Drying out a damp wall

[davebecker]

Hi All, New to this forum, so be gentle! : )

I have an interior and exterior wall that became damp due to leaking gutters and poorly installed hopper head. The guttering and hopper have now been repaired.

At the weekend I hacked off the plaster from the interior wall and the plaster was soaked, I removed a lot of it one handed with a bolster!! it smells really damp/musty.

So now, I have a damp/wet brick wall (inside) and my question is: how long should it take to dry and should I use an dehumidifier?

I haven't hacked off the plaster on the exterior wall (inside) yet, will do this weekend but I suspect it will be in the same condition. Will post up some pics later today


Thanks in advance.

 

[ree]

You really should post pics of the various damp walls - interior and exterior, and the guttering and RWP/hopper in question, and any suspect roof area.

Has the new guttering work been water tested on a dry day - if not, you still dont know if its been done properly.

Are your walls solid or cavity? Are they rendered?

Is the roof pitched or flat?

Others might answer ref the dehumidifier - i have no experience of them.

 

[davebecker]

Hi Ree, Thanks for your reply! : )

I only come across this site earlier and I'm at work, hence mentioning I'll post pictures later (when I get home).

The roof is pitched, the walls are rendered and the guttering has been water tested on a dry day.

I'm certain that the wall are not cavity, it was built around 1870 and the structural survey I had done said solid walls.

I'll get some pics up here in a couple of hours when I'm back.

Thanks Again : )

 

[Joe Malone]

Hi Dave,

General rule of thumb is that masonry dries out at a rate of 25mm per month so obviously a 225mm solid wall will take around 9 months. This is natural drying without assistance.

You can speed this up by hacking off the plaster and hiring a snail fan, leave the fan blowing at the wall for a few weeks with a dehumidifier running in the background. Alternatively you replaster internally using a renovating plaster such as limelite. This will dam in the damp and give you a dry internal wall surface. The wall should still dry out via the external face but it will take many many months due to only being able to evaporate from the one external wall face.

 

[davebecker]

Hi All, Didn't get a chance yesterday to take pics etc, will do as soon as I can.

@Joe, Thanks for your reply! Crikey! didn't expect an inch a month!! I'm in no rush to get this done (my missus wouldn't agree though lol) so I'll dismiss the renovating plaster option, I'd much rather it dries properly rather than quickly. But I will get a fan and dehum running as you suggest.

Thanks for your help.