Problems with exterior render and breathability in bathroom.

[jmaxwell]

The story begins in an 1880s flat conversion in Richmond – my parents' home. I'm in the process of helping them sort out their bathroom, which has unfortunately been in a dire state for years.

Here's what's happened inside:

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The lime render has fallen off the brickwork, due to moisture build-up after showers.

Now, have a look at the exterior of this wall:

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As you can see at some point the wall was cement rendered without considering the obvious need for breathability.

This photo of the end of the wall may help identify the type of render used:

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We had the wall repainted a few years ago with some sort of exterior paint but it's bubbling at the base of the wall; further signs of trapped moisture?

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A local builder advised for the bathroom a sand & cement mix followed by a skim coat of 'Seeker' (sp?), which is supposed to be waterproof. All well and good but my concern is that by doing this any further moisture entering the wall (e.g. from the ground) won't be able to escape. I'm thinking it would be advisable therefore to chip off the exterior render and repoint, before decorating inside.

Further opinions please!

 

[skinters]

just wondering if you have a extraction fan installed,not saying having one would have stoped the problem,but they sure do help.

 

[jmaxwell]

No - the only ventilation (other than a window) is the airbrick you can see in the second pic.

 

[roy c]

What was on the wall in the shower area? Was it tiled? It looks like the top part of the brickwork( 4/5ths of the wall) is damp. Now this could of been caused by the shower wetting the wall by going behind cracks in the tile grout, as the upper part of the outside wall (where the vent is) looks quite sound and solid. If there is water getting in then it would probably be from where that drinpipe comes down the roof (I cant see what the over hang on the roof is from the pics... Also the render that has come off looks like a very thin "dash" coat and it looks like the "Scratch coat" behind it isn't scratched enough to give a "Key." Where it is patchy at the bottom it looks like the water has got behind the render. I would get it all hacked off and re do the whole area. This is just a quick look at the problem and there is quite a lot of detail I can't see and areas that I can't really tell what is what but the more information you give us the more help we can give you.....Good Luck...

 

[jmaxwell]

It was mostly just wallpaper - the tiles above the bath were only four rows high. I'll get a photo of the felt roof on here later today.

 

[jmaxwell]

Here are photos of the bathroom roof. There are some holes in the felt. I took a few more which you'll see if you browse the whole album, but these three give a good overview.

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[roy c]

Now you know where your water is coming in , time to get a roofer I think!!!