Damp on the kitchen wall

[jasminam]

Wall behind our fridge in the kitchen is slightly damp (goes up to about 2 metres high) and there is a mouldy smell in the area. Wall is shared with a neighbour and it's in the corner of the house. We skimmed and painted the wall almost 2 years ago when we moved in and knew about the problem but hoped it would have been sorted out by skimming and painting. Next to the wall there is a water pipe for the fridge that previous owners had, but it's closed. Mouldy smell is present whether it rains or not.

Any ideas what could be causing this?

Could a worn out parapet wall leading cause this?

View media item 92291

 

[Burnerman]

What's on the other side of that wall.....it looks like penetrating damp rather than rising?
If that's on the ground floor, we can't suspect any parapet issues.
John

 

[jasminam]

Wall is shared with a neighbour, it's a terraced house, so double wall. Don't know what they have on their side of the wall, but can hear some strange noises just now.

 

[ree]

1. examine carefully all the walls in the kitchen, look behind units if possible.

2. Is there, or was there, a chimney breast on that wall?

3. whats above the kitchen - a bathroom, a roof?

4. whatever the cause it might be showing on the neighbour's side as well.

5. Can you take pics from outside - the backyard? - and show the roof and parapet that you mention.

6. Does a yard party wall butt up to the kitchen?

7. why do you say that the party wall is a "double wall"?

8. the abandoned fridge water supply will possibly tee off under the sink unit - isolate it where it tees off, and then drain off the pipe.

 

[Burnerman]

Time to have a word with them, I think.....just to rule out things like leaky central heating pipes, washing machine feeds / drains and so on.
Does the damp seem to start at floor level, do you think?
John

 

[kazuya]

went to look at one very similar a few years back, turned out the neighbours had installed a downstairs shower on the opposite side of the wall