Hi Guys.
Just discovered that the house I've just bought has a 9" solid wall extension at the back. From what I can guess, it must have been a coal shed/outside loo/store at some point, attached to the back of the house, and the previous owners have knocked through to make a kitchen. It the corner of the kitchen there is a cut off bit that is still an outside loo!
I had planned on knocking down the dividing wall betweek the current kitchen and breakfast room and having one big kitchen breakfast. The rest of the house is cavity wall construction. I've noticed a lot of mould on the grout in the kitchen, and some of the tiles are popping off the walls. There are no radiators in the room.
I have 2 concerns really! Is it likely to be suffering from penetrating damp (outside is smooth rendered, looks ok), or is it likely to be condensation? If penetrating, should I get a chemical DPC? I've read lots of bad things about this!
How do I go about increase the thermal value? Should I stud the wall, put in rockwool type insulation and then board over with vapour resistant board, or put in a vapour barrier and use standard board? Would this help alleviate condensation? My problem with this, is that this part of the newly opened up room will be slightly smaller than the old part, and therefore won't flow as one room!
So cheesed off that neither surveyor noticed this! It took a wall tie surveyor!
Just discovered that the house I've just bought has a 9" solid wall extension at the back. From what I can guess, it must have been a coal shed/outside loo/store at some point, attached to the back of the house, and the previous owners have knocked through to make a kitchen. It the corner of the kitchen there is a cut off bit that is still an outside loo!
I had planned on knocking down the dividing wall betweek the current kitchen and breakfast room and having one big kitchen breakfast. The rest of the house is cavity wall construction. I've noticed a lot of mould on the grout in the kitchen, and some of the tiles are popping off the walls. There are no radiators in the room.
I have 2 concerns really! Is it likely to be suffering from penetrating damp (outside is smooth rendered, looks ok), or is it likely to be condensation? If penetrating, should I get a chemical DPC? I've read lots of bad things about this!
How do I go about increase the thermal value? Should I stud the wall, put in rockwool type insulation and then board over with vapour resistant board, or put in a vapour barrier and use standard board? Would this help alleviate condensation? My problem with this, is that this part of the newly opened up room will be slightly smaller than the old part, and therefore won't flow as one room!
So cheesed off that neither surveyor noticed this! It took a wall tie surveyor!
