I will start from the beginning......
House is circa 1950's, with a pitched roof (bedroom's in the eaves). Master bedroom wall started sweating, which is the wall directly in front of the chimney breast (chimney is blocked up and no longer in use).
Called insurance, they sent a surveyor who said our flashing was bent and therefore when the rain/wind was going north, the rain was getting in. Gave us settlement sum, and said we could use an external sealant and fix ourselves.
My husband used the sealant, but it didnt work.
So called a roofer. He spent 30 minutes on the roof (the surveyor didnt even go up there), and said it could be 2 things. He completed the following:
New airbrick at the top so the chimney can breathe
New flashing
Wall started drying out a bit, but then we had a downpour and the shadow on the wall changed shape. I called the insurance company and they told me to get the roofer to come back and inspect his work and see if there were any other issues. He came back, couldnt find anything, but coated the chimney stack in something free of charge (sorry I dont know what it is) in case we had porus bricks.
He had told us previously that the was a double chimney as there was a gas cap (?) on top as well as a pepper pot), and we worked out the bottom of that chimney would have been in our dining room (there is already a vent in place of the old fireplace in the living room).
My husband has now added a vent in the dining room, and also a vent in the master bedroom.
Again, we thought it was drying out (we are using a dehumidifier), but after the downpours this weekend the shape of the shadow has changed again and is much darker. Im at my wits end as we cant get on and decorate until this is sorted!
I have called the insurance company again today (!) and they have reopened my claim and will be sending out another surveyor.
In the meantime, does anyone have any ideas as to what could be causing this? I am worried the surveyor is going to say he cant find anything wrong when there clearly is!
A little disclaimer - im afraid I dont know anything about roofs/chimneys so all of the above I have just spouted second hand - I hope it still makes sense!
House is circa 1950's, with a pitched roof (bedroom's in the eaves). Master bedroom wall started sweating, which is the wall directly in front of the chimney breast (chimney is blocked up and no longer in use).
Called insurance, they sent a surveyor who said our flashing was bent and therefore when the rain/wind was going north, the rain was getting in. Gave us settlement sum, and said we could use an external sealant and fix ourselves.
My husband used the sealant, but it didnt work.
So called a roofer. He spent 30 minutes on the roof (the surveyor didnt even go up there), and said it could be 2 things. He completed the following:
New airbrick at the top so the chimney can breathe
New flashing
Wall started drying out a bit, but then we had a downpour and the shadow on the wall changed shape. I called the insurance company and they told me to get the roofer to come back and inspect his work and see if there were any other issues. He came back, couldnt find anything, but coated the chimney stack in something free of charge (sorry I dont know what it is) in case we had porus bricks.
He had told us previously that the was a double chimney as there was a gas cap (?) on top as well as a pepper pot), and we worked out the bottom of that chimney would have been in our dining room (there is already a vent in place of the old fireplace in the living room).
My husband has now added a vent in the dining room, and also a vent in the master bedroom.
Again, we thought it was drying out (we are using a dehumidifier), but after the downpours this weekend the shape of the shadow has changed again and is much darker. Im at my wits end as we cant get on and decorate until this is sorted!
I have called the insurance company again today (!) and they have reopened my claim and will be sending out another surveyor.
In the meantime, does anyone have any ideas as to what could be causing this? I am worried the surveyor is going to say he cant find anything wrong when there clearly is!
A little disclaimer - im afraid I dont know anything about roofs/chimneys so all of the above I have just spouted second hand - I hope it still makes sense!
