Rising damp on internal walls

[Sarah80]

Forgive me if any of the below doesn't use correct terms etc. or I am posting in the wrong place - I am completely clueless over these things, but would appreciate any advice.....

My husband and I purchased a 2 bed terraced house 9 years ago, I think around 1940s construction. Before moving in we stripped off all the existing paper and then hung lining paper which we painted over. 

Last year (so 8 years later) we repainted the walls. About 6 months later (and 2 weeks before I was due to give birth) I noticed some discolouration on a wall to the bottom right of the front bay window. This was/is patchy (almost brownish) water marks about a meter high. 

On further inspection, we found that the whole of our ground floor has a wavy water mark about 30cm high running along the walls. These are all internal walls. There is no black mold/crystals just these 'tide marks' We also have a concrete floor. There were no signs of damp when we purchased the property (although the damp company who did the survey have since closed down). 

So cue huge panic from me. We called in a surveyor who said rising damp, never seen anything like it in 30 years and advised stripping back all the walls to brick and replastering with sand/cement. 

Cue further huge panic from me. We weren't in a position to do anything about it what with me about to give birth any day, but I realise we can't leave it as it is. 

We checked with our neighbours and they say no signs of it in their houses. 

Any suggestions/advice would be much appreciated. Is this going to be as huge and expensive a job as I am imagining?

 

[TheVictorian]

Whast is at the other side of this wall? Is the soil higher than the floor level for example?

 

[^woody^]

Whast is at the other side of this wall? Is the soil higher than the floor level for example?

These are all internal walls.

 

[JohnD]

internal walls, concrete floor.

I reckon a water leak in a buried pipe

Have you got a water meter?

Is it wetter nearer the kitchen?

Can you look under the carpets or other floor coverings?

Apart from the water main, what other buried pipes do you have? Do radiator pipes run in the floor?

Is there a small feed and expansion tank for the boilers and radiators in the loft? Is the valve running or dripping to top it up?

Do you get condensation or mist on the windows?

 

[^woody^]

This age of property may well not have a physical DPC (eg felt) and if anything may have a few courses of blue or red engineering bricks

This type of arrangement can easily get overwhelmed by a certain level of ground moisture - be it a very wet winter or a broken drain or suchlike. And can get more frequent with age, as salts are bought up into the wall.

The wavy mark (tidemark) is indicative of rising dampness, but its not impossible for this to be condensation related.

It would be difficult to comment further on the cause via a forum, as it needs a proper survey to consider all the factors.

This "surveyor", was he a proper surveyor or a damp proofing company rep? He may well be correct, but always be wary of any surveyor who works for a company with an interest in selling you a solution

It may also be prudent to have the drains checked if this dampness has just occured and there are no other reasons for the ground to be saturated around the house

 

[Sarah80]

Thank you so much for all your replies.

We seem to have pipes all over the place!

Our radiator pipes run up into the ceiling.

If you were to stand at the front of the house facing the rear garden, there are boxed in pipes running along the whole right hand side of the living room above the skirting boards which lead to the water tap that you would normally find under your kitchen sink, but which is actually in our living room as the original kitchen was moved by the previous owner.

There are also boxed in pipes running up next to our fireplace. We have a back boiler so assume they are something to do with that.

There is a mains drain outside our front gate, which thinking about it the water board worked on about 6 years ago.

I have no idea if anything runs under the concrete floor and I take it the only way to find out would be to dig it up??!

The surveyor who came round was independent and not from a damp company.

 

[^woody^]

If the surveyor was independent, then you could probably rely on his report, unless you want a second opinion.

 

[JohnD]

Have you got a water meter?

Is it wetter nearer the kitchen?

Can you look under the carpets or other floor coverings?

Apart from the water main, what other buried pipes do you have? Do radiator pipes run in the floor?

Is there a small feed and expansion tank for the boilers and radiators in the loft? Is the valve running or dripping to top it up?

Do you get condensation or mist on the windows?

 

[Graeme1983]

I would be wary about re-rendering and plastering in cement. Unless it is a leaking pipe problem which if fixed should stop it, re doing it in cement after a drying out period might just let the problem crop up again in another 10 years.

Although your place doesnt seem too old its probably from before modern damp proof measures.

I found this article interesting: http://www.spab.org.uk/advice/technical-qas/technical-qa-20-rising-damp/

Many experts advocate going back to lime now as an alternative to cement for its breathing properties. Also a French drain if the damp may be coming in from outside if your at the bottom of a hill or high external ground levels.

http://www.spab.org.uk/advice/technical-qas/technical-qa-19-french-drains/

 

[joe-90]

No use going to breathable lime if you cover it in vinyl paint.

 

[Graeme1983]

Indeed. Or as the previous owner of my place did, new cement render over old clay render, with a limewash finish.

This is a cracking little guide on limework:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lime-Buildi...4121/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363276920&sr=8-1

 

[Sarah80]

Sorry for not answering your questions earlier JohnD. 

We don't have a water meter. 

I don't know if there are buried pipes under the floor - how would I find this out? 

It's not wetter nearer the kitchen. Most visible places are next to front window (which backs onto the porch), either side of the fireplace, and a short wall in the middle of the house which backs onto the under stairs cupboard. 

I checked with my husband and apparently the valve is dripping into the expansion tank in the loft but someone told him this was due to a faulty ballcock? (he's about as clueless as I am with these things)

We don't appear to get any particular condensation/mist on windows. 

Thanks again everyone for all your comments and suggestions, I'm very grateful for all your help

 

[JohnD]

apparently the valve is dripping into the expansion tank in the loft

unless it is dripping out through the overflow pipe at the same rate, the water that goes in is coming out through a leak.

Tie up the float to stop it dripping (or fit a new valve at trivial cost) and see if the water level in the tank gradually drops.

 

[skiffguard]

Hello
Firstly under no circumstance take any note of any company offering free damp surveys, these companies invariable have a vested interest in diagnosing so called " rising damp" when you are 99.9% suffering from penetrating damp or lifestyle damp issues.
So called 'Rising Damp specialists', and building surveyors recommending damp treatment have caused massive, and irreparable damage to old buildings through their incompetence.
Your house was designed to breath, the bricks need to breath and under no circumstance render them in concrete or inject them with dpc, this will just trap in any damp and rot the bricks.
Your problem, is the damp mark only on the area's you decorated? if so you may have used plastic paints that stop the bricks from breathing thus creating a moisture trap that then comes out to the plaster under the paint.
You will cause serious damage to your house if you render with concrete and use injections, please think hard before doing this and do some research for yourself!
Is the floor on the other side of the internal wall the same height? Do you have damp patches on the carpet in the corners of the room or water run lines on the skirting board?

Please do not listen to anyone that talks about rising damp, it's a pure myth, in Holland for example the wettest country in Europe they don't use dpc , even in new house and guess what the house with the feet in the wet land don't suffer from this mystical rising damp.
Also why do the rocks and bricks in the rivers not suffer from this rising damp then? Pick up a house brick from a stream and see how much water it has in it or try and find a tide mark on it.
How come rising damp only appeared in the 1960's with the launch of companies specialising in damp treatments.
Did you know that in most countries there is no such thing as rising damp and moreover these initials used after the damp proofers names like CSRT or CSSW ARE NOT QUALIFICATIONS,oh no they are just about giving a hint of respectability to people who are trained to commit fraud with silly pointless so called damp meters.

Under no circumstance pay anyone to do anything to your house until they can point to the actual cause of the damp, do not accept the garbage it's rising damp, believe me it is not!