Damp sucked up through render

[jacdaniels]

Hi guys,
I have finally got to the source of a damp problem under the stairs. Basically the plaster, (and then once that was removed), the render, was damp. It only appeared on the surface and once I removed it I found what is shown in the attached photo.
There seems to have been a damp proof course put in at some point, (there are brown plastic caps along the length of the wall), and that seems to be holding as there is no damp above it in the brickwork.
The problem appears to be the brickwork below it, (which is below external ground level) is damp and the render and plaster over the top was sucking up this damp causing a surface damp problem.
Having found the problem, I have no idea how to fix it or work around it. I need to re-render and plaster the wall but I assume the exact same problem will happen.
Can anyone advise on how to prevent this happening?

Thanks for all your help.

Untitled

• jacdaniels
• 4 Feb 2009
• 2

 

[skinters]

whats the wall like on the otherside? does it need attention ? i would look into finding some way of stopping the damp that way before seeing to the inside . i would tank the bottom of the wall,batten over the top,attach a damp proof membrane,and maybe install moisture resistant plasterboard .

dont know if thats the way to go,but its what i would do .

 

[jacdaniels]

Thanks for the reply. I have put a DPM into a channel outside the house, (which is a public footpath), concreted over, installed a concrete fillet to keep water building up at the base of the house and fixed the render, so I am pretty happy the outside is ok. The damp is coming in because the internal floor level is lower than the outside, but I have recieved replies to this post in another topic area and the solution would seem to be to add a bitumen coating from floor level to above the DPC. This should solve the 'bridging' problem that I had with the render and plaster.

Thanks again for your reply though.