How to Find Source of Damp Ceiling Near Chimney Breast

[joe-90]

Well don't listen to Nosey then, or anyone else. It's probably something very simple. Rule out the simple cure first before you even begin to think of the big stuff. If someone tells you it is a major job, get two more quotes.

 

[noseall]

It was a pick-axe not a lump hammer.

I'm a (mortgage free) homeowner and not a council tenant.

Stop telling people on here how much you expect roofing jobs to cost. Clearly you don't have the knowledge.

 

[matthussey]

It was a pick-axe not a lump hammer.

I'm a mortgage free homeowner and not a council tenant.
Stop telling people on here how much you expect roofing jobs to cost. Clearly you don't have the knowledge.

I'm trying to keep out of your bickering because I'm finding this thread very helpful in general, but I do want to see this pick axe thing

 

[noseall]

Firstly throw the damp meter in the bin. Unless you know how to use one contextually then these things on their own, are pointless.
Consider things like hygroscopics and salts contamination etc.

 

[noseall]

http://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/professional-disaster.117774/#post-786716

 

[matthussey]

Firstly throw the damp meter in the bin. Unless yow how to use one contextually then these things on their own, are pointless.
Consider things like hygroscopics and salts contamination etc.

I think I put in my original post that I thought it might be condensation caused by hygroscopic salts, which I'd read raise the reading.

 

[jontop]

To find the cause of dampness around a chimney can be a nightmare, your not alone.
Is it possible the warmth of your back boiler is drying out the area immediately surrounding the stack causing confusion?
Dont worry about seeing a spot of daylight in your roof.
I can't see a 'tray' in your chimney, chimneys without trays can allow the damp to travel down into the loft space although usually this is with old chimneys.
I think you will have to get up there and inspect.
:Flaunching
:Brickwork/pointing
:Lead flashing .
If i were doing it i would want a safe working platform, which means scaffolding, £200/£300 quid just for starters.

 

[jontop]

I suspect the flashing, it could do with being larger in my opinion. Whilst up there i would coat the chimney in a product called 'Stormdry'

 

[matthussey]

Thanks. I've had my builder in and he said that he thought the flashing needed doing. He said the ceiling dampness could be condensation rather than a leak and that my damp meter didn't mean much. I think I'm going to get him to do the flashing and flaunching, but leave the pointing for now. He has been up in the recent past and said that the pointing felt firm to him at the time.

I am starting to think that it's damaged plasterboard from an old leak and maybe hygroscopic salts or something like that. The reason I say that is that I've been up in the loft during and after some light sustained rain and during some pretty heavy rain but I've seen no leaks at all. However the area that registers damp with my meter has stayed constant. It hasn't got smaller and it hasn't got bigger. I know it can take a long time to go away so it's not conclusive but it may be that it is not dependent on rain, hence not a leak.
The other thing that makes me think that it may be the plasterboard collecting moisture rather than a leak is because I went to my mum's house yesterday and a small area of brown ceiling near her chimney breast on the ground floor also registered very high moisture however that mark has been in her house for many, many years without change. It was there prior to my dad passing 6 years ago.

 

[noseall]

You sound like a fuss pot Matt, exactly like me, the difference being that I've learned to be pragmatic.

 

[matthussey]

You sound like a fuss pot Matt, exactly like me, the difference being that I've learned to be pragmatic.

Yup, that's me entirely. Owning a house was the worst thing I could ever do. So many things to worry about. I hate it.

 

[joe-90]

If you worry about silly things you've got nothing to worry about.