Advice on filling/damproofing wall gap behind skirting

[Hibsred]

Hi there

Bought an old lower villa recently (early 1900s). Back room is an extension (still likely to be at least 50 yrs old) which has a concrete floor.

Re-decorating, so lifted the carpet and underlay and there was some isolated moisture at the edge of the floor at one wall (where external stairs to the upper villa run - also think the interior ground level is lower than exterior anyway). There's only a couple of patches and they don't come out from the wall any more than a few inches.

Anyway, looks like the previous owner cut away some of the plaster along the foot of the wall some time ago to fit some sockets (maybe up to a couple of inches off the floor).

I've ran a dehumidifier for a few days and it's drying out the moisture patches at the edges (before that I did the damp test with a piece of tin foil on the concrete in the centre of the room and it was still dry after a few days)

I'm just looking for some simple advice about what I could do before refitting the skirting, ideally to cut off the moisture more than anything.

(There seems to be some gaps between the plaster and brick behind - I can run my finger up behind the remaining plaster and along at certain points.

https://picasaweb.google.com/100034483389806094665/July312012#5771253218420630546

 

[ZUNDAP]

The fist thing to do is find out where the moisture is coming from, is it damp ingress or is it condensation through poor ventilation.

Does the villa have a an inner and outer wall with a cavity in between?

Either way, personally i would check all walls and floor with a damp meter, before doing any thing else. The fact that plaster is coming off the wall and the damp on the floor indicates a problem of some kind, maybe a damp course problem or maybe even subsidence, i think you should do a bit of checking before you do anything else.

Good luck.

 

[jabuzzard]

Anyway, looks like the previous owner cut away some of the plaster along the foot of the wall some time ago to fit some sockets (maybe up to a couple of inches off the floor).

I've ran a dehumidifier for a few days and it's drying out the moisture patches at the edges (before that I did the damp test with a piece of tin foil on the concrete in the centre of the room and it was still dry after a few days)

I'm just looking for some simple advice about what I could do before refitting the skirting, ideally to cut off the moisture more than anything.

Hum, those electrics are dodgy. You are not supposed to run the cable behind the skirting as it is not a "safe zone", unless you cover it with a grounded metal protection. You might want to ask in the electrics forum.