I'm refurbishing my bathroom...(installed by previous owner I call mr bodge-it... for very good reasons...)
The wall is cavity (from approx 1970) and seems to have been cavity wall insulated.
I'd noticed a damp patch on the wall and realised it was where the redundant toilet overflow was...from the outside I could see the pipe had been cut off level to the wall...on the inside a patch of lumpy filling/plaster approx 20cm round. I thought the pipe hadn't been sealed off and rain was getting in. I was going to seal the pipe with a bit of plastic bag and expanding foam...
I chipped the filler off to find that brickwork around the pipe is missing - it had been badly filled in with 'new' plaster. Behind this plaster around the pipe was bits of broken brick and motar for the rest of the width of the inner leaf and into the cavity and there is approx a third of a brick stuck in there.
The pipe itself was stuffed with bits of old wallpaper but it was dry inside and no sign that it had ever been wet/damp......the pipe was actually pretty loose (taken out and put back before?) and came out with some of the plaster...
So what is causing the damp? Could it be the brick bits or old pipe acting as a bridge? Is it rain water coming in around the outside of pipe? What should I do?
Should I put the pipe back?
I thought put expanding foam around the outside to act as a seal and then fill it expanding foam?
..or leave the pipe out and try to fill the hole in the outer leaf with foam from the inside?
And on the inside -can I fill the hole with foam? Then cut back and skim with plaster? (Or will this cause a bridge too?)
(It is very difficult for me to get to the area outside...I don't think I have a long enough ladder! and access inside is limited because it is close to the current toilet)
Thanks for any advice ...the whole refurbishment is turning into a bit of night mare
The wall is cavity (from approx 1970) and seems to have been cavity wall insulated.
I'd noticed a damp patch on the wall and realised it was where the redundant toilet overflow was...from the outside I could see the pipe had been cut off level to the wall...on the inside a patch of lumpy filling/plaster approx 20cm round. I thought the pipe hadn't been sealed off and rain was getting in. I was going to seal the pipe with a bit of plastic bag and expanding foam...
I chipped the filler off to find that brickwork around the pipe is missing - it had been badly filled in with 'new' plaster. Behind this plaster around the pipe was bits of broken brick and motar for the rest of the width of the inner leaf and into the cavity and there is approx a third of a brick stuck in there.
The pipe itself was stuffed with bits of old wallpaper but it was dry inside and no sign that it had ever been wet/damp......the pipe was actually pretty loose (taken out and put back before?) and came out with some of the plaster...
So what is causing the damp? Could it be the brick bits or old pipe acting as a bridge? Is it rain water coming in around the outside of pipe? What should I do?
Should I put the pipe back?
I thought put expanding foam around the outside to act as a seal and then fill it expanding foam?
..or leave the pipe out and try to fill the hole in the outer leaf with foam from the inside?
And on the inside -can I fill the hole with foam? Then cut back and skim with plaster? (Or will this cause a bridge too?)
(It is very difficult for me to get to the area outside...I don't think I have a long enough ladder! and access inside is limited because it is close to the current toilet)
Thanks for any advice ...the whole refurbishment is turning into a bit of night mare