Damp in 1650 house and 30 year old extension

caledonian_princess

Errata wrote: »

A 1650 house in Coniston is a living, breathing entity. Anything that's done to block up its nostrils - like bitumen on internal walls - affects the integrity of the house. Is the house built of slate? Have any of the outside walls been rendered (extension excepted)? Have they been lime washed, or merely painted? (inside and out).
If it's any help and comfort, I owned an old house in west Cumbria with slate flags that sweated during exceptionally wet weather and then dried. The house was always bone dry. That was the way the house 'lived'.

I totally agree with this, my house was built of stone in 1750 straight onto the ground - no foundations. When we bought it 20 years ago we were told to get the wooden floorboards removed and a membrane/concrete floor laid instead because damp may seep up from the ground and through the boards. Thankfully we got another surveyor who specialised in old buildings who told the BS that this was absolutely the worst thing we could do as it would force the moisture into the walls instead of allowing it to evaporate through the floor.

My house has been living and breathing for the last 20 years just the same as it did for the previous 240 years, no damp.