Issues with condensation & Mould - Rising Damp? - Advice Needed

[GeddyMortgage]

Hi all,

Visited a property yesterday for the first time in a good few months, resident had complained that the electrics in the kitchen were tripping out from a double socket behind the washing machine. When visiting I could see alot of mould on the walls and quite a lot of condensation, particularly low down on one of the walls behind the washing machine....(all photo'd below).

I'm unsure as whether this is showing signs of rising damp and need a new course doing etc, or if it looks more like the problem is from internal moisture not ventilating very well?... or both?!... I'd have thought rising damp on first reaction but surprised to see just the volume of water droplets on the wall behind the washing machine is...can rising damp give those symptoms? Or is this source of moisture somewhere else? Ill have the pipes checked for good measure ofcourse just wondering if that could be the source of the problem.


Other things I noticed, roof appears fine, exterior walls dont look great from the outside, also noticed in the back garden, a large volume of wood chip has been laid ontop of some old decking, which was butted right up against the wall, covered with a felt tarp, completely sodden with no soakaway between that and the brick of the property and turned into a really wet mush of wood and soil. Photo'd below. I planned to simply dig this out, probably remove the old bed of decking too and put some coloured stones there to help drainage.

Given all the above, what do you think?

If its mainly internal, plan is to have those pipes at the back of the washer checked and swapped out for plastic and the washer waste properly fitted.... And to Put a much more powerful centrifugal extractor fan in there with a humidity sensor to try and expel as much of the moisture as humanly possible.

if rising damp, then obviously it'll be kitchen out, fully treated, kitchen back in..... so naturally dont want to do all that unless im sure that's the problem!

thanks so much.

Ged

 

[JohnD]

Take some wider pics, to show the entire walls of the room inside

And the entire wall outside, all the way up to the roof, and showing the gutters, downpipes, wastepipes, soilpipe, gullies, drains and manholes. Remove the covers and show the gullies in the ground.

How is the room actually ventilated? A fan that is turned off does not provide ventilation.

In the internal floor concrete? Is it wet?

Where is the DPC?

Are there any damp patches that are not adjacent to ropey-looking plumbing?

Silicone injections will not repair building defects or leaks.

You can see the paving and the base of the wall are wet and green. Which drain is broken and leaking?

Don't call it "rising damp." You have a leak problem and probably a bridged DPC.

I see the mortar has been repointed by a child using a teaspoon. Was it originally lime mortar, that was damaged by a long-term leak?

 

[Odds]

"I see the mortar has been repointed by a child using a teaspoon."



Are any air bricks present around the walls?

The whole area behind that washer needs to be redone and vented to prevent any further deterioration in the walls.