Damp wall 43 inches from floor

[wagon]

I have an old property which has developed damp walls 43 inches from the ground floor. On removing the blown plaster I have found that up to the 43 inch level the bricks appear to be covered with a half inch concrete layer then a thin plaster skim, Is the wall covering up to 43 inches a form of damp proofing? Sould I leave well alone?

 

[stuart45]

I have an old property which has developed damp walls 43 inches from the ground floor. On removing the blown plaster I have found that up to the 43 inch level the bricks appear to be covered with a half inch concrete layer then a thin plaster skim, Is the wall covering up to 43 inches a form of damp proofing? Sould I leave well alone?

Probably was done for a new DPC, but lime render allows the walls to breathe and is now often done on old properties instead of cement render.
As you can see it can cause damp problems by trapping the moisture in the wall.

 

[wagon]

Thank you for replying. Would I do better to remove the wall covering / DPC and plaster the brick work as normal?

 

[stuart45]

Don't use normal plaster, but use a lime render.

 

[wagon]

Thank you once again Stuart 45, Two more questions;- Would you remove the apparently solid area ( concrete and plaster skim) from the floor to 43 inches that has no defects in order to let the wall breath with lime plaster? Is the brick covering (concrete / plaster) adding to damp above the 43 inches?
I hope you can advise

 

[jeds]

It's most likely the cement layer causing the damp.

 

[^woody^]

It would take a lot of ground pressure and porous bricks for moisture to rise this much.

It may be worth while checking for the actual cause of the moisture and see if that can be dealt with instead - then the wall may dry out of its own accord

With a damp issue such as this, the lower wall is going to be saturated, and if the render remains, the moisture will just creep up over the top. If the render is removed, the moisture will just come to the surface and there will still be a problem

The alternative may be to remove the render, accelerate drying of the wall, and then re render. This will give another 30 years or so until moisture rises again. Or some other form of tanking or dry-lining

It there is a lot of pressure forcing this moisture up, then a chemical DPC may not be successful.

I assume the problem is on an internal wall as external walls should not be getting this damp

 

[stuart45]

As your wall is a 9 inch solid wall, it could be penetrating damp coming through your wall. The external cement render might have cracks in it which will allow moisture in, but trap it instead of letting it evaporate out like a lime render would.
Cement renders often cause more problems in old solid walls than they cure.

 

[wagon]

Exteranlly the wall appears sound with a good quality masonary paint, which was re applied about four years ago.

 

[joe-90]

Are you positive that there are no leaky drains in the area? Sounds a bit wet for simple damp to me.

 

[wagon]

All drains are other side of property, home surrounded be fields so no other drains either .