Wall paper on top of damp?

[Thomas71]

Now that title got some attention I am sure!

Its not as bad as it sounds though! The house that I bought had a "freak" DIY plumbing accident a few years ago.

The surveyor spotted a minor damp measure ("it is measureable so, strictly speaking, it is damp,"), in an adjoining room to the kitchen. the "issue" is: bubbly wall paper approx 1 square foot large.

Now, the question.

It happened some 18 months ago. the original problem is solved and I will rip out the kitchen to extend/rebuild it. So, i dont want to get in professionals and pay £xxxx's for a damp treatment in the kitchen now. I'll do all that when I have the professionals in any way.

However, to allow me to repaing the adjoining room, is there something I can paint/apply on the wall (having removed the bubbly wall paper) that will 'cure' the "damp" in that room and: 1) let me paint it and 2) allow me to properly fix the kitchen (when i redo it in 6-8months)?

It feels totally dry and I do believe it was just a freak accident a while ago.

As always.... answers gratefully received!

M thanks

T



In order for me to

 

[TexMex]

All walls have some residual moisture in them. Trouble is most surveyors use fairly crude instrumentation to measure the damp. It basically just measures conductivity.

Now when you have a bit of water flow through the wall, it brings the salts to the surface. Once you repair the problem, the moisture levels return to normal, but the level of salts near the surface, remains high. As you probably know, salts increase the conductivity of water quite dramatically, so even the regular background humidity will give a "high" reading. The surveyor will naturally pass this finding onto you.

("it is measureable so, strictly speaking, it is damp)"

It may be measurable but what it is measuring isn't necessarily damp.

If you know the history, use your own judgment. If the problem no longer exists, it looks dry and feels dry, it's probably dry.

 

[Zampa]

So,,,,in answer to your question then.........

Yes....you can probably go ahead and redecorate...dust off any effloresence witch may have formed on the wall.....then give the ffending area a couple of coats of damp proofer such as cuprinols 'no more damp'....making sure you overlap the damp by a good six inches or so....this is incase any damp thats in the wall decides to creep around the sealer.....

Then re decorate as normal

Damp proofers are only effective if the source of the damp has been erradicated first.

 

[Thomas71]

Thank you both for the answers! Really helpful and appreciated!

T