Rising Damp?

[harmonia]

Hi,

I live in a old terraced house & we have an internal wall between our bathroom & kitchen which appears to be suffering from damp. I have pulled off the rotting skirting boards and door frame to find the brick is slightly dark with moisture upto a foot off the floor. There is some pipework connecting the bathroom rad. to the central boiler running through this wall as well as stopcock to the water mains is within 1//2ft of the affected area. I have checked the rad. pipework and this appears to be sound but I am not certain whether I should blame this on the water mains. The water company came round the other day and checked our shared supply pipe (3 houses) and say that there is a chance of a very slight leak but it is neglible.

Is there any practical anyway I can determine that this dampness is from water mains? The only other cause I can think of is that about 2 yrs ago the kitchen was flooded in this area dueto a drain that backed up (upto 1 inch water depth). The survey higlighted that the patio outside is the same height as thekitchen floor and apparently this can also lead to damp problems I plan to leave the brickwork exposed for the next week to see if they dry up which would support the later theory I suppose. I guess I need to get an expert in...

thanks

Adam

 

[Softus]

What's the construction of the floor either side of the damp wall?

If solid, do you know if there's a DPM present?

 

[harmonia]

thanks for replying! The floor is of a concrete construction. I am not certain DPM was ever laid down. I was wondering if I could get pellets place in the wall to absorb the damp but thats no good if the dampness is as a result of the water mains. Guess all I can do is to get an expert or call insurance company

 

[Softus]

I'd put a towel around where you think the leak is and see how quickly it gets wet.

 

[harmonia]

There is not that much water, just moisture. I called the buildings & contents insurance today and they are not prepared to help on matters of damp+rot

They say I got to get an expert into examine it (at my cost) to determine if the fault is caused by something like the water mains...argh. Guess I better go find the yellow pages

 

[joe-90]

Wonderful advertising Julie? (or is it George). Do you trawl the forums all day or just most of it?