dot and dab onto damp wall!

[ZorgTheDestroyer]

Hi there,

We're finishing our basement refurb and disaster has struck in that it seems that the builder has put dot and dab plasterboard directly onto the internal walls and when I painted these, damp patches have appeared.

So you will be correct to point out that the builder and myself are a pair of numpties who should know better (although I blame the builder because I know that I know nothing about building).

The basement is not completely underground, it has it's own door and normally positioned windows which start at ground level outside but are sort of a metre up from the floor on the inside. The builder did put a membrane down on the cement floor that went up the sides to cover the wooden joists that we put down to raise the floor a bit. The membrane also went up the external walls, it's just that for some brain-fart reason (I don't want to say to save the money for the price of some membrane but that maybe the truth ) there were none put on the internal walls

.

The house is an 1860s semi. The neighbour has also done their basement ages ago and so there might be an issue with them sealing their side and the water trying to escape from our side (but that's just one area of the internal walls).

After (rightly) flaming me, what do I do next? (funds have pretty much gone).

Thanks in advance,

 

[Swwils]

Find the cause of the damp and rectify it before you dot and dab again!

How fresh was the plaster when you painted? And what method do you use to paint?

 

[ZorgTheDestroyer]

It was mist-coated by the builder a couple of days after it had been plastered. I got round to painting it about a month later (after the wife settled on a colour). Method? I just stuck it on with a roller, it was dulux for walls and ceilings pretty creamy which I diluted with water 10%.