Hi,
Been lurking and reading a lot from here whilst renovating my house and finally got myself stumped.
Background: bought this house recently, it was completed 1981 and hasn't had a lot of maintenance for the past five years or so. We (or tradesmen) have skimmed all the ceilings, painted all the walls, replaced all the carpets, replaced bathroom and kitchen. I'm now a lot poorer
Recently, I've noticed that the old plaster on the top floor has started cracking or blowing at both sides of the house - sides, not front and back - along the entire length of the wall (through multiple rooms). See crack - 1.jpg. A dampmeter informs me that it is damp to varying degrees of wetness. The ceiling itself appears dry. Walls are brick with cavity insulation.
The loft has a condensation problem, but, that looks to be confined to the middle of the loft. The ventilation seems good enough (you can feel the breeze) and I've put felt lap vents the entire length of both sides of the loft (as low down as I could get). I think the issue with the condensation is that the insulation up there has been laid badly and squashed down. Although, a thermometer tells me that the loft is relatively close to the temperature outside. I don't -think- this is causing the plaster to blow. I have spotted some drip marks on the walls (see crack - 2.jpg) at the front of the house in one room and I think that is due to the condensation and some deterioration of the roof felt at the bottom (and a lack of eaves carriers).
My current plan is to get up the loft and take some damp readings of the brick work on each side of the house up there to see if there's anything registering damp at these ends. If so, then I think we're looking at a roof/fascia problem. If not, then I'm stumped.
Am I barking up the wrong tree? Any tips/advice here would be good.
Been lurking and reading a lot from here whilst renovating my house and finally got myself stumped.
Background: bought this house recently, it was completed 1981 and hasn't had a lot of maintenance for the past five years or so. We (or tradesmen) have skimmed all the ceilings, painted all the walls, replaced all the carpets, replaced bathroom and kitchen. I'm now a lot poorer
Recently, I've noticed that the old plaster on the top floor has started cracking or blowing at both sides of the house - sides, not front and back - along the entire length of the wall (through multiple rooms). See crack - 1.jpg. A dampmeter informs me that it is damp to varying degrees of wetness. The ceiling itself appears dry. Walls are brick with cavity insulation.
The loft has a condensation problem, but, that looks to be confined to the middle of the loft. The ventilation seems good enough (you can feel the breeze) and I've put felt lap vents the entire length of both sides of the loft (as low down as I could get). I think the issue with the condensation is that the insulation up there has been laid badly and squashed down. Although, a thermometer tells me that the loft is relatively close to the temperature outside. I don't -think- this is causing the plaster to blow. I have spotted some drip marks on the walls (see crack - 2.jpg) at the front of the house in one room and I think that is due to the condensation and some deterioration of the roof felt at the bottom (and a lack of eaves carriers).
My current plan is to get up the loft and take some damp readings of the brick work on each side of the house up there to see if there's anything registering damp at these ends. If so, then I think we're looking at a roof/fascia problem. If not, then I'm stumped.
Am I barking up the wrong tree? Any tips/advice here would be good.
