What is the compass orientation of the affected corner?
Is the corner sheltered or exposed?
Is the wall solid (how thick from outside to inside finish) or cavity (what size cavity)?
Cavity moisture bridge check carried out?
Any cavity insulation (what type)?
Rendering or cladding to outside wall. Painted or bare surfaces outside?
How far is the DPC above the outside ground surface?
What type(s) of DPC, and when installed?
How close to internal floor level is DPC? DPM beneath quarry tiles? Underfloor heating?
Standard Brick or Brick and Cinder block construction (wall plugs not easy to fix because drill wanders once through the wall finish, dark grey or black dust) inside?
Is the wall plastered (lime? or gypsum?), dry lined with gypsum skim, or rendered with a cement mortar?
Is the wall finish uniform around the kitchen, or is the corner patched differently to the adjacent wall surface?
Skirting boards or finished to floor level?
Is the damp area normally behind units or furniture?
What is the decorative finish (if any) of the affected area?
Has any attempt been made to expose the brickwork behind the damp area to determine if the structure also is damp? (should have been exposed to apply Dryzone in a mortar course - was Dryzone applied at the recommended depths and intervals?)
Is the original construction mortar lime/sand or sand/cement? Pointing outside same as mortar or cement/sand on lime mortar courses?
Is there any water pipework in the wall or floor in the vicinity?
Has there been a flood (like washing machine overflow or other cause) in the past year?
Is there a "Tide Mark" of a different colour at the boundary edge of the damp area?
Is there a salt concentration band below the boundary edge of the damp area (conductivity meter readings)? Any efflorescence?
Have damp readings been taken of the wall from floor level at 200mm intervals to at least 500mm above the damp area, and to either side of the apparently damp area?
There is no way to tell if the damp is rising, penetrating or condensation just by observation. If there has been rising damp that has been cured in the past, without replastering the wall in the same type of plaster as the original finish, there may be continuing condensation problems.
Here's Dryzone's own comprehensive leaflet to check yourself:
http://static.dryzone.eu/sites/dryzone/theme/pdfs/datasheets/rising-damp-en.pdf[/QUOTE]
northeast
exposed
solid 2 brick depth
no cavity
no cwi
rendering on one side above the damp course
6"
1928, double row of blue bricks, assume nothing else.
below quarry tiles, floor raised above path. no idea whats under the quarry tiles
no underfloor heating
standard red brick
removed plaster, it was wet, bare brick now, even around the room
no skirting
no units, been exposed for 2 years, refuses to dry out but less wet in dry summer.
exposed
measured recomended intervals, but the drill might not have been long enough.
think its sand/cement (assumed so, dont know what lime/mortar looks like, assume its for thatched/old buildings)
pipes are a metre away, walls dry behind pipes, no pipes by affected area
no flood
yes to tide mark,
yes to salts
no damp readings, the bricks are damp and mouldy, others are dry and clean.
cant be penetrating, that comes via a fault in the drainage system/waterproofing the house. cant be condensation as its to local and nowhere else has it. pictures online strongly suggest it is rising damp, plus when its dry outside there often a damp patch on the concrete path, matching a smaller one inside on the quarry tiles.
thanks for your detailed reply, appreciated.
