Water coming from roughcast wall

[David22294]

Hello I hope someone can help me please. I was taking my little one to school today and came back and noticed this on the side of my house. The roughcast has been cracked for a little while but this is the first time I have noticed this. Can anyone explain whats going on? Should I be concerd?

Thanks for taking the time to look at this.

 

[JohnD]

looks like water has collected in a bubble behind the loose render.

It might have come from rain, or perhaps a plumbing leak, for example if there is a concrete floor on the other side of that wall, with a water pipe or drain buried in it.

Have you recently had rain? Is there a leaky gutter above?

 

[David22294]

Hey thanks for getting back to me. It was raning last night. The house its a Semi Detached, I only have gutters on the front and back. Nothing on the side of the house due to the upside down v shape if that make sense. In side the house its my hall and my boiler ( Which you can see on the pic where the outlet is) is about halfway down the house and not near this water/puddle. Where the puddle is where my staircase starts.

 

[JohnD]

Boiler? full of water, with water pipes going in and out of it? Do some of these pipes go through the wall?

Is that square plastic thing by the corner a downpipe from the gutters, with rainwater going down it?

Stand back and take a pic showing the whole wall, up to the roof.

How old is the house and what is it made of?

Where are the kitchen and bathroom?

That sort of bubble in the render easily fills up with water if rain runs down the wall, or is driven against it by wind.

 

[David22294]

Hello ok I have took a few more pics. There is no pipes at all that goes anywhere near that side of the building ( That corner) My Stiarcase is whats there, I have included a pic of that. My combi boiler is under the starts which I have took a pic off but no water pipes etc run to the stairs. Hope this helps and thanks for all you help .

 

[David22294]

Ahh Ok John that might explain where this is coming from as rain could easy get into this cracked area. The bathroom is at the back of the house andkitchen is directly under bathroom where the window is. The wind and rain does hit this side of the house very bad so it gets the full weather. I just never noticed this before lol.

Its also worth saying that I cant see any water actually coming out etc, just happen to notice the stain this morning on the driveway..

 

[JohnD]

Lets start with the hypothesis that it is rain water. Bang a nail into the bubble to pierce the render at the bottom. The collected water will run out (the broken render might fall off).

If it is rain, it will stop once the water has escaped, and will dry out until next time it rains.

If it is coming from a plumbing leak, it will keep collecting more water, either constantly, or after you run a tap or pull out a plug, or after the boiler runs or something.

Edit
Is the bubble above or below the floor level? Is the floor concrete or wood? The boiler is quite close. Does it have any pipes running past the wet patch?

 

[David22294]

The Floor is wood and i would say its above floor in the hall. No pipes run anywhere near that section. I only know this as my house used to have electric heating and when they installed gas in they had to do all the pipe work etc. I went out and you were correct a bit of the casting came away. Here is the pic. It looks like it is drying and no further water has came out.

 

[JohnD]

that looks like the cause

it looks to me like a new coat was applied over an old one that already had a defective patch. The dirt clinging to the brick, and the frost damage, suggests it has been faulty a long time. The paint coating might have prevented it drying out.

 

[David22294]

Ahh ok. I have lived her for a few years so this prob happend before i got the house. Will it be ok over the weekend if the rain hits it etc? just a little worried it may cause any sort of damage lol. I am totally clueless lol

 

[JohnD]

Most likely water will be tracking down into the render underneath that hole, and will damage it in the same way. Water will not damage it as much or as quickly as frost does, when the trapped water freezes. You could patch it with a weak mortar mix so you have a flat surface to throw off water, but ask for advice in the Plastering and Rendering section.

 

[David22294]

Thank you JohnD for all your help. Really appreciate it.

 

[bobasd]

odds are that the render was applied to deal with historic penetrating damp in solid walls.

show photo interior damp signs

the brick faces are spelched off - keep nockin off the render back to brick an to ground an as high as needed.
the pike high point of the gable looks dead dirty - could be dirt or retained moisture.
worst case might be the whole of the render needs to come off.
render needs cuttin off 50mm above ground contact.
ground contact allows render to suck up moisture.
bottom of render should have a bell cast.
only masonry paint should be used - if your paint isoil paint its wrong its holdin in moisture.?

is ther a gulley for the down pipe?
one wonky newish air brick,with cracks around it, but no air bricks on gable elevation.
suspended floors need air bricks every couple of metres - an near corners an chimney breasts.

 

[footprints]

Chances are as previous posts an untreated damp problem, but just worth tracing your incoming water main route in case that is chased in the wall and weeping.