What to do with a cold wall?

[brat]

I'm looking into decorating a living room where one wall is cold and subject to damp. It's a gable end in an old house with some sort of wood panel paper that's plastered on to the surface. Mould has got hold of the surface at the bottom in each corner beside the chimney breast so i'd like to get it sorted asap.
I've talked with a chap who recommends removing the plaster back to brick, replastering and then using a specialised paint to cover the wall which will allow the area to breathe. Is this a good idea or should i tank the wall instead as the wife would rather have wallpaper in the room.

 

[Wayners]

Solid wall no cavity?

 

[brat]

It's a cavity wall with about an inch between the inner and outer wall.

 

[Wayners]

Insulated plasterboard over. Skim and paint.
Watch Charliediy on YouTube.

As for condensation and mould.
Watch skillbuilder on YouTube as it's all covered and explained.


You need to get control of the humidity in your house.
Don't dry washing inside unless you run a dehumidifier in the same room.
Get extractors in bathroom and kitchen.
Make some effort to dry bathroom when you finish showering.
Buy a cheap pack of humidity sensors so you understand what's happening in your home.
It's all simple enough.

I'll get you started.

 

[brat]

That's all very interesting but i ran a dehumidifier a few days ago and removed about half a litre of water from the room. I wipe down the affected area once a week to keep it under control but ideally i'd like to solve the problem.

What would you recommend - removing the paper and replastering then painting the wall, or tanking then papering wall?

 

[StephenStephen]

Warm wet air meeting a cold surface will condense.
So you solve the problem by some combination of reducing the humidity in the air and increasing the wall temperature.

So either removing the paper and replastering, or tanking then papering, whilst all very interesting, will not solve the problem.

 

[Deluks]

What's the state of the wall on the outside?
An inch is not a useful sized cavity, it may not technically have been built as a cavity wall. External render, painting or treatment may be required if it is an exposed location, facing the prevailing wind.
Also, what's the external chimney and stack like? Is it capped or in use?

 

[brat]

Well, the paper is in poor condition and really needs to be replaced so i'm looking for the best way to do the job - my question is whether or not to have a specially formulated paint applied to new plaster or a tanked wall, papered. The old paper has a kind of plaster backing that adheres to the wall so it's going to remove some of the old plaster when taken off, i'd have thought.

The outside wall had some kind of plastic applied, then painted years ago. I don't know the process or treatment to give a name to it but the gable faces south which i don't think is a prevaling wind. It's just in a shaded location where the wall stays cold all year round. Even in Summer it stays cool to touch. The chimney isn't capped nor is it in use and a plan to put a vent into the top of the blocked out chimney recess is in the plan.

 

[Wayners]

You need to watch some more videos and understand the problem.
Spending money on tanking and insulation or anything else may not work. You can easily make the problem worse.

Coating the outside wall with stormdry might solve the problem if you don't have humidity problems in the house.
You may have gutter problem or brick pointing is failing.
Simply adding heat and a bit of ventilation could fix the problem.
You need to understand what the problem is then address it.

 

[brat]

The room is warm enough and using a dehumidifier takes the excess moisture out okay but i understand the problem is the old wallpaper needs to be replaced and looking to figure out whether or not to paint coat with formulated paint or use wallpaper on treated plaster.

 

[StephenStephen]

The room is warm enough and using a dehumidifier takes the excess moisture out okay but i understand the problem is the old wallpaper needs to be replaced and looking to figure out whether or not to paint coat with formulated paint or use wallpaper on treated plaster.

So I'm confused now - do you want to solve the problem, or are you happy to replace the wall covering with something that won't solve the problem, but will last longer with the inevitable damp and mould on it, or/and just run a dehumidifier regularly in the hope that will work?