Help with damp!!!

andy69_2

I have recently bought a semi-detatched house and I want to check for damp without paying for a specialist. I have just bought an electric damp meter and its great but could anyone please tell me how to use it? Do you stick it in all over the wall or just within one meter from the ground? Thanks in advance!!

wallbash

My first thought is .... throw the new toy away.

Use your eyes and nose .

Yorkshire_Bred

Is it a two pronged meter with green merging to red lights?

If so just stick the prongs slightly into the surface and hopefully the lights will stay green!!

To test place a wet finger on the prongs to see the effect on the lights.

andy69_2

Thanks for that, I have smelt and felt etc but It doesnt seem to be damp, as I have come accross damp in the past but I just want to be sure, it said on the BASIC survey report to check it out, i don't know if this means he has found damp or not. The meter is 2 prongs with a dial, and it sais wether its bad or not too bad etc. Thanks again

wallbash

, it said on the BASIC survey report to check it out

It always says that . normal catch all ( cover my back ) words.
You could probe with a meter :rolleyes: look knowledgeable. couple of shakes of the head,
and be as bright as most 'damp 'surveyors' flogging damp courses :rotfl:

Radsteral

i am training to detect and fix damp.. though the toy i have bought for survey is 550 quid
it comes with a handle which you either attach it to various parts of the wall , 1 m above the floor.. or with pins that go through the wall.


most surveys will show damp at some extent..some true some to cover the surveyors back .
if you see black spots on paper.. walll always cold and slightly wet etc there may be damp there so check where the water is coming from.... look outside guttering or any pipes leaking

simcla

Black spots on the wall are normally mould (ie from condensation) If you see a white residue on the inside wall (salting) I would be more concerned. Have a look outside at the wall, if you can see a damp proof course above ground level (horizontal black line between bricks) then you should be okay anyway. PS if the meter shows damp high up the wall it isnt rising damp and an injected DPC would not sort it!

rocketrocket

I hear you. I have just purchased a home and knew I had damp issues. After many hours research online I 'think' I have come to the conclusion that the damp is caused by sub-level seepage. It is an 1880 Victorian home, originally built straight onto ground. Would have had suspended wooden flooring but we now have concrete all through lower level. Correct me if I'm wrong Simcla, but I believe this has caused any ground moisture to search out the quickest and easiest routes for escape - and as there seems to have been a DPC on external walls, this moisture has searched out all the interior walls. The moisture is patchy, not on both sides of walls, from 1m to 2m high, not on all walls and its patchiness seems to follow what would be the mortar joints in the brick work. I'm reluctant to say it is rising damp. What do you think?

Also, I have been reading about the freezteq DPC system that any capable DIY'er can acheive. And this site has articles about saving money so I thought that if it was a suitable option then perhaps others could try it. Drilling 22mm holes into mortar joints, to within 25mm of the edge of the wall, then inserting the frozen chemical sticks (usually a treatment of 4 sticks over the course of a 24 hour period). I haven't found where to buy these yet but I am concerned that if these wholes are to be drilled 110mm apart and almost 4/5 of the way through the brick walls, would this not make the walls weak? I am at risk of these walls falling down? Seems like a massive feat of engineering if not!

I can certainly save pennies doing it myself, but have concerns about the above.

Input from anyone would be much appreciated. Thanks

rocketrocket

oops, forgot to mention - we bought a battery operated damp meter which works just fine. It too has two prongs, and sends out a 'hell-of-a-signal' when it hits a damp spot, of which I have many. I didnt know you could even get electic ones. Learn something everyday!

lizziebell*80

simcla wrote: »

Black spots on the wall are normally mould (ie from condensation) If you see a white residue on the inside wall (salting) I would be more concerned. Have a look outside at the wall, if you can see a damp proof course above ground level (horizontal black line between bricks) then you should be okay anyway. PS if the meter shows damp high up the wall it isnt rising damp and an injected DPC would not sort it!

I have both these things on one wall in my house, chimney recess (well the white stuff and moisture is on one wall the DPC is all the way round!). Had DPC people round and they tested a wee core from the wall and said was not rising damp hence must be penetrating damp and since noticed that the gutters pour out like Niagra Falls down that bit of the wall, so hoping that fixing that should help out with the damp wall.......just trying to get a gutter man out to do it now, easier said than done it seems. Fingers crossed the white and wet bits will be no more afterwards.

wallbash

Had DPC people round and they tested a wee core from the wall and said was not rising damp hence must be penetrating damp

Big pat on the back for that company

But shame on you for not noticing the waterfall.
At least you know that a 'gutter' man will be cheaper and money well spent.