Tracing the Cause Of Damp

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This last stormy winter we had a fair bit of damp in one wall.

I've got ideas of my own where could be coming in but I'm wondering if it's worth getting someone with no pre-conceived ideas to give an opinion.

Is a specialist damp surveyor a good idea? (http://www.arsurveyors.com/)

Or do I just need a switched on Builder? If so anyone recommend a good builder with a bit of nouse in the Chichester Area?
 
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Why not call(google) Graham Coleman - he's an independent damp surveyor who wrote the book on the subject. If he cant do it he'll know someone near you who can.
 
I had a damp survey done as part of buying my house as the surveyer kindly pointed it out in his report to the mortgage company.

complete crap. They advised the standard hacking of plaster, injecting walls. The actual cause was a leaking copper pipe set in the concrete in the bathroom ajoining the "damp" wall

Get a couple of people in to see what they advise, or post pics inside and out on here. I see you posted about this damp wall a few month ago too
 
No no no....before you rush head long into throwing cash at the problem, please consider the following!

First, so we can help, describe the problem here. Pictures would also help.

Is the damp still a problem? Is it seasonal (only in late Autumn/Winter)?
Where is the damp located? What type of property? Age? construction (solid or cavity walls)? Do you have cavity wall insulation? Do you have UPVC windows? Do you have central heating? How is it set up? What are you living habits? How many people live in the house? Do you use a tumble dryer? Do you have extractor fans?

I could go on for a while.

The first thing you do to eliminate damp is look at the very cheap or FREE options. One you have exhausted all these, then consider the alternatives.
 
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Its sometimes worth taking a long look at an OP's previous posts.
This OP has previously been given a range of advice and suggestions about dampness and here he is again - fair play to him, come here as often as you wish .

So perhaps its time for an Independent Damp Surveyor to visit. Experienced eyeballs on site.
The man that i recommended is one of the UK's foremost D&T experts, and most generous and wise with his time.
 
Is the damp still a problem? Is it seasonal (only in late Autumn/Winter)?
Where is the damp located? What type of property? Age? construction (solid or cavity walls)? Do you have cavity wall insulation? Do you have UPVC windows? Do you have central heating? How is it set up? What are you living habits? How many people live in the house? Do you use a tumble dryer? Do you have extractor fans?


Winter only, after heavy gale/rain you can actually see damp/paint bubbling. House build in 1960. Brick cavity wall. Insulation - see above I'm really not sure. UPVC windows. Yes central heating although the damp is the sid of the house with no radiators. 2 people in the house+1 toddler. No extractor fan anywhere. Tumble dryer lives in the garage. I'm satisfied this isn't condensation.

Thanks this has been playing on my mind for some time and your post has had a dramatic calming effect. :D

Some random facts/questions/thoughts:

There's a tile window cill inside which actually meets the outer course of bricks. An obvious possible possible bridge point.

At some point in the past someone has applied mortar at the bottom corner of the windwo of the window which also bridges across the cavity and th edamp course around the window, the wondow has been out and that looked damp to me and was certainly transferrign some water onto the inner course. However I'm not sure it could explain the amount of damp we're seeing.

Also there's two points at the top of the wall where new holes have been drilled when a new boiler was put in the loft. As far as I can see they weren't sealed by mortar however the angle of the pipes suggests to me that water would drain out rather than in. I'm still suspicious that water might be coming in there, falling down the inside face of the outer course and then crossing over at the window.

The argument against the window being the sole bridge point is that the spread of the water below the window is wide which (perhaps) suggests water coming in at multiple points or perhaps rising damp. When I say wide I mean there is no sign of damp above the window at all. The window is half way up the house and by the bottom of the ground floor but the damp is almost the width of the house. Would it be expected for water to fan out over such a wide area below the point it's coming in?

Another concern is that I'm not sure if the wall has cavity wall insulation. There was a vast amount of foam under the old cast iron bath which I assumed was to insulate the bath itself but it could equally have seeped in from teh gap between the courses are some point in the past when cavity wall insulation was squirted in. I can see no sign of this on the outside of the wall. If there is cavity wall insulation I'd guess that would be sodden and bridging into the inside wall all over the place.

The pointing is pretty bad. I can't help but wonder if getting a builder to do pointing (including a decent bit of mortar round the 'new' pipes) & sort out the window would sort it, I can't see any other way water could be coming in. Problem is finding a good local builder who wants to do pointing. They don't tent to return calls when the word 'pointing' is mentioned. On the other hand if I got to a specialist pointing firm I doubt they'd do the window.

Everything I wrote in my previous posts is still valid as are the images. But there's some new information regarding the window which I think we can say for certain now is a potential bridge point for two reasons.
 
So perhaps its time for an Independent Damp Surveyor to visit. Experienced eyeballs on site.
The man that i recommended is one of the UK's foremost D&T experts, and most generous and wise with his time.

Agree it's perhaps time for a pro.

The pointing is shot. If I get a builder to do the pointing all the other suspicious areas can be sorted at the same time the problem might be fixed.

A Damp Surveyor might give me a few simple things I can do myself or he might just say: "The pointing is shot. Get a builder to do the pointing. All the other suspicious areas can be sorted at the same time the problem will be fixed.".

Hence asking here about decent local builders and damp surveyors.
 
Do not discount condensation as the cause of your damp. Last winter's prolonged wet weather tested even the driest houses in parts of the UK.

The window itself - during winter - is a source of heat loss, and of descending cooled air pouring off the window which serves to cool the inside wall below. You say there are no radiators on that side of the house, so there is nothing to mix the cold air, and for the cold months of the year a continuous flow of cold air allows condensation to build up in the plaster. This in turn will cause the damp plaster to evaporate whenever warmer and dryer atmospheric conditions allow it, with the further cooling that evaporation causes.

To prevent this airflow cycle, the simple remedy of using an unheated fan to blow air towards the window wall during winter and spring will defeat descending cold air from the window.

If there is a ceiling fan in the room, setting it to send air downwards during the winter months is usually sufficient to prevent this type of situation.
 
Do not discount condensation as the cause of your damp.

Interesting. I put this down to condensation for a long time but decided that that was wishful thinking because the bubbles seemed to appear in rainy times rather than dry and because the window was so obviously leaking. I suppose it's entirely possible the problem in downstairs rooms is condensation.

The damp wall is the south facing wall which takes the worst of the winter gales.

All the damp areas are in the very coldest parts of the house.

The pantry has little or no damp even though it's unheated, directly under the leaky window and has a washing machine in it.

Some photos:



Below: Window over the stairs. There's no doubt water comes in here, but enough to spread out over pretty much the whole ground floor?

4lrd6x.jpg


20pwylx.jpg


Below the kitchen: The tide mark on the ceiling made me think water was coming down from above. However there's no sign of damp in the room above. This room is unheated.

2w70oy1.jpg


dota83.jpg
 
Mark Fish,

you have been extensively advised in the past, and given a "what to do now" suggestion above - get an independent survey in, yet you still persist in looking for an easier softer way.

You obviously dont have a clue about building matters, and why should you, thats why you post? But surely, you have the common sense to listen to past professional advice on here?

Yet you find the nonsense suggestion that your difficulties are due to condensation to have merit.
 

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