damp in solid internal wall

hi, my parents have a house in pakistan built about 15-20 yrs ago, obviously contruction and layout is quiet different to over here in uk.
one of the internal walls has damp coming up for years on both sides, its whitish, and is next to a open type shower room but not the back wall to the shower room more the branch off wall like a 'L' shape.
im not sure if thats causing the problem because it may be coming up from the ground.
maybe not suffiently damp proofed during construction in that area.

is there anything that i can put on the walls like paint or something to stop this without taking the wall down or drastic measure.

All help is much appreciated, and thanks in advance.

Damp is said to rise because of static electricity in the walls so the theory of the following was to earth the static electricity and so prevent the damp rising. It was from a reputable DPC company I think Rentokil.

Possible there was a system used here in uk which was a copperwire was inserted in the horizontal joint of the brickwork at dpc level, usually two bricks minimum above ground level. It was run along the wall then into a box which has an earth spike connected. I've never seen it done.
You could contact them for advice on using this method and they may still use it and sell you the equipment needed. Other than that it's drill holes in the wall and fill with damp proofing chemical I'm sure obtainable in Pakistan. You will probably find the white stuff is salts coming out. that has to be cleared off when treating the wall.

greengrass

thanks for reply greengrass,

is that really, it may need earthing im not sure if theirs any cabling in the wall. but i'll sure look into it to understand more. may be the solution!!

It could be coming from the shower room wall/ floor joint , or the drain in the room

Rising damp is not possible in masonry, because of the different pores volume. It's not possible to transport water by capillarity from little stone pores to big mortar pores:

- Masonry after about 5 days in 'swimming pool'

So it must be a salt deposit in your wall what's looking damp. So goats there once? To get rid with the salt, take away the salty plaster, also the salty zone of the joint mortars. Then give an absorbing layer of fine hydrated lime mortar or clay on this, keep it wet some days, it will take out the rest of the solubel salts. Take away this offering plaster.

And then again plastering. Mostly this works first time, sometimes you must do this procedure twice.

The electro-osmotic installations all are with ridiculous results. If the salty mortars are away and the walls surface is desalted by adsorbing in a offering layer as written, there is no need for them, if not, they will not make things better.

More detailed info you will find here: Damp walls - what to do

Good luck!

Konrad

Thanks Konrad,

i have been reading your posts on the subject.

i will search the link plus is it ok if i get in touch with you if i have any further queries on the topic??

Thanks again

You're welcome. Banning salty pakistan walls is better than talibanning .

Best regards


Konrad