Damp problem

[GSte]

I have a problem with damp in one of our bedrooms. The room used to smell musty and things left in the room would start to grow mold. Last year the ceiling collapsed after the heavy snow, so we took the chance to redo the whole room, replace the carpet, etc. Now the room has started to smell musty again, the drawers in a chest of drawers that's next to one of the exterior walls are starting to sag and grow mold underneath, and the shoes in the wardrobe are starting to grow mold too. Here's a picture of the external wall that seems to be the problem:

I've had a few local tradesmen round, and besides replacing the meter box housing which we want doing anyway, they have suggested slightly different things.

The first suggested putting in 5 venting bricks and spraying all interior surfaces with an anti-fungal treatment.

The second said he would put 3 venting bricks in the exterior wall and three vents on the inside wall in corresponding locations.

Do either of these courses of action sounds right, and if so which seems the best?

I am not overly keen on the idea of internal vents, just from the point of view of keeping the room warm, but if it's necessary then I'd have it done.

Also I wondered if the DPC was either too high, or should be staggered down with the steps, and if so if it's possible to get that done now or if it's a huge job?

And finally, the floor of the room is concrete.... could the problem be damp rising up through that? Though the rest of the room seems fine, it's just the area by the external wall that seems to have the issue.


Any help or advice would me much appreciated.

 

[joe-90]

Was it the ceiling or the flat roof that you replaced?

 

[r896neo]

It sounds like it is simply condensation. The room has at least two outsides walls and a flat roof and so probably gets pretty cold relative to the rest of the house.

The remedy for condensation would be increase insulation and ventilation.

 

[cotswoldbuilders]

Did you have a new roof put on, and was it a warm roof construction.

 

[cotswoldbuilders]

Just looked again, the facia looks quite deep, they didnt put a new roof over the existing one, ?

 

[GSte]

Thanks for the replies.

We just had a new epdm membrane put on the flat roof to cover cracked air bubbles in the old felt, and replaced the ceiling where it had caved in, and the insulation where it was wet.

If the solution is simply to improve ventilation (house already has cavity wall insulation) should I just get the external venting bricks or would having vents on the internal walls be useful as well? I'm just worried that they'll make the room too cold, because as you say r896neo it does get cold in there as it is....

 

[cotswoldbuilders]

In your last post, we had rubber membrane fitted over the old bubbled felt.
Was this a diy job, because any one trained to fit Firestone EPDM wouldnt cover an old roof this way, an certainly I wouldnt give the 20yr gaurantee.
Its obvious, that the existing boards etc are full of moisture, because you have said it brought the ceiling down.
Every thing should have been stripped, including the boards, remove all wet insulation and a warm deck roof fitted, then the epdm.
They have trapped a lot of moisture in there, and no where to go.
Did they fit vents in the roof.

 

[GSte]

No, it was a company who fitted the epdm and they did remove all wet boards and insulation and replaced them. No vents fitted that I know of. edit - I mean they replaced the plasterboard that was wet, no roof boards though.

Even if that was the source of the damp, which I'm unsure of, would venting bricks be enough to solve the problem?

 

[cotswoldbuilders]

Prior to water getting through your roof, I am assuming you didnt have damp or the musty smell.
The roof would have been leaking a long time prior to your ceiling coming down, hence all the dampness and musty smell, now that it has all been sealed up.
I would remove a section of plasterboard in the affected area, check for dampness and to see if the musty smell is stronger.
Even though you say it was a proper company that installed the roof membrane its not fitted correctly, you cant overlay epdm on a wet rotten roof.
Did they give a gaurantee, if I am right vents are not going to help until all wet wood is removed.
Some one else might be along later to offer different advice, but if there was no problems before ceiling came down, this leads me to believe the fault is in the roof void.

 

[GSte]

Yes, the damp and musty smell was there long before the roof collapsed. We had the main roof of the house replaced and the roofers told us that the flat roof would need doing soon as well because the felt had bubbled and could crack, but that it was okay at the moment. We couldn't afford to have it done at the time, and then fast forward about two years and it collapsed. But the damp was there long before that which leads me to think that it might simply be due to condensation as that's the coldest corner of the room (furthest from the radiator and an external wall).

The blokes that fitted the epdm said that the roof wasn't rotten, that water had just been getting in through a cracked felt bubble and running down between the roof boards into the ceiling where it had been pooling. They gave us a guarantee for 20 years I think, perhaps longer.

Just to clarify - should venting bricks always have a corresponding grille on the internal wall?

 

[cotswoldbuilders]

Vents should correspond to inside vent, via a sleeve.

 

[GSte]

Thanks for all your input mate.