Damp stone wall / concrete infilled floor

[Ian Tinkler]

so, all the floors are solid?
the wood flooring is laid on solid concrete?
is the wood flooring staying or going?

now you have removed skirting, and begun to hack off - is there anywhere in the property where can you see the edge of a plastic sheeting membrane (DPM) just behind the skirting?
any damp is damp - whether its light damp or wet damp its damp. thing is to find out why its damp.
chimney breasts and the wall where a c/breast was removed, and the hearth areas in front of them (if the hearths still exist) need pics.

when the kitchen is gone then more pics of the kitchen walls.

Kitchen isn't really damp - just one corner. Near an overflowing drain that was soaking the outside wall. Now unblocked as of today.
Damp is mostly in living room in older part of house. Pretty certain no DPC in the older part of the house. DPC present in the dry new part. Will get pics. Where chimney removed, wall behind is black. Damp guy came today suggested lots of salts probably built up there and were part of the issue. Suggested a paint that neutralises the salt. Any thoughts on that - do these treatments affect lime plaster - will it cause an issue later?

His idea was that it was mostly a condensation issue and ventilation would help. He said let it dry out - even leave the wet plaster. I took the wet plaster off to be honest, to about 2 feet.

I'm thinking lime plaster will help things breathe a bit more, the plaster was a mess of old lime, covered in gypsum, new gypsum, concrete render even on some stone. Will it look wrong if it's lime plastered to say 3 feet then the old stuff left? Or do I take everything off to ceiling level to get a consistent finish?

 

[Ian Tinkler]

so, all the floors are solid?
the wood flooring is laid on solid concrete?
is the wood flooring staying or going?

now you have removed skirting, and begun to hack off - is there anywhere in the property where can you see the edge of a plastic sheeting membrane (DPM) just behind the skirting?
any damp is damp - whether its light damp or wet damp its damp. thing is to find out why its damp.
chimney breasts and the wall where a c/breast was removed, and the hearth areas in front of them (if the hearths still exist) need pics.

when the kitchen is gone then more pics of the kitchen walls.

Kitchen isn't really damp - just one corner. Near an overflowing drain that was soaking the outside wall. Now unblocked as of today.
Damp is mostly in living room in older part of house. Pretty certain no DPC in the older part of the house. DPC present in the dry new part. Will get pics. Where chimney removed, wall behind is black. Damp guy came today suggested lots of salts probably built up there and were part of the issue. Suggested a paint that neutralises the salt. Any thoughts on that - do these treatments affect lime plaster - will it cause an issue later?

His idea was that it was mostly a condensation issue and ventilation would help. He said let it dry out - even leave the wet plaster. I took the wet plaster off to be honest, to about 2 feet.

I'm thinking lime plaster will help things breathe a bit more, the plaster was a mess of old lime, covered in gypsum, new gypsum, concrete render even on some stone. Will it look wrong if it's lime plastered to say 3 feet then the old stuff left? Or do I take everything off to ceiling level to get a consistent finish?

 

[bobasd]

please stop with the prescribing - it complicates things.

there are still unanswered questions and requests for pics?

so its your intention to lift all the wood flooring exposing the bitumen and concrete?

going up to 1m with the hack off will usually give you about 300mm clearance above the damp signs.
draw a level line at 1m and then cut it to 3mm deep with a knife - this will give you some clear edges to work and render to.
there appears to be damp and condensation under the stairs - check the stair stringer & woodwork for rot.

the Damp man was wrong - your pics show many indications of rising damp.

the wall blackened with soot needs to be hacked off floor to ceiling with due allowance.
then, if possible, you must wire brush all the soot and chemicals off the brickwork.
then paste the wall with SBR.

all making good to be in 3:1 sand and lime render.

fwiw: where the chimney breast has been removed - how and where is it supported above?