaster on top of that damp mortar was allowing moisture to wick up the wall and extend outwards?
I've also looked outside and the damp proof course on the outside has been repointed. The drainpipe doesn't appear to be blocked. The driveway is about 5 inches below the level of the damp proof course.
Any ideas as to what the likely cause of this is and how to remedy. I'm looking to eliminate the damp and raise the thermal properties so that condensation isn't an issue.
ps. can a kindly mod please get the pics into a sensible size? Edit: Sorted now, thanks.
I've got a long standing problem in the bottom corner of my living room which i'm hoping to get some ideas on.
The property is a bungalow and externally the corner is hit by driving rain. There is a down pipe from a gutter quite close to the area in question and this goes down into the tarmaced drive. The property was built in the 60's and the mortar is a very sandy mix.
This is what the corner looks like now that i've removed some plaster, and some skirting which was rotten towards the corner:
As you can see, the damp and black mould extends up around 12-18 inches in the corner but then there is an affected area along the wall for 10 foot or so, along the skirting:
A close up of the corner on the left:
and on the right:
The hole to the right in a mortar join was from a chunk of wood used to nail the old skirting into. It wasn't rotten.
I've used the gap to gain access to the cavity and see if there's soggy cavity wall insulation in there. I pulled a bit of the blown insulation out and it seemed dry - when pressed against toilet paper there was no dampness. There didn't seem to be very much insulation in that area.
I've had a damp company surveyor out who saw this before I stripped it down and suggested that the plaster was probably in contact with the floor/concrete and therefore wicking up moisture - this seems unlikely given the gap between the concrete on the internal wall.
Another damp company suggested it was entirely condensation related. Whilst there was condensation in the area, partly due to poor circulation and blocking furniture this could be the only cause as the corner of internal wall is 10C below the room temperature (8c versus the 18C in most of the room today) - with a 10C difference this corner will always be below the dewpoint for the room, so I know i have a coldspot problem and or damp problem, presumably related.
I've also noticed a difference between the 2 close up pictures. the felt/rubber damp proof course is below the mortar course to the left of the corner, whilst to the right the damp proof course is above the mortar course meaning that the damp proof course to the right is above floor level by half an inch or so. Could it be that plaster on top of that damp mortar was allowing moisture to wick up the wall and extend outwards?
I've also looked outside and the damp proof course on the outside has been repointed. The drainpipe doesn't appear to be blocked. The driveway is about 5 inches below the level of the damp proof course.
Any ideas as to what the likely cause of this is and how to remedy. I'm looking to eliminate the damp and raise the thermal properties so that condensation isn't an issue.
ps. can a kindly mod please get the pics into a sensible size? Edit: Sorted now, thanks.