Damp problem....advice needed!

Hi All

As background, my house is a victorian mid-terrace and I've lived in it for just over a year.

As I was leaving the house this morning I noticed few damp patches in the hallway, on the interior wall which separates the hallway from the living room just above the skirting. I can't see how the damp could be caused by a leak, since there are no radiators against this particular wall.

When I bought the house I'm sure it said that damp proofing was put in some time in the 1980's. However, isn't that usually done for just the exterior/adjoining walls and not interior? Also, for how long does damp proofing actually last once it's been installed? Is it common for interior walls to need damp proofing?

Any help/thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thanks

The incoming water supply often comes in under the front entrance door, in lead.

If that's leaking, that could be your source of water soaking into the walls. Get a plumber to put a pressure test on the pipework, if that's deffo where it comes into the building.

Most Damp proofing companies offer a 30 or 20 year guarantee with injected damp couses you would need the paperwork to resolve this. The most common problem of mould growth is interior relative humidity resulting in mould problems, i.e drying clothes internally{ a big no no} or lack of ventilation due tolack of external air bricks or through vents to ventilate the property,hope this helps if not, a hygrometer survey will tell you exactly what is occuring, contacy me for details if needed

Post a picture of these damp patches

dave1953 said:

Most Damp proofing companies offer a 30 or 20 year guarantee with injected damp couses you would need the paperwork to resolve this. The most common problem of mould growth is interior relative humidity resulting in mould problems, i.e drying clothes internally{ a big no no} or lack of ventilation due tolack of external air bricks or through vents to ventilate the property,hope this helps if not, a hygrometer survey will tell you exactly what is occuring, contacy me for details if needed

Click to expand...

What will a hygrometer survey do and how will it tell you what exactly is happening?

^woody^ said:

Post a picture of these damp patches

Click to expand...

Perv...

..... lets just hope that there is no mould too

dave1953 said:

Most Damp proofing companies offer a 30 or 20 year guarantee with injected damp couses you would need the paperwork to resolve this. The most common problem of mould growth is interior relative humidity resulting in mould problems, i.e drying clothes internally{ a big no no} or lack of ventilation due tolack of external air bricks or through vents to ventilate the property,hope this helps if not, a hygrometer survey will tell you exactly what is occuring, contacy me for details if needed

Click to expand...

Hi guys

thanks for the posts.

i have checked back through the paperwork from when i purchased the house, and indeed there was damp treatment put into the hallway wall. however, typically, i cannot find any trace that the company that did the work is still in existence. i did a search on companies house which would have indicated if the company was still active or had changed its name - but no joy. It's a shame because the work was done in 1987 so the warranty would've been valid up to 2017.

this leads me on to a couple more questions:

- is it likely that rising damp could occur on an interior wall that has been treated in 1987?

- the second poster in the thread suggested a possible leak could be the cause. the floor downstairs in the hallway is, i believe, made of concrete. Also, the two main areas of dampness are 5 or 6ft apart. given this, if this is the cause then surely there’d have to multiple leaks?

I have to be honest I’m at a total loss here. However, i have a builder friend coming around this week and i think the plan is to lift the laminate flooring up, and maybe take a look behind the skirting, in the hope that this will shed a bit of light on what's happening. Hopefully then I’ll know whether it's a plumber or a damp expert i'll be needing.

one more question: if it's a leak in lead piping under a concrete floor, should i be able to either claim on the insurance or get the water board to fix the leak?

if i can figure out how to upload a pic of the wall i'll do so!

thanks