use of emulsion in Victorian houses

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Hi everyone. I need your help We have a Victorian house with an insulation cavity wall which has a penetrating damp issue in the bedrooms
from the external wall which was battered by the torrential rain In January.
The rooms downstairs, are lime plastered then painted, then a thick layer of wallpaper so it's no wonder the walls were sodden. The layer of paint is a giant mural! It's a very shiny gold which doesn't appear to have soaked in to the wall so I wonder if it's oil paint. If we dont take this off before we apply one of the special lime paints, its useless as the wall cant breathe through the gold paint.

Has anyone got any ideas how to get this paint off. It's not peeling, and didnt come off when we steamed the wallpaper off. I dont want to use extensive steam because it will blow the plaster.

Once its off has anyone got any recommendations of which breathable paint to use? Ive found earthborn, cornwall lime company and nature paint. They are pretty pricey so I want to be sure they will do the job!

Any thoughts?
 
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I must say a Victorian house with cavity walls is very unusual they are normally 9" solid brick!

The only breathable paint the comes to mind is "paint for new plaster" like Dulux supermatt that allows the new plaster to continue to dry out after painting. However I think the dampness needs more investigation, I have had Victorian houses but never suffered damp problems apart from rising damp from a failed DPC or from poor guttering etc.
 
Before you go buying any 'special' paints &. as footprints has already mentioned, you should positively determine the cause of your damp.
If the gold mural is impermeable then any moisture is not coming through but probably condensation.
We had to remove an oil based gloss from one of our walls and in the end the only way was to remove it by sanding the applying a new surface.
To be honest I would have expected any damp caused by the severe weather we experienced earlier in the year should all have evaporated by now.
As for paint Intelligent emulsion from Little Greene is really good and they've been making paint since 1773 so have a goor record.
 
Hi guys,
We have had two damp specialists out and both have had the same thoughts. Not enough air bricks and the huge trees and shrubs growing up really close to, and against the side of the house limited the air flow considerably so the wall didn't dry out. We had truly torrential rain for days in sussex, and a lot of other houses are still drying out too.
Yes, cavity wall did confuse us but it's been verified. This was an area where they trialled cavity walls in the 1900s - wish they hadn't!
 
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I do wonder if the main problem might be insulation put into an old cavity wall allowing moisture to bridge the gap.

My house is 1930's with cavity walls the outer bricks are very porous when it rains they just suck up moisture they also have a tendency to develop cracking in the surface of the brick but because of the cavity we have no trace of damp inside the property any water stays in the outer wall.

Some wall ties are a bit suspect but I am putting my fingers in my ears and chanting la la la I'm not listening on that one!

I realise it is impossible to remove some types of insulation but It might be worth exploring whether your kind could be removed from the worst wall.
 
I`ve seen a few 1900`s cav. walls in E.Sx. Know what you mean about the winter rain ! . Airbricks have nothing to do with damp walls - even if in bedrooms . They have everything to do with underfloor ventilation .I wonder if you`ve got old foam insulation in the walls - that could be the problem - it`s the worst type . Other than that it`s 99% condensation .
 
Can we have some photos please, I'd be interested in the use of a cavity so early.

I also suspect condensation as penetrating damp is hard through a 9" wall, let alone one with a cavity.

Pictures of outside and inside the room with the damp would be good.
 

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