Hi all, having inherited a house from my grandparents I have a few questions I hope someone would be able to answer.
I have a feeling that we may have a damp problem.
In the living room downstairs a round watermark has appeared through the wallpaper. It has been the same shape and size for around a year now and feels cold but not wet to the touch. The wall it has appeared on is an outside wall which has my neighbours garden on the other side of (Victorian terrace) This neighbour had flowerbeads (earth poured up against our wall with plants in, no lining etc)u p against this wall and when we saw them we asked him to remove them as we thought they could be the problem.
On the same wall in the kicthen there are a few areas where a powderlike substance has come through the paintowrk in patches (paint staright onto plaster) again, they do not feel wet.
On the same wall but upstairs the plaster behind the paper has come away in large chunks and is now just being held behind the wallpaper, we have felt behind the wall and all is dry, although the old plaster and motar is crumbling. Further down the wall has been artexed and this has crumbled also, but only up until a point, leaving a dead staright line down the wall (floor to celing) where it goes from bubbling to perfect. WEe hjad been told that this is possible condensation as the room upstairs is a kitchen with a bathrrom/showerroom right opposit the said wall.
Right, any advice? We were thinking that we should have the whole wall hacked off outside and re-plastered/rendered? Im thinking of getting someone in to see it but feel that I someone may try and palm me off with 'It's rising damp, give us a few thousand and we will sort it out!'
The other option was hack off the crumbling plaster and motar upstairs, replaster and go from there? I am a complete amature so not really sure what the best option would be? Surely if it was damp/rising damp it would be the whole wall and not just small patches downstairs and large patches upstairs?
Any advice would be great!!!
Cheers
Stuart
I have a feeling that we may have a damp problem.
In the living room downstairs a round watermark has appeared through the wallpaper. It has been the same shape and size for around a year now and feels cold but not wet to the touch. The wall it has appeared on is an outside wall which has my neighbours garden on the other side of (Victorian terrace) This neighbour had flowerbeads (earth poured up against our wall with plants in, no lining etc)u p against this wall and when we saw them we asked him to remove them as we thought they could be the problem.
On the same wall in the kicthen there are a few areas where a powderlike substance has come through the paintowrk in patches (paint staright onto plaster) again, they do not feel wet.
On the same wall but upstairs the plaster behind the paper has come away in large chunks and is now just being held behind the wallpaper, we have felt behind the wall and all is dry, although the old plaster and motar is crumbling. Further down the wall has been artexed and this has crumbled also, but only up until a point, leaving a dead staright line down the wall (floor to celing) where it goes from bubbling to perfect. WEe hjad been told that this is possible condensation as the room upstairs is a kitchen with a bathrrom/showerroom right opposit the said wall.
Right, any advice? We were thinking that we should have the whole wall hacked off outside and re-plastered/rendered? Im thinking of getting someone in to see it but feel that I someone may try and palm me off with 'It's rising damp, give us a few thousand and we will sort it out!'
The other option was hack off the crumbling plaster and motar upstairs, replaster and go from there? I am a complete amature so not really sure what the best option would be? Surely if it was damp/rising damp it would be the whole wall and not just small patches downstairs and large patches upstairs?
Any advice would be great!!!
Cheers
Stuart
