Help please. Damp in kitchen

MyRubyRed

Guys, can you help please. Please excuse length of message but trying to give as much info as possible
I live in a 1920's terraced house.Converted from flats. The kitchen is quite small(narrow oblong shape -
Wall1 - adjoining wall to adjacent property- housing upper/lower kitchen units/oven/hob free standing microwave/frees standing fridge freezer) .
Wall 2- external wall partially below ground level by about 2ft. (external yard - no garden on two levels).
Wall 3 -external wall at ground level (houses sink, washing machine/dishwasher)
Wall 4 - interior wall adjacent to large dining room/door access and radiator.
We are having problems with damp in various areas of kitchen.

Wall 1 - paper between upper and lower units is lifting and plaster underneath appears to be crumbling. Damp smell from bottom kitchen units.
Wall 2 - no problems with wallpaper but damp smell from lower units
Wall 3 - Small black spots near skirting board, paper lifting slightly

Floor - floor covering appears to be lifting in various places
Exterior - salt deposits walls 2/3 at half height.

Have called in several builders who state condensation. Could this be right?

wallbash

You have rightly asked for confirmation ( advice from first builder)
They all say condensation



Im only going to guess ... but my gut feeling is , it might be condensation

Are the windows wet ???
Do you dry clothes in the rooms
Do you cook in the kitchen .......
Do you ventilate after baths/showers

MyRubyRed

Thanks Wallbash.
Reason Ive asked my experts /mates on this site for confirmation is that builders Ive brought in have really just taken a sweeping glance and diagnosed. But would condensation account for floor problems too?
Windows are not wet.
I do dry clothes in the home if weather precludes hanging outside (so quite often)!
I do cook (badly so my family tell me) in the kitchen and the main area of wallpaper peeling is directly behind a microwave oven which is used quite a lot.
I do value the responses I get on this site. Helped me out many many times!!

jasmin10

I would be most interested in this asI too have the same problem behing the lower kitchen units. Interestingly enough it is also where the microwave is too. Do you think perhaps our microwaves could be causing the condensation by the heat coming out of the vents???? mmm that's got me thinking

rosekitten

whats the ventilation like in the kitchen ?
do you have ventilation bricks / or built
in air vent ?

check all the pipes see if any are
leaking or perished
connections for washing machine,dishwasher etc
we got a plumber in to look at ours as well as
a builder.
It sounds the similar to ours and it was the
pipes that were leaking,most had to be replaced
as they were old and perished in parts.

ariba10

Have a read of this.

http://www.harfordsonline.com/downloads/condensation%20info.pdf

MyRubyRed

rosekitten wrote: »

whats the ventilation like in the kitchen ?
do you have ventilation bricks / or built
in air vent ?

check all the pipes see if any are
leaking or perished
connections for washing machine,dishwasher etc
we got a plumber in to look at ours as well as
a builder.
It sounds the similar to ours and it was the
pipes that were leaking,most had to be replaced
as they were old and perished in parts.

Gut instinct tells me I have more that one problem, pipes to washer/dishwasher/sink and I'm more convinved that condensation may also be to blame. No ventilation other than double glazed window and door, more often than enough both closed, to keep out the b****y rain.