samjc
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| posted on 9/9/12 at 03:45 AM |
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Advise on damp
Hi all, ok I gather this may not be the best place to ask but I may be suprised by how many have had this issue or are in the sort of trade to sort
this issue, ok so I have bought a house in south yorkshire which has some damp. The issue I belive was a combination of brocken guttering, blocked
drains, house being un ocuupied for almost a year and the silly wolly that paved level with the dpc. Ive had a look over the net and seem to belive it
could be rising damp around mainly effects the rear and side of the house.
The house is a large semi detached property with double brick skin and most part concrete floors.
Im looking at contractors to inject chemicals in to stop and solve the damp as ive already removed pattio and taken plaster off the walls. Any advise
what to look out for and a rough time scale of the job. Do I add chemicals to the plaster and the sand and cement when applying to brick after the
damp proofings has been done.
Any advise would realy help as dying to move the family in but we are wanting it all to be safe first.
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cliftyhanger
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| posted on 9/9/12 at 07:04 AM |
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Seems odd. There will be a DPC in both inner and outer wall, chemicals are usually used whne deling with older properties with no effective DPC.
Unless yours has broken down.
Likewise damp should not get from the outer wall to the inner, UNLESS somebody has managed to bridge the two with debris, wires etc.
I would be inclined to make sure all the gutters are clear and leakfree, and investigate any possible breaches of the walls in the damp areas. The
weather is good at the moment (down here at least!) but it takes ages for damp to dry out of walls, a month an inch I think (hazy memory on that)
The other thing, "mainly part concrete floors" worries me a little. Houses tend to be built with solid or wood floors, rarely a
combination. (ok, mine had a small solid bit where the copper would have been) but it is possible that concrete floors were laid without a DPC. I own
a 1850's house like that, and got round he issue by tiling the floors and batten/boarding teh walls which let them breathe.
May be worth letting us know the approx year of build, and I have assumed double brick skin does mean cavity wall.
Also check out the neighbouring houses, ask about their floors and so on. You need to find the history out.
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zilspeed
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| posted on 9/9/12 at 08:14 AM |
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As ever with issues like this, it's inadvisable to make comment without seeing the property.
It's important to build up a whole picture of all of the issues and then you can make a proper diagnosis.
What I would say is that if paving has bridged the DPC then this either needs to be altered back to maintain the integrity of the DPC or you would
need to tank internally with a new higher DPC. I would favour lowering the paving. It's how I would always specify a repair if that option is
available.
You're quite correct in that it can come from a variety of sources.
Damp is pretty easy to deal with, but all you have to do is work out the source, stop the source, treat the effects and that's it.
If the issue is caused by the ground level being too high, it would be important that you treat the floor and walls up to the new DPC. Tanking as
detailed above.
The plaster should be reinstated using renovating plaster as that has a mould resistant additive.
Regarding mixed concrete and timber floors.
It's quite common on inter war and immediately post war houses up here. Generally a concrete floor in the kitchen with timber elsewhere. Often
there is no DPM in the kitchen floor.
U2U if required.
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tegwin
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| posted on 9/9/12 at 08:18 AM |
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Worth checking.. has your cavity been filled with insulation?! That seems to be the cause of damp in my place! What sort of idiot pumps water
absorbant material into a wall cavity.....
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zilspeed
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| posted on 9/9/12 at 08:22 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by tegwin
Worth checking.. has your cavity been filled with insulation?! That seems to be the cause of damp in my place! What sort of idiot pumps water
absorbant material into a wall cavity.....
They'll tell you it's all ok now and the insulation material is fine.
The only way I would have insulation in the cavity is partial fill using batts secured to the outer face of the inner leaf with a cavity maintained.
Installed at the time of construction.
There are 8 building surveyors in our office. Three of us chartered. None of us have or would ever have cavity fill insulation.
Strangely, the section next to us does cavity fill programmes.
We have to ignore them to avoid the risk of starting a war.
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samjc
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| posted on 9/9/12 at 10:20 AM |
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I will reread the paperwork from my solicitor on info on the house. Whats done so far is all damp walls stripped back to brick. Patio has been dug up
and new will be laid 2bricks below the dpc, also I am using a dehumidifier in the rooms with damp.
The house has concrete through kitchen, pantrey, hallway and the living room but the dinning room at the front of the house is wood flooring up until
the livingroom where an archeway joins the two.
The outside has painted brick so far up the ground floor only showing damp where guttering was damged (now repaired) then the rest of the house is
renderd. Their are two area I think that may effect the house if was done badly and thats a small chimeney in the kitchen which was removed and also
sighns were a smaller kitchen window has been fitted. I will be going to ask the nabour joining me (semi detached property) of some history of both
hers and mine as shes lived their over 50 year.
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