I have a 1930s brick house with cavity walls and suspended wooden floors. In one room, I have a couple of damp patches on the inside and these have caused the paint to blister up to about 300mm above the skirting board. The external ground level seems ok (it finishes about 150mm below dpc) and the cavity is clear of debris. (There was a bit of old mortar in a couple of places which may have been bridging the dpc slightly, but I’ve now cleared this out.
I’ve removed the skirting boards (MDF skirting also affected by the damp in places). I notice the vents are quite high (nearly level with the floorboards and I’m wondering if my problem is actually being caused by condensation on the cold spots above the airbricks (rather than rising damp). There is a gap of approx 12mm between the floorboards and the brick around most of the room - and this gap is as much as 25mm just above the vents. My questions are:-
I notice the dpc on the inner brick is two courses lower than the outer brick - is this normal?
Is it normal for the vents to be at the height they are? (Almost level with floorboards and pretty much facing the side of the first joist - which is only a couple of inches away)
Would it be ok to fill the gap between the floorboards and the brick to reduce cold spots and draughts? If so, what should I use to fill it? (expanding foam?)
While I have the skirting boards off, would it do any harm to drill and fit DryRod damp proofing (just in case there is a rising damp problem?)
Any help appreciated.
I’ve removed the skirting boards (MDF skirting also affected by the damp in places). I notice the vents are quite high (nearly level with the floorboards and I’m wondering if my problem is actually being caused by condensation on the cold spots above the airbricks (rather than rising damp). There is a gap of approx 12mm between the floorboards and the brick around most of the room - and this gap is as much as 25mm just above the vents. My questions are:-
I notice the dpc on the inner brick is two courses lower than the outer brick - is this normal?
Is it normal for the vents to be at the height they are? (Almost level with floorboards and pretty much facing the side of the first joist - which is only a couple of inches away)
Would it be ok to fill the gap between the floorboards and the brick to reduce cold spots and draughts? If so, what should I use to fill it? (expanding foam?)
While I have the skirting boards off, would it do any harm to drill and fit DryRod damp proofing (just in case there is a rising damp problem?)
Any help appreciated.
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