Crystal like growth on kitchen wall

[shaun40]

Hi, I've a Victorian property around 1860 that has a crystal like growth on the kitchen wall. I only noticed it when I stripped the wallpaper and it only grows on the plaster and not the paint that surrounds it (see photo's).
I can brush it off and it will be back again within a few weeks. The other side of the wall is exterior, rendered and it never gets the sun. I don't do a lot of cooking so there's not a great deal of steam generated in the kitchen.
Does anyone have any idea as to what might be causing this and what I will be able to do about it? Is there something I can paint on the wall?
Any advice will be appreciated.
Thanks
Shaun

 

[skhudy]

Damp in the wall? - ‘Salts’, as they are known, get drawn out from a damp wall as the moisture evaporates from the surface of the wall. How to cure it... eliminate the damp!

You might want to inspect outside externally where it may be coming from to start with. its not much point just painting over it, the paint will probably blow.

The other paint might be a special sort of paint which although not flaking / peeling off, is trapping moisture

 

[blightymam]

Where is the damp? Can be an idea as to what to look for as a cause. If it's growing from the floor up, I'd look to see if your damp proof course has been damaged or if the path/garden is too high, any troubles with pipes in the wall or if any bricks are damaged. If it's higher up, look for cracks or any damage to the pointing & bricks all over your offending wall.

You can help a little with getting a dehumidifier, but you'll always have this damp problem with the walls until you find a source. We are in the process of getting the council to sort out next doors property (council owned) as a previous tenant built their garden about 4 inches over the damp proof course and is making our adjoining kitchen wall very damp. We also have to fix our own garden as for some reason, when all the Victorian properties in our little row were council owned, the council laid a path outside that was on the cusp of the damp proof course - 40 years ago this happened! Once next doors is lowered to the correct level, we're lowering our garden and building french drains around the back of the house. It's got to be done tho, much like yours I think. Good luck!