Damp wall in kitchen

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Some advice would be really massively appreciated!

We bought a semi detached 1900's house in South Wales (UK)
When viewing the house there was no sign of damp, mould, no damp smell etc. (we bought the house)

I noticed that there was a smell in one of the kitchen cupboards but could not see anything in the cupboard, then, I noticed as I was taking things out (pots and pans etc for cooking) they were mouldy.

The kitchen was going to be the last project due to cost, however, having 2 little ones I couldnt have things going mouldy in the cupboard and so we bought the cheapest range kitchen in wickes only £1000 bargain.

As we ripped the old kitchen out, we were horrified by what we saw, the walls were black behind them, the backboards of the units were black, enough to turn anyone sick. I washed all the black mould off the walls with bleach and had the kitchen completely replastered. This was in May 2020, new kitchen went In, beginning August 2020 I noticed black mould coming through my brand new kitchen units, I bleached them all through, they had only been in just over 2 months! I got hubby to take one half of the kitchen back out to inspect the walls behind. The actual walls had No mould on them but the plywood back panels of the kitchen had different shades of green fluffy mould absolutely covered and thick, it was like powdery, I used a vaxxum to get it off and then bleached them, I have not yet put them back.

I read that it was probably condensation and I decided to buy a hygrometer to check humidity levels, they are currently sat at 83%. I bought a dehumidier and had that running for a week and I could get the humidity down to 68% but that appeared to be where it sat, as soo. As I turned it off the humidity levels shot back up again.

I have a cooker extractor that I use when cooking, I have windows and doors open a lot in the day (except when using the dehumidifier) there is no ventilation at all in the house and I am thinking of buying a lofty remcon and having it installed before putting the kitchen back together to get levels down.

I also had 3 builders come round to advise, one said I needed all walls hacking off, injecting and tanking etc.. The other 2 said no rising or penetrating damp, walls were checked with a meter thing and said No damp on walls, they would just paint with anticondensafion paint and install PIV system.

What do you all guys think?? I really could do with help on this!
 
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Photos please of both the inside and outside, it sounds like you may have rising or penetrating damp - maybe both.
Check particularly the ground level outside which may be too high.
For sure, more than condensation here I’m afraid.
John :)
 
1900's house be twin brick with a very small or no cavity and if no refurb work done it won't have a DPC either. Burnerman advice is right on the nail.
 
it may well have a slate DPC at that age. Have a look at the walls, nine inches above where ground level used to be when the house was built.

A few things I can tell you about chemical injection. It is not as good as a slate DPC; and it will not repair leaking pipes, or spilling gutters, or raised ground levels, or broken drains.

You mention that there is damp in the kitchen. The kitchen also contains a sink, taps, drains, and at least one pipe, probably passing under the floor. The water this pipe contains may be significant. Pipes that are a hundred years old often leak. So do pipes that are a week old. Gutters and downpipes often spill.

Do you have a water meter?

Some photos would help a lot. Inside and outside of the mouldy wall(s)
 
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Sitting in my bedroom I have a weather station saying living room 64% 19.8°C and bedroom 61% 20.4°C remember humidity changes with temperature.

Last house was higher around 75% and father-in-law two doors up was 80% which was due to triple glazing, gas cooking, and very well sealing doors, so poor ventilation.

I had a friend with a woodland and we tried using a humidity meter in the woodland, it was a failure, at around 85% the sensor gets too damp if it stays there too long, so would show 100% all the time unless dried out, then it would work for a bit, but would return to 100% in woodland, under cover not direct rain, but worked OK indoors.

As said 83% is rather high, but the question is why is it so high? And what can cure it, could be as simple as renew the stones in French drain around the house, or use sealant on walls, but one would expect a builder to find that, but could be as simple as the wind being in wrong direction as said likely solid walls.

In North Wales when my mother lived it seems the council was giving grants to insulate houses from the outside, to me it looked horrid, all the brick work covered in insulation which was then rendered, so looked like cheap pebble dashed houses, but if it saves money and dries out house then needs must.

But house in Mold had a garage door poor fitting for integral garage and wind could blow water into the garage, it would however in my garage quickly dry out, but father-in-law carpeted his garage, they held the water in. And with my garage at one point had a dripping tap, that made living room damp. It does not need much of a leak.

In this house we on hot days use an AC, I use 4 pint milk bottle for the condensate, so just for one room, quite normal to remove 8 pints of water in one day.
 
Thank you so much for your replies.

So, we decided to hack the wall back to the brick to see what was going on, what we discovered was a very old stone wall with a brick built fireplace, this wall is damp, you can feel the walls at the back of the fireplace which would be the outside walls, they are dry, the dampness is from the wall that has been built either side of the fireplace to make the wall flat essentially, I know it's not coming from the roof because we have had all the roof done, however, it could have been getting wet before we had the roof done and that damp has stayed?

The whole wall is going to be knocked down now, covered with special plasterboards? Insulated I believe they said! Skimmed and then painted with anti condensation paint.

My question is, do you think that was what is causing the high humidity?

We do not have cavity walls I have since found out.

I have that crap insulated stuff as Ericmark has mentioned above, it has been put over the outside of the house (we didn't have this done, it was done already) it's really thick, around 6 inches, looks a bit like polystyrene stuff.

I've managed to get the humidity down to around 64 (average) sometimes goes down to 58 but when cooking even with doors and windows open it goes to 75+

My kitchen units that are now off the wall and have been for a few weeks now, started to go mouldy again, these are sat in the middle of my dining room, nowhere near any walls so I am guessing that it is definately condensation?

Many thanks
 

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I wonder if the render is causing some issues? I thought older houses (any houses) that don't have a cavity were best rendered with breathable render, ie lime containing, but I'm no expert.
Is there a chimney above said old fireplace?
Careful putting internal insulation in. With non-cavity walls, depending on the depth of the brick/stone, it's advised to leave an air gap to stop any moisture from the outside wall getting through onto the insulation. Also, especially in a kitchen and with your levels of humidity, everything needs to be sealed and taped and probably covered with a vapour barrier to stop any warm humid air getting through to the cold side of the insulation and condensing in the wall. Wouldn't want to end up with more problems than you have already.
 
Hi there, the is a chimney above ( picture below taken looking upwards)

I will explain to builder what you have just pointed out as well, I'd rather get it done properly now! Rather than have issues later on.
 

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