How long should I wait for bricks (internal) to dry?

[tom2011]

Hello all,

I recently moved into a Victorian terrace property which required a little patching up. After purchasing the property we asked a local damp expert to come round and give us some advice. In one of the bedrooms he found some slight damp adjacent to the window in the external wall. This room is intended to be a nursery for our 5 month old boy, so we felt it was important to sort out any damp problems before renovating the room (and indeed after removing all the wallpaper there was fungus/mould on the plaster around the affected area - roughly 2 square meters)

His advice was to strip back the plaster and leave the brickwork to dry, then replaster. At the same time, rectify the source of the damp, which is some cracks in the external cement rendering near to the window.

The stage I am at is that I have removed all of the plaster from the area, except from the render directly around the window. The brickwork is pretty crumbly, but is sound. The masonary doesn't 'feel' damp, but the surface of the bricks is soft and can be scraped off with a fingernail.

I am waiting for a spell of sunny weather (some hope...!!) to patch up the cracks in the external wall, but once this is done how long should I wait to dry out the brickwork?

How do I tell when it is ready for replastering? As I say the bricks don't actually feel damp, so is there something I should look out for or a test I can carry out?

I have also read on this forum that there is no real need to repoint the brickwork if it is going to be replastered. But does this apply to an area affected by damp? I attach a photo of the room, and advice is greatly appreciated on how to proceed with this project.

One last question... there is a piece of what looks like a pipe under the plaster (you can see this in the photo - a vertical line towards the bottom of the brickwork). When I was first removing the plaster I thought this was an electricity cable, but it is metal and quite flexible (lead) but goes nowhere, it just comes out of the lower section of plaster towards the floorboards and stops half way up the wall. Any ideas what this could be?

Regards
Tom

Untitled

• tom2011
• 9 Jun 2012
• 1

 

[joe-90]

What did your damp 'expert' get out of it?

It's the outside you need to look at, not fart about hacking walls to bits.

 

[HERTS P&D]

Check the guttering.

If possible post some pictures of the outside of the window, wall and guttering.

Andy

 

[Thedistinguishedplasterer]

iv done same repairs as your problem , as you have an old property there should have been an air vent in the room it will stop the damp and mold forming if air is in the room , also like the other quote you have recived , it is more or less due to leaky gutter or somthing out side building , if you want to get the wall dry hire a dehumfier and it will suck up the damp from the wall , its an old wives tale to be told that you will have to wait for sunny weather , and the way things are with the wetest june on record , you are going to have a long wait, check out side for where any water may be comming from . repair with lime sand cement render and this will help the building settel better in this area of the dammage as cement and sand does not agree with old buildings and you will get a better result as less likly to crack when dry , then you can multi finish plaster skim after wall has dryed out , should not take more then a few days to dry at the most . if any one plastered with bonding plaster when they put windows in it will draw the damp through the wall on an out side wall , only hard wall or lime render should be used to repair this.

 

[darrington]

Once a Peap, always a Peap,,,

 

[tom2011]

Thanks, yes, I will try and get some photos of the exterior and post those later today.

Waiting for some warm weather is not so much to do with drying the brickwork internally, rather, so that I can get up a ladder and patch up the external rendering.

Presumably the cement will need to dry and will also need some waterproof paint coating? Not going to be easy to achieve this with the weather as it has been recently (at least in Bristol its been strong winds and torrential rains this last week)

 

[joe-90]

You are going about this the complete opposite way to what you should. You are treating the symptoms of a problem and not the cause.

Why do you have damp in the house? Why is your render failing on the outside?

Check your gutters and roof before you do anything else - THAT is where the problem lies.

 

[tom2011]

You are treating the symptoms of a problem and not the cause

I am treating both!

I have already said what the problem is, there are cracks in the external render adjacent to the window where the water is seeping in. I can't get access at the moment to take a photo, but I will post one when I can.

I have two issues that need rectifying:

1. Cracks in external render
2. Damaged, damp and mouldy plaster internally

I am doing my best to fix both of these problems. I cant control the weather, so the former will have to wait a few days until its safe and sensible for me to get up a ladder and patch and paint the render. I have the mix ready and waiting for this occasion.

In the meantime I thought it sensible to make a start on the latter issue. The bricks aren't going to get any wetter because i've removed the problem plaster are they? So why does it make a difference - i'm just trying to get a head start. Not sure where i've given the impression that all I want to do is patch up the internal wall and leave the cause of the problem... I never suggested that

What did your damp 'expert' get out of it?

I used ADC in Bristol. I paid them a fixed fee to visit the property with me before completing on the sale of the house with the vendors. I wanted an assessment of the scale of any problems prior to purchase in case there was anything major that the survey had not picked up.

 

[peaps2]

Even though it's always best to look at gutters etc It would seem clear cut to me. The problem will be the cracks on the external render allowing water to penetrate.

I would suspect the render is sand and cement.? If so I would remove the lot and re-render it using lime render.

Is it a solid wall construct, or do you have cavity walls?

I would also remove the soft decayed brick and replace.

 

[joe-90]

Don't be silly Peaps - most houses have no render but they aren't damp.

So you paid a damp expert to come around and pick your pockets and all he told you to do was 'fix it'?

Typical conman. They should be jailed.

Now stop being a big girl and get the ladder out and find out where the water is coming from.

Ignore Peaps he's on drugs.

 

[peaps2]

Don't be silly Peaps - most houses have no render but they aren't damp.

So you paid a damp expert to come around and pick your pockets and all he told you to do was 'fix it'?

Typical conman. They should be jailed.

Now stop being a big girl and get the ladder out and find out where the water is coming from.

Ignore Peaps he's on drugs.

Cracked render hold in the water

You need to open your eyes.

 

[peaps2]

http://www.1stassociated.co.uk/dampness-basics.asp

 

[ponyagent]

to the OP

if you have a cavity wall and craked render then the issue is not the render !

if you have a solid wall and cracked render then the issue is the render

 

[peaps2]

to the OP

if you have a cavity wall and craked render then the issue is not the render !

if you have a solid wall and cracked render then the issue is the render

The clue was Victorian terrace but some people get the age wrong.

 

[joe-90]

Don't be silly Peaps - most houses have no render but they aren't damp.

So you paid a damp expert to come around and pick your pockets and all he told you to do was 'fix it'?

Typical conman. They should be jailed.

Now stop being a big girl and get the ladder out and find out where the water is coming from.

Ignore Peaps he's on drugs.

Cracked render hold in the water

You need to open your eyes.

Nah we don't get enough rain to go through 9 inches of brick. The render is cracking because water from above is getting behind it. If you look at a house in the rain it hardly gets the walls wet - that's what the roof is for.