Rising Damp? Myth?

ih8stress

Franks wrote: »

Just updating this thread for those who were following it.

I had David Aldred who posted above to come over and survey the property.

I'm just glad I paid for an independent survey

Thanks again David!

Hi, I'm considering getting a survey on some possible damp issues but am abit confused that you originally said the survey would be free but the above suggests that you paid for it?

Also, has anyone else used Peter Cox company for surveys?

Thanks

25rts

Hi

David Aldred is an independent Damp and Timber surveyor and proved that the cause of the electrical moisture meter readings were not as a result of rising damp as had been suggested by the contractor by using a calcium carbide meter which involves taking drilled samples.

His details and those of other independents can be found at:

http://www.independentdampsurveyors.co.uk/index.html

dcdc1970

food for thought:
1. the victorians/ edwardians did not have these problems with so called rising damp....??? how come.
2. place a brick in a tray of water and watch the water rise.... and stop about 30mmm up the brick....and it doesnt go any further !

Leif

dcdc1970 wrote: »

food for thought:
1. the victorians/ edwardians did not have these problems with so called rising damp....??? how come.
2. place a brick in a tray of water and watch the water rise.... and stop about 30mmm up the brick....and it doesnt go any further !

How do you know Victorians did not have problems with rising damp? And what about modern paints and insulation which reduce ventilation?

What about the mortar?

Flynny_two

Franks wrote: »

Hi all. Firstly a big thank you to all that replied!

We did go ahead and buy the house, I'm now writing this reply from the living room of the house in question.

The mortgage lender has imposed a £2000 retention on the mortgage loan based on the finding of the RICS surveyor. They require a specialist survey and diagnosis from a PCA accredited contractor.

With this in mind I found a company that serve the North West called "Peter Cox". They have a team that spans the region and are also CSRT CSSW accredited too. I have a member of their team coming to survey the findings of the RICS home buyers survey this coming Monday so I'll let you all know how that goes. The survey is also free now because we own the house. Before we owned it, they wanted to charge ~£100 If I remember rightly? I'm guessing this is due to people using them for free to decide how bad things may be with a property before going ahead and buying.

During the few days I've been in the property I thought I'd check out all exterior walls and the DPC line when I noticed that ALL the lower air bricks on the exterior walls were completely silicone sealed up!? Someone has basically gone around to all the lower air bricks with a tube of silicone and injected it into every hole in all the bricks - why would someone legitimately do that!? There are no air bricks fitted on the adjacent interior walls so I'm asuming that these blocked exterior lower wall air bricks are fitted to serve air-flow through the two skins of exterior and interior brick walls. It's also worth noting that the house has exterior air bricks fitted on the upstairs level and these ARE NOT blocked. The upstairs air bricks also have internally fitted vents unlike the exterior lower air bricks.

I'll also note that there is a salty residue on some of the exterior bricks at the level of the blocked up air bricks and at this level, some of the exterior bricks have spalled.

So it seems my RICS surveyor was correct, there does seem to be evidence of excessive moisture at skirting board level. I guess the damp specialist surveyor from Peter Cox will provide me with more information too.

My questions are:

1. Why would someone go to the trouble of purposefully sealing up all the lower airbricks on the exterior walls? I can only think of doing this when the walls are cavity insulated or if the guy who did thought he'd cure some cold draughts?

2. Does this sound like a costly repair? The whole house has just been completely redecorated with wall paper so there are no signs of damp on the internal walls.

3. Would simply drilling out the air bricks allow the moisture to slowly dry out without any possible need for a damp repair?

I look forward to your replies, and I'll also update the thread once I have my report from the damp survey.

Thanks,
Franks.

Hi Frank, presumably the property has suspended timber ground floors and it is essential that the ground floor void is adequately ventilated in order that the moist air is evacuated as very serious problems can develop (dry and wet rot). I would replace the air bricks and provide additional one to ensure good cross ventilation.

The blocking up of these vents to prevent draughts is a common problem. The best, although inconvenient and relatively costly, approach is to construct an access hole (if one is not present) and get a small lad to insulate the floor joists using "kingspan" and foam.

Kind regards

cyclonebri1

ormus wrote: »

there is no such thing as rising damp.
many yrs ago, the building research establishment in watford, built a house and filled its cellar with water. and waited. and waited.
6 months later, guess what? no damp walls.

I am with you in principle, and am aware of the tests.

I agree about 50/50, the bit omitted from your version was that the bricks above the water level were already wetted, but they drew in no additional water.

It would seem to be totally down to the drying ability of the property above, if it can dry the water from the bricks then water will rise given suitable brick.

Another study I read stated that no rising damp could be found until the brickwork was put under induce negative pressure, ie, a vacuum, and that's not gonna happen either.

What I would say to anyone who really doubts rising damp is that it probably isn't rising damp, it's damp or actually osmosis.

Ask a bricklayer what happens when he slaps nice sloppy gobbo on a dry wall and builds another course.
Does the wet stain run only up the brick above? or does it go equally downwards?, yep it seeps out both ways.

keystone

Flynny_two wrote: »

Hi Frank...........

Guess he might have done something by now old son. His post to which you have replied is from Nov 2010.

Cheers

new_owner

This is a very good write up on damp and separates the truth from the myths and the great damp con.

http://www.heritage-house.org/pages/managing-damp-in-old-buildings.html

dampdaveski

new_owner wrote: »

This is a very good write up on damp and separates the truth from the myths and the great damp con.

You don't miss an opportunity in recommending them do you!

:spam:

Dukesy

We have a several hundred year old stone cottage which, when we bought it, the surveyor identified as suffering severely from rising damp. We had to get a quote for the remedial works, on the mortgage company's insistence. With us doing all the prep work, this came to £3500ish.

There was evidently damp in the cottage, but there were several clear factors in this, and we had no intention of engaging the damp proofing people to remedy the problems. Instead, we stripped all the render off the walls (it was internally and externally rendered), dug a trench behind the house, as the ground level outside was higher than the floor level inside, dug floors up and laid proper floors ourselves and dealt with the problem of raw sewage flooding out under the bathroom floor. A further issue was that the house had been empty for some significant time, which is never helpful.

Funnily enough, with no specialist treatment applied to the place, we now do not suffer with damp - rising or otherwise. Such a con...