Damp block?

[dann09]

1. On a suspect wall, and certainly after removing a c/breast, the whole area should be floated with a render - 4 or5:1:1 - and skimmed with a remedial finish or board finish.

2. C/breast areas have soot issues, even after wire brushing, and the soot can grin through if the detailing isn't correct - some coat the raw brick with PVA or similar, one dry coat and one tacky.

3. Cold service water comes in, esp in December, at near freezing and the copper pipe will often weep with condensation when it encounters room heat.

4. For the time being, wait and watch if time, heat and ventilation will work.

5. A cautionary note: given the pipe business, did the builders run all cable in approved areas, with, hopefully, metal capping?

 

[Merlin5]

Thanks kingandy2nd, your advice is much appreciated. I too would have expected the builder to have insulated the pipe and am a bit annoyed, but, not much I can do now. I'll have to keep my eye on it. I hope it is just the plaster drying, but that line of darker plaster seems to be a slightly sinister shadow in the shape of the pipe. Good point about not using damp proof paint, I'll leave that then. Thanks.

dann09, I saw them using PVA in several areas around the kitchen and bathroom. and I know they also used waterproof render and then coated some bonding stuff all over the walls which looked like a rough version of plaster to my eyes. And then they did the skimming over that. That bonding stuff had a horrible sickly smell till it dried, yuck.

Regarding cables, he bought £200 worth of very thick grey coloured insulated cable, and fed what he needed of it for the kitchen through new white plastic conduits near the top of the wall very near the ceiling. So it should be fine I guess? Metal capping, no idea really as I don't know what the metal capping is or should look like, but I don't think so.

 

[1john]

Don't be concerned about the lack of metal capping, more dangerous than good in my experience, if the cables are within prescribed zones then don't worry.

 

[dann09]

Given the original uncertainty of where the cable had been run, metal capping would be a first line of defence.

Informed ( by the OP ) that the cable runs are in approved areas is good, but the OP still has units to be fixed, and, given the job so far, it's possible that fixings might penetrate cable in the approved areas.

A number of incidents have shown that metal capping could have saved householders from serious accidents - or fires.

But, i appreciate that metal capping is an arguable point -use, dont use _ even the sparkies are still debating it.

 

[1john]

I'd rather have a live nail in a wall than a live nail AND a length of steel capping a few mm below the skim coat.