Hello,
I am after some pointers about what to do with a seemingly damp wall.
The core of my house is a cottage dating from the 1850s and the walls are brick built walls that seem to have a slate DPC. Most of these old cottage walls are now interior walls, as previous owners of the house had added numerous extensions.
I recently tried to open up the hallway by removing the cupboard under the stairs, and removing some old plasterboard in front of the cupboard under the stairs to expose the old wall. This can be seen in the below picture.
The old wall is seemingly damp at the base and extending a good metre or so up the wall. This is evidenced by flaking paint, soft crumbly brick work/lime mortar and very high damp meter readings. As mentioned this wall is now an interior wall, but it does have a metre or so of an extension added to it (in the 90's) which is an exterior wall.
So the question is, what do I need to do about the damp wall? The aim was to plaster it, but I presume we cannot plaster the wall until the damp issue is resolved?
Or would it be better just to paint the wall with some form of paint that allows it to breath naturally?
I do not think treating the wall with a modern chemical DPC would be practical as it would mean digging up the floor and also removing the majority of the kitchen, which is fitted to the back-side of the wall.
What do people advise? I want to end up with a nice decorated finish and a house that does not smell of damp. Given the wall has been in place for 150 years, I guess the damp is not harming it too much, but I do not want to make it worse by doing something dumb!
Thanks
TF
I am after some pointers about what to do with a seemingly damp wall.
The core of my house is a cottage dating from the 1850s and the walls are brick built walls that seem to have a slate DPC. Most of these old cottage walls are now interior walls, as previous owners of the house had added numerous extensions.
I recently tried to open up the hallway by removing the cupboard under the stairs, and removing some old plasterboard in front of the cupboard under the stairs to expose the old wall. This can be seen in the below picture.
The old wall is seemingly damp at the base and extending a good metre or so up the wall. This is evidenced by flaking paint, soft crumbly brick work/lime mortar and very high damp meter readings. As mentioned this wall is now an interior wall, but it does have a metre or so of an extension added to it (in the 90's) which is an exterior wall.
So the question is, what do I need to do about the damp wall? The aim was to plaster it, but I presume we cannot plaster the wall until the damp issue is resolved?
Or would it be better just to paint the wall with some form of paint that allows it to breath naturally?
I do not think treating the wall with a modern chemical DPC would be practical as it would mean digging up the floor and also removing the majority of the kitchen, which is fitted to the back-side of the wall.
What do people advise? I want to end up with a nice decorated finish and a house that does not smell of damp. Given the wall has been in place for 150 years, I guess the damp is not harming it too much, but I do not want to make it worse by doing something dumb!
Thanks
TF