Localised damp in bay window

dizziblonde

I know there's generally minor damp issues in the bay windows of the houses on this street - but this seems excessive and not quite sure where to start troubleshooting on it. Basically very strong patches of localised damp in the bay, one very large part in the corner where the paintwork inside is visibly wet, and mould's starting to grow. I know it's probably been worsened by us having the sofa in the bay so I've pulled that away to let air circulate a bit better - since it's very localised I'm assuming there's something outside causing it rather than a more general issue with the house. House is brick built, no cavity walls because of its age (1925ish) and rendered on the outside front wall including around the bay window (render seems in fairly decent nick with no obvious cracks or routes through it)... I know from the snowy weather as we were moving in and the icicle collection that appeared that there's a guttering drip upstairs above the bay window - could this be the cause of it?

At the moment after the moving costs we've got no savings left till we get our old rental deposit back and the like - so we have no financial cushioning available to us - hence if this is anything dreadful it has the potential to be a nightmare. What else should I be looking for outside in terms of possible causes?

themacster

I'm assuming the damp is at low level, below the window (assume there is one?)? Possible dripping from gutter running down or splashing onto wall and causing wall to get damp; check that damp-proof course hasn't been bridged by either render or ground level being built up; check no gaps / loose/missing sealant around windows letting water get behind window frame and saturating wall; check roof of bay for leaks.

dizziblonde

Ahh yeah of course - the water would hit the ground and bounce back up - almost exactly where the main damp spot is! That's the bit my brain wouldn't computer - why it was the bottom of the wall that was damp (it's not rising - we had a survey done and full damp check and while they picked up some "areas" - I'm sceptical of the findings - the bay wasn't one on there at all on that front).

The window itself is possibly another possibility - hubby's going to be on DIY duty this weekend methinks... got a friendly neighbour who's a builder as well we'll try to get to take a looksie - but thanks for some initial food for thought as to what it could be - it's so localised it's got to be something very specific at least!

dizziblonde

Thought I'd add to this - using the current snow as obliging assistance in this... would appear thatt he water is coming off the dodgy guttering, onto the bay roof, off the front and onto the ground... and pretty much the drip spots I can see going past the window correspond to where the damp patches are on the wall - so hopefully that's the mystery at least partially solved.

Hubby's going to borrow the communal street ladders (belong to the neighbour who pretty much lets the entire street help themselves if they need to use them) at the weekend to see if the guttering is just blocked with junk or actually broken - it's got a slight dip in it but I think it's probably just full of crud as well.

Nothing I can see externally breeching the damp proof course, and our house freakishly is only rendered to waist height and is just painted brick lower than that which I keep forgetting since it's the only one done that way - so I'm hoping if we sort the guttering when it's actually light when hubby's home (I hate winter ) we might be able to get to the bottom of it.

Certainly just moving the sofa forward's helped dry the inside walls out a touch overnight as well.