Wall is flaking off -- should I sand it down?

[Ketzl]

I rent my house, and for a long time the gutter against one wall was completely broken, and I couldn't afford to fix it. It finally got fixed, but left the wall with extremely damp patches, and bits of the wall keep flaking off where it's damp.

Recently, a handyman came round to do a different job, and mentioned in passing that now the gutter was fixed (so the wall wouldn't be getting damp any more), all I had to do was sand the wall down, and I wouldn't have any more problems with it flaking. However, he was a little untrustworthy, and I just wondered if anyone could tell me if this was the right thing to do or not?

The wall itself isn't wallpapered, it's just been plastered then painted.

Here are some photos:

Closeup of flaking damp patch:
[deleted]

Closeup of flaking damp patch (without the camera flash on):
[deleted]

Full shot of the wall:
[deleted]

I'd be tremendously grateful for any advice. Thank you so much for reading!

 

[JohnD]

You can copy and paste pics into your post.

 

[JohnD]

It is still wet. How long ago was the leak repaired?

Is it a 9-inch brick wall?

Scrape off the paint, efflorescence and perished plaster to help it dry out. There may be more than you can see. Cutting it back to brick will help it dry faster. The radiator will help, so will one or two ordinary domestic fans blowing in the damp area, with plenty of ventilation of the room. It should dry in about a year.

Is the house still tenanted?

 

[Ketzl]

It is still wet. How long ago was the leak repaired?

Some time ago now. Several months at least.

Is it a 9-inch brick wall?

I'm not totally sure what sort of wall it is...it's brick mixed with large rough stone (it's a miner's terraced house). The handyman who came round said there was lime in all the walls round here.

Is the house still tenanted?

Yes, by me. Sorry, I didn't make that clear -- I don't own the house, I'm renting it from the landlord.

Scrape off the paint, efflorescence and perished plaster to help it dry out. There may be more than you can see. Cutting it back to brick will help it dry faster. The radiator will help, so will one or two ordinary domestic fans blowing in the damp area, with plenty of ventilation of the room. It should dry in about a year.

Thank you. That's a bleaker outlook than I'd hoped for...I've got some sandpaper for use on walls. Would that be okay to use for scraping?

My main issue is that I have two dogs and a cat, and although I've cordoned that part of the room off, I really worry about any of them ingesting any of the wall flakes. I'm not proficient in DIY...is this something that I could reasonably ask my landlord to do something about, do you think? The gutter was broken when I came and the whole house is extremely damp.

 

[JohnD]

Use a metal decorators scraper. I like one about 100mm wide. If it is thick you can use a 75mm bolster and a club hammer.

 

[JohnD]

Yes, you should advise the owner of the damp damage. They may object to your attempts to repair it, and should be paying.

You can use a builders canister vac to hoover up the lime grit and flakes. Not your domestic vac which sill be damaged.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb430vac-1400w-30ltr-wet-dry-vacuum-cleaner-240v/70472

Get some bags to suit or the filter will clog.

They are quite noisy so put your pets upstairs.

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

the trend of piling boxes up against damp walls will make it worse, which is why your landlord is most likely not interested in it, and insistent on you repairing it.

As a landlord I can tell you the last thing you should be doing is trying blindly to do fairly technical damp repairs to a property you don’t own.
Get a professional in . you could scrape it back and tidy it up with filler or plaster but you’ll be back in the same boat in 6 months.

 

[Ketzl]

the trend of piling boxes up against damp walls will make it worse, which is why your landlord is most likely not interested in it, and insistent on you repairing it.

As a landlord I can tell you the last thing you should be doing is trying blindly to do fairly technical damp repairs to a property you don’t own.
Get a professional in . you could scrape it back and tidy it up with filler or plaster but you’ll be back in the same boat in 6 months.

Well, it's been a problem since my family moved in over a year ago and has got worse and worse all year, and nothing was touching the wall – not furniture or boxes – until this winter. The boxes are touching the wall now because the windows don't close properly (broken when we came, like so many other things in this house), and we put the boxes there to try to stop the draughts coming through. We can't put curtains up because there were no curtain rails when we came, and we still haven't been able to afford to buy any. The draughts are a particular problem because the boiler doesn't work properly (again, broken when we came), which means the heating doesn't work properly (and, by the way, neither does the hot water). I grew up in a house that was built in 1715 and learnt never to put anything right against the walls, so air could circulate; and until I moved here, I never did.

We can't afford to "get a professional in", especially for a problem that existed before we moved in. The landlord is already charging over £200 above the local average, and we're on an extremely limited income. Here's another picture of this wonderful place (and nothing has been touching this wall at any time; at least, nothing of ours):
[deleted]

The list of problems goes on and on, and I notified the landlord of them when we moved in, but he doesn't want to know. So he actually is aware of the state of the wall but has never said he'd do anything about it; I'd have to ask him directly and, of course, for anything I ask for, I have to navigate around the risk of getting a Section 21/revenge eviction.

Use a metal decorators scraper. I like one about 100mm wide. If it is thick you can use a 75mm bolster and a club hammer.

Yes, you should advise the owner of the damp damage. They may object to your attempts to repair it, and should be paying.

You can use a builders canister vac to hoover up the lime grit and flakes. Not your domestic vac which sill be damaged.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb430vac-1400w-30ltr-wet-dry-vacuum-cleaner-240v/70472

Get some bags to suit or the filter will clog.

They are quite noisy so put your pets upstairs.

Thank you very, very much for your help. The handyman (who, by the way, was hired to fix a problem that existed when we moved in and had got worse and worse until we had to do something about it…but we still had to pay for it) told me to use sandpaper, so I’m very glad I checked before I did it!

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

easy answer - don’t pay rent.

 

[Ketzl]

Just to clarify for any other renters reading, not paying your rent is illegal and would be grounds for eviction, no matter what state your house is in. Never stop paying your rent.

 

[danechip]

As a landlord I can tell you the last thing you should be doing is trying blindly to do fairly technical damp repairs to a property you don’t own.

easy answer - don’t pay rent.

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

illegal

WRONG.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/h...olding-rent-because-repairs-havent-been-done/

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

most ‘landlords’ are up to their necks in mortgage payments.
They can’t afford to miss one , let alone two or three months.
he’ll have someone round there sharpish to get it sorted is my guess.
unless of course your’e drying clothes on rails in there or something else that he can hold you responsible for. like piling boxes up against walls or taping up sources of ventilation.

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

maybe they’ve decided your a complete pain in the a7se and want you out of their property before you completely trash it. There’s normally two sides to a story

 

[Ketzl]

maybe they’ve decided your a complete pain in the a7se and want you out of their property before you completely trash it. There’s normally two sides to a story

Just out of curiosity, unless by some bizarre coincidence you are my landlord, why are you being so rude to me? I already told you the problems were here when we came, so he would've had to decide he wanted us out before we even moved in...?

danechip,

Ketzi is quite right about always to keep paying the rent.
Stopping rent can put you at all kinds of risk.
The idiotic advice to stop paying is from a well known troll who specialises in giving contradictory nonsense.
Ignore the fool or you could end up homeless and still be getting "pay the rent" demands.

If, say you lived there with a wife and kids then his bluster is near crazy that you should risk your family home over minor issues.

Blow his bullying bluster off likewise his ref to the Citizens Advice in an attempt to save himself.
That can be a very dangerous route for a non legal person to take - what will the troll advise next - that you hire a pay up front solicitor?

Thank you very much.