Rising Damp

cons

Hi guys

got the keys for our first property on friday past, decided to strip the walls.

Home report stated some rising damp on the lower section of chimney breast. when we pulled the paper away.. sure enough there was signs of some dampness ( sticky plaster ). It only goes about 6inch high either side of the old gas fire thats there.

What do we do? can i remove the gas fire myself safely to have a look?
do we need a damp/rising damp specialist? if so anyone know how much thats roughly going to cost

thanks
joyful FTB

Doozergirl

I'd start by ventialting the chimney breast - it's usually that it's been blocked entirely when they put the gas fire in. There is moisture in chimney breasts and it can usually be prevented from sitting in the walls if you ventilate it.

You can do it either by drilling a hole and putting a vent over it (can be on the side, doesn't have to be the front!) or the much prettier way of installing a fire with an insert as it would probably have been originally.

Years ago we had a dreadful condensation problem in a flat - before we started in proeprty ourselves, we had damp specialists in who recommended all sorts of weird and wonderful solutions (expensive) it was solved entirely by the suggestion of a London black cabbie to reopen the chimney breast. We'd planned to put in a fire anyway! Older houses shouldn't be totally sealed to air flow

ormus

abolutely right. make sure there are no blockages inside the chimney. peeps have a habit of blocking em with many weird items. make sure the stack is not capped off completely.
(or not leaking).
theres 99% no need to spend any money on treatments or space age devices!

cons

so

remove the fire
have a look up chimney, if its blocked, either drill it for some ventilation or put a vent inside.