Is This Damp? If So, What Kind?

[chuckalicious]

If you search for all posts by me, you'll see I'm an unlucky sod when it comes to my new (old) house. Seems to be one bloomin' problem after another.

Not sure why I didn't notice this before, but on my external wall (on the outside) the paint is crumbling/bubbling at the base and has some green alge/moss growing on it.

I'm assuming it's some kind of damp, but I can't get anyone out to look at it until next weekend, so I'm panicing because we're skint after all the other work we've done and now this has cropped up.

I've posted a link to a set of photos of the damage to see if any of you can think of what it might be.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11636925@N07/sets/72157601656018677/

To give you an idea of the situation, the house is a sandstone and brick Victorian terraced (although my wall is in the passageway, which is why it's exposed). I'm in Scotland, so we do get a fair amount of rain On the other side of that wall are our hot water tanks, then the kitchen sink (the white pipe on the outside is where the kitchen sink water goes).

I've checked what I can on the inside and don't see any leaking pipes, although I did notice that behind the kitchen unit is a metal plate, which has some old gas works behind it (from what I can see, not much space to look) as I'm guessing there was a gas fire there at some point. However I don't see how that could involve water....

Anyway, any thoughts greatly appreciated. I'm going to change my username from chuckalicious to lucky

 

[Nige F]

Weel it cannae be rising -fer tha` does nae exist

 

[chuckalicious]

Weel it cannae be rising -fer tha` does nae exist

Slightly confused I'm sure that's meant as a controversial comment.... means nothing to me though

 

[JohnD]

looks to me like water is lying on that concrete strip next to the wall. Is there a leaking gutter or pipe above?



p.s. ignore the "does not exist" it is a reference to a long-running saga elewhere

 

[noseall]

there are visible signs of water ponding around your house, the green bloom being the tell tale candidate. you can actually see where the problem gets progressively worse.

fix any leaks or provide adequate ground drainage. then look at ways to protect the wall.

 

[chuckalicious]

looks to me like water is lying on that concrete strip next to the wall. Is there a leaking gutter or pipe above?



p.s. ignore the "does not exist" it is a reference to a long-running saga elewhere

no guttering above that at all, or pipework that I can see. Seems odd that water is pooling there because that's the highest point of the pathway (slabbed).

 

[JohnD]

no pipework above it? Are you comletely sure about that?

 

[Softus]

Looking at the photograph the render on the wall goes right down to ground level. This means that water running down the wall will nestle at the joint and keep it wet. In the winter this will keep the render moist, and when it freezes it will start forcing the paint off the render, and/or the render off the wall.

As for the following:

Weel it cannae be rising -fer tha` does nae exist

Slightly confused. I'm sure that's meant as a controversial comment.... means nothing to me though

...see this:
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=34549

 

[chuckalicious]

Ok, by pipework I meant copper mains or hot water. The plastic pipe is the waste from the kitchen sink. I have checked what I can with that and can't see anything.

As for the render on the wall going right down to the ground, all the other houses in the section are like this and we are the only ones suffering from this.

I wonder if this indeed will be one that can only be solved by someone coming out and having a look.

Out of interest, we only have 2 air bricks providing air to under the floor, how many should an average stone house have? Not that I think this has anything to do with the damp

 

[NickStone]

I may be completely barking up the wrong tree here but if your rendering is not in great condition (and it doesn't look as if it is) then rain water will be able to get behind it and lead to loss of adhesion. Maybe this wall suffers because rain gets blown against it by the prevailing wind whereas other walls don't.

 

[chuckalicious]

Quite possibly...

the wall is one side of a passageway that's only about 1m wide but I have no idea which wall gets wet during the wind.

It certainly looks like moisture is being sucked up from ground level, but I could be totally wrong.

Can this kind of thing cause structural damage or is it totally dependent on the makeup of the building etc?

 

[NickStone]

Quite possibly...

the wall is one side of a passageway that's only about 1m wide but I have no idea which wall gets wet during the wind.

It certainly looks like moisture is being sucked up from ground level, but I could be totally wrong.

Well, there is another possibility. The path might have been laid too close to the damp course. Two brick courses below is the rule and the renderinng obscures this. I viewed a property a while back in which there was a large damp patch on an internal wall. On going outside, I found a concrete slabbed patio had been laid above the damp course. People do silly things sometimes. You could try removing some of the lower render to see what's going on behind it. You'll probably find it's not as serious as you fear.

 

[chuckalicious]

I was wondering that myself, if the pathway was too high. I imagine that's something I could fix myself if it was the case. Just lift the slabs, lower the ground, then relay.

Fingers crossed. Guess there's not much I can do until I get someone round to have a look.

Thanks for the help

 

[Aqua]

There appears to be a strip of concrete at the foot of the wall next to the slabs, maybe 4-6 inches wide.

I would knock that out and lay 20mm gravel at a depth of 6 inches all the way along the wall/slabs to the end.

This will act as a french drain carrying water away, if DPC is bridged below the slabs then that should help.

That is assuming there is a DPC, if not you should have the walls drilled and injected to form a DPC.

Either way the gravel is a cheap enough job to do and wont take you to long.

 

[chuckalicious]

That's a good point, and a good idea. Wonder how thick it is Pick-axe anyone?