hi could any one give me some addvice or even help me. i moved in my house 2yrs ago and i had a leaking overflow pipe from the bathroom witch i got sorted within a month of moving in. but since have found out it had been leaking for about five yrs and i had really bad damp on on of my dining room walls. witch has been sorted but on the other wall witch gose in to my kitchen witch i took back to the brick wall and let it dry and got it re plasted. its now damp anyone got any ideas for me please?
damp
- Thread starter gazmac
- Start date
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Is this an external wall, if so it could be condensation. Which can be sorted out with cavity insulations.
I think its to do with the time interval here....if the wall got completely saturated - which clearly it did - it would take longer than you think to thoroughly dry out. Does the dampness appear to be all over the wall, or more localised near the bottom?
Maybe it would be a good move to get hold of one of those dampness testers and see how damp the wall actually is - before deciding what to do next. Probably the plaster would have to come back off, I fear.
John
Maybe it would be a good move to get hold of one of those dampness testers and see how damp the wall actually is - before deciding what to do next. Probably the plaster would have to come back off, I fear.
John
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If you use a damp meter as already suggested you should be able to trace the level of dampness at various locations across the wall and using a high-lighter pen - map the areas e.g. 90% 70% 50% although this won't solve your problem it will help identify where the moisture is coming from which is half the battle won!
Next step is to determine that you do not have any on-going water penetration; One note, if you have cavity insulation and the wall is on an exposed flank this could easily be aggravating the situation and you will need to get the cavity insulation removed - regardless of the fact that there is some advertising going on at the moment which is recommending cavity insulation - cavities were put there for a reason, leave them alone!
You should have left the wall exposed and checked the moisture content of the whole of the wall (not just a localised area) with a damp meter at say weekly intervals, and no remedial works should have been carried out until the whole wall was sufficiently dry - can take anything up to 18 months.
A problem that can occur with wet plaster is when salts which are highly hygroscopic (attracted to water) are drawn out of the substrate materials as they dry out and this causes moisture to be drawn back into the plaster and the wall never dry's out sufficiently - this is why plaster is removed as part of any remedial works.
Regards
Next step is to determine that you do not have any on-going water penetration; One note, if you have cavity insulation and the wall is on an exposed flank this could easily be aggravating the situation and you will need to get the cavity insulation removed - regardless of the fact that there is some advertising going on at the moment which is recommending cavity insulation - cavities were put there for a reason, leave them alone!
You should have left the wall exposed and checked the moisture content of the whole of the wall (not just a localised area) with a damp meter at say weekly intervals, and no remedial works should have been carried out until the whole wall was sufficiently dry - can take anything up to 18 months.
A problem that can occur with wet plaster is when salts which are highly hygroscopic (attracted to water) are drawn out of the substrate materials as they dry out and this causes moisture to be drawn back into the plaster and the wall never dry's out sufficiently - this is why plaster is removed as part of any remedial works.
Regards
How old's your property?is it solid exterior walls or cavity construction?If the walls were re-plastered using Gypsum undercoat plaster then that will draw water from the substrate and leave salts within the plaster which will be Hygroscopic,absord moisture, and appear as damp patches.It will have to come off. You mention dampness halfway up the wall,cases of rising damp tend to peak at 1 to 1.5 metres height from floor level. You would benefit from a competent damp survey which most firms do not charge for to determine the exact causes, both external/internal and including possible condensation issues,Visit pga.com website for a lot of advice
on damp problems.
on damp problems.
gazmac,
Can you describe the arrange of the rooms. From what you have written I get the impression the bathroom is above the Dining room and Kitchen. The Dining room problem you have fixed but in the ajoining kitchen you have a re-occurring damp problem on a kitchen wall that goes back to the Dining room ?
If possible you should investigate if in addition to the leaking overflow, some other part of the plumbing is leaking, such as a water pipe (hot, cold, central heating) or a waste pipe. Check in the floor space if necessary. Also check if any rainwater pipe is in the area and leaking at the back.
Since you have mainly described walls as the problem, check very carefully around areas where pipes pass through the walls.
Don't assume there was only one leak.
For my reply I have assumed the damp is high up the wall.
Can you describe the arrange of the rooms. From what you have written I get the impression the bathroom is above the Dining room and Kitchen. The Dining room problem you have fixed but in the ajoining kitchen you have a re-occurring damp problem on a kitchen wall that goes back to the Dining room ?
If possible you should investigate if in addition to the leaking overflow, some other part of the plumbing is leaking, such as a water pipe (hot, cold, central heating) or a waste pipe. Check in the floor space if necessary. Also check if any rainwater pipe is in the area and leaking at the back.
Since you have mainly described walls as the problem, check very carefully around areas where pipes pass through the walls.
Don't assume there was only one leak.
For my reply I have assumed the damp is high up the wall.
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