Damp looking patches appeared on chimney breast walls!!!!!!s

CorBlimeyHowMuch

Morning

When I first moved into this little cottage it was summer and warm and sunny, as winter has approached and the rain and damp increased patches have started to appear on the chimney breasts.

By patches I mean like grease marks on the chimney breast walls,, I freshly painted my bedroom in a good quality magnolia emulsion and now these "marks" have appeared and the walls feel damp, no black mould as yet as I ventilate the cottage regularly by opening the windows and doors and have the heating on in the evenings these marks remind of water seepage marks and the lining paper on the ceiling is coming away from the edges.

One of the reasons rented the cottage was because it had been modernized inside, heating and double glazing but as the winter has progressed it has gotten much more harder to keep warm and its not even that cold yet:eek:

In my opinion the outside walls need repointing in places, the chimneys have not been capped off all the firplaces have been blocked off and an airbrick installed in the chimney breast, the plastic vent cover on this air brick in my bedroom has orangey dried marks on it (looks like nocotine stains but no one smokes in this cottage) and outside walls feel cold and damp to the touch from the inside.

I love living here as its my ideal place to live after a bad year of upping sticks and starting a new life in England, maybe Im panicking but if the chimney breast is letting in water from somewhere how does one approach a Landlord without sounding confrontational and nitpicking, Im worried that these damp patches will turn to mouldy patches etc as I dont have any spare money to redecorate again, maybe Im panicking but there is nowhere around here that will take a part time worker as a tenant and the rents have risen beyond my price range in the last few months and anything half decent goes the minute its advertised.

Sorry for waffling on, just noticed these properley this morning after a night of torrential downpours they are begining to dry out but are going to leave a browny orangy stain on the wall....:eek: why is it when I thought my world was hunkey dorey this happens.

Ah well will go phone the Landlord hope hes in a good mood , does he have to repair this problem?? or is it my responsibility

Janey

propertyman

A landlord, approached with a problem, will respond to a concise description of the problem and your concerns.

Your repair responsibility is set out in your tenancy, but if your tenancy is less than 7 years, any repairs to the " fabric" of the building are the landlords.

While all you say might be correct, two obvious causes that you have not mentioned are if
a; is the chimney capped ( that prevents rain getting in)
b: are the chimney breasts, assuming there is no open fireplace, are they vented? If not moisture will condense on the inside and seep through.

CorBlimeyHowMuch

Thank you for the reply Propertyman

The fire places in the 2 downstairs rooms have been blocked off, no ventilation bricks or holes in these but the two fireplaces in the bedrooms above each of these rooms have a plastic vent cover that slides open, I have looked at the chimneys and these dont appear to have been capped off.

I have kept the sliding ventilation thing open but there is an awful draught coming from both??

Also a couple of outside airbricks not near the chimney breast have been cemented over.

Also in the smaller bedroom the small loft hatch to the roof space does not fit properley and dust and debris regularly fall through the gaps around the opening, landlord was in the process off putting in insulation when I viewed the property, I didnt want to start blocking of these gaps incase I caused condensation etc.

My landlord is a pretty decent sort but is slow to respond to any requests.....today isnt a good day for him tommorow is always of consideration and yesterday that has come and gone would have been better, though to be fair Ive never pushed the subject too much as its coming up to the end of my 6 month AST end of January.

Other than these marks on the wall I love this cottage with it quirky walls and doors and lovley little garden maybe its me, always having been in my own property till recently and secure council tenancy before that maybe its the fact that someone else pulls the shots as to the length of my stay is the problem, will contact my Landlord and see whats what re this problem worst he could say is leave:eek: and the best is oh a problem lets get it fixed if he isnt aware then he cant know can he so a nice polite chat is in the offing, hope he responds in reurn with a cheery lets get it sorted missis....one can but hope

Janey

moneybunny123

I've had identical damp patches on the chimney breast walls in TWO houses I've owned (both Victorian). I had the brickwork pointing checked (fine), air-bricks checked, chimney pots checked, etc, etc, and couldn't find the cause of the problem. So I got myself some damp stain block paint, whacked it on, redecorated and hey presto - gone.

G_M

Impossible to be sure without a) inspecting and b) being a surveyor, but my best guesses:

1) Is the cottage stone built? If so (and even if brick, if it's older) then it may have solid walls as opposed to cavity walls (two walls with a gap between.) Solid walls will always lose heat faster than cavity (especially if insulation has been inserted in the cavity), and ofetn feel colder to the touch from inside. When heating the house, you effectively have to warm the walls up, which takes a long time (a few hours in the eveing won't do it) though once warm they retain heat.

So. Beautiful old house? Yes.Modernised? Well, what does that mean? Decorated and a new central heating boiler. All well and good but if the attic is not well insulated and nor are the walls, it's going to be cold!

2) Attic access. If debris falls down, then heat escapes up! So you need a well-fitting hatch with insulation on top of it. And while you up there, check how thick the rest of the attic insulation is (if any!)

3) chimney. Needs to be vented outside to allow outside air to circulate and remove water vapour. An indoor vent + uncapped top will allow circulation, but as you're finding, it will circulat into the house! Brrrr.. Close th internal vent and install an external one!

Issues like this are really a landlord'sresponsibility and in it's in his interests to protect/maintain his property. But 'improvements' (like attic/wall insulation) are entirely at his discretion. Of course you could just pop down to B&Q and buy 3 or 4 rolls of thick attic insulation (£3 each?) and put them in yourself (ideally with his consent!).

Internal damp, caused by structural issues, IS a repairing obligation as it can have health consequences.

Friendly chat initially, followed by a polite letter.

propertyman

As you are renting and it seems leaving in January I suggest

a; it is better to tell the landlrod now than wait until your leave

b: avoid complicating the check out if he accuses you of " condensation" by not heating adequately.

On the other post, damp block is fine, until the plaster falls off the wall; but the paint on it will be in good order :rotfl:

moneybunny123

propertyman wrote: »

On the other post, damp block is fine, until the plaster falls off the wall; but the paint on it will be in good order :rotfl:

I agree completely. However, my point was more about the fact that the cause of my damp had been investigated and nothing found. It turned out that the damp stains were stains rather than damp - i.e. stains that hadn't gone away from a previous (and now fixed) damp problem. Maybe the OP's is the same.

Jon_Tiffany

The problem with older houses is that once they are made more airtight with double glazing they dont get the same amount of air flow and so you can get damp problems. Also, the interior gets warmer and with cold walls (especially if there is no cavity) so the water in the air can condense more easily.

I had the same problem once on a house, it was the flashing around a chimney that was allowing rain onto the brickwork which then soaked into the house. Once the roof was fixed we used a dehumidifier (some excellent guides on this dehumidifier website) to help dry things out. In fact we continued to run the dehumifier as it was great for keeping the house dry and as we were drying clothes indoors it helped with that as well.

Quite often when you paint over old stains on walls they will come through the fresh paint as it dries. If it is just an old stain coming through you need to either remove the stain before repainting, or to form a barrier. In the past I have used a thin coat of gloss paint as a sealer but the emulsion paint can sometime flake off so this isn;t really ideal. The local DIY place should a purpose made sealer that you can use.

I would have a friendly chat with the landlord and explain the problem and see what can be done. Its in the landlords interest to get it sorted out as otherwise it may cause damage to the property. Dont forget to check for overflowing gutters as well.

propertyman

moneybunny123 wrote: »

I agree completely. However, my point was more about the fact that the cause of my damp had been investigated and nothing found. It turned out that the damp stains were stains rather than damp - i.e. stains that hadn't gone away from a previous (and now fixed) damp problem. Maybe the OP's is the same.

In that sort of case;

1; Pencil a circle around the stain and if it spreads...

2: Use a stopper sealer rather than a damp block; it allows the material below to breathe and fully dry out, not just on the surface.

Trapping moisture deep in leads ( when the surface appears dry) to the same issues. You put a picture up and end up with a hole..