Damp Interior Wall Advice

[LeeGath]

Hi,

This is my first post on DIYNot and I'm after some help with a damp interior wall.

We live in an old Victorian middle terraced house with the living room and kitchen effectively on the basement level. We've had a problem, for some time, with the kitchen in that it sometimes has a foisty smell and the lino seems to have black spots appearing from underneath. We've also noticed that the cutlery and plates in the cupboards can have a build up of mould on them.

We've lived with this for a couple of years now and attributed the problems to damp and my plan initially was to strip out the kitchen and lay down an impermeable layer before fitting new kitchen cupboards. The more I read around this topic, the more I'm wondering if this will actually solve the problem?

The situation has been expedited recently by noticing some damp on one of the interior walls in the living room. The plaster has flaked off and I noticed the other day when fitting some speaker cable that the carpet underneath the skirting board was wet.

My wife also has a chest condition which we think might be exacerbated in this kind of environment so I'm really looking for some genuine advice on what I should do next. My other fear is that this particular problem seems to be associated with cowboy salesmen and the 'rising damp' strap line.

Ideally, I'd like to find a solution which doesn't require me stripping out my entire downstairs. I'm assuming I need to find the source of the water, any ideas where to start? I'm more than happy to give things a go myself, but if anyone can recommend any professional help in the west yorkshire area I'd appreciate it.

Thanks in advance

Lee

 

[jellycat]

This chap seems to cover your neck of the woods.

http://www.pdoyle.net/content/view/36/38/[/url]

 

[^woody^]

You have to determine if you have a problem of rising damp through the floor, penetrating damp through the walls, or condensation damp due to lifestyle or construction issues. Or a combination.

The mould on cutlery and cupboards is condensation related, but the issue is .... is this being caused by you living there, or is moisture coming up through the floor or in through the walls and evaporating, thus raising internal humidity?

First thing to do is remove the lino which is trapping moisture behind it, and clean the floor.

After a few weeks you should be able to tell if you've got water coming up, or if you are getting condensation on the surface

BTW is the floor surface plain concrete or quarry tiled?

Do you have proper ventilation in the kitchen and elsewhere?

If you have continuous brown stains along the bottom of the wall, then you may have a rising damp issue. If the plaster/paint is just flaky then its probably condensation

Ultimately you may need someone to look at this to determine what's going on and what action is needed.

Treat with scepticism anyone who pokes a damp meter into the bottom of the wall and tells you you have rising damp.

Ask to hear more from anyone who pokes a meter into the bottom of the wall, then at many other places right up to the ceiling, and in the lounge and hallway too.

When/if someone comes to look at this, ask them to explain all the causes which it is not before explaining the cause which it is. That will tell you if they knew what they are talking about.

An actual sample of the floor may be required before a proper diagnosis of rising damp is made. The person investigating should offer this unless another cause is obvious.

Also check possible drainage problems, and make sure the person investigating does too

Without further information, at this stage it does seem like you have a condensation problem, and the lino has not helped at all by trapping moisture below it, which has then leached out at the perimeter. It may just be a case of dealing with the condensation.

 

[LeeGath]

Thanks for the reply.

I have a feeling it's a drainage problem, although the ventilation in the kitchen and living room is quite poor.

I've spoken to my neighbour and he's experiencing a similar problem. He hasn't got round his yet, but seems to be making progress, although this has required him to dig out a load of concrete.

I think I will follow your suggestion. I've currently got a de-humidifier running which is loving all the water it's pulling out of the atmosphere. I think I will run with that for a while and look into the ventilation problem. I'll then have a scoot at the lino and see where we are with that.

Thanks for the advice and I'll keep you posted.

Lee