Victorian house - curse of the damp!

[kcseb]

Hi all

We recently bought a lovely Victorian 3-bed semi in London...

Downstairs, the interior of the wall that borders the garden had a lot of damp. So up to a height of about 1.5m we hacked off all the plaster back to the brick, and replaced with a sand/cement render mixed with sika. But the nice new paint work is now bubbling up in certain places (not all), along the sand/cement render area. See here:

Untitled

• kcseb
• 13 May 2014
• 1

We also installed a drain filled with pebbles along the outside wall + lots of new airbricks, due to high ground level.

It's only been 6 weeks since we did the work, is time a factor? The bricks were pretty wet due to the rainy winter we had. But this lovely new paint work is getting ruined!

Best

 

[drpepe]

I would have thought time was a big factor - i would have though the exposed brickwork would have needed time to dry out before plaster/paint was applied.

did you have a chemical or other type of damp course put in?

 

[ree]

How high is the exterior ground level compared to the interior FFL?

Is the inside floor concrete?

Your pics are confusing, perhaps read ban-all-sheds for pic posting instructions?

Pics of the exterior would help, esp. at ground level.

Maybe read up on Search recent, similar cases?

 

[kcseb]

Hi guys

Thanks for the advice. Exterior ground level WAS high, but had a drain filled with small pebbles and plastic (or plastic looking barrier) installed to address high ground level.

The thing is, whatever has caused the new wall to be damp (which is sand/cement render mixed with sika, and a final gypsum skim) has happened QUICK, like in 6 weeks.

Could this really be high ground levels or rising damp? Or is it just the bricks behind weren't dry yet? If so then will a dehumidifier help?



K

 

[kcseb]

Oh and re flood and DPC: floor is suspended wooden floor, with new airbricks fitted. DPC not installed (though front wall had it 8 years ago, and is just bad as the other new paintwork!)

Am increasingly suspecting we should have let the bricks dry out first, and were too hasty to complete!

K

 

[ree]

There's a whole raft of issues that might possibly be pertinent.

Use the Search facility on here to research similar issues, post pics of all affected areas inside and out, and any pics of sub-floor areas.

Does the oversite have a membrane, is the oversite wet?

Have you probed your joist tails where they sit in pockets in the "wet" wall?

Remove back to bare brick all damaged plaster/render, and examine the backs of any adjacent skirting.