Damp in Exterior & Interior Walls - Advice needed!

Olly_2008

Hi All,


I am just about to put in an offer on a 3 bed cottage. The outside exterior wall has concrete rendering on it in some places apparently to stop the damp penetrating. The inside has damp as you can smell it in the air. The house was brick-built circa 1800 (walls 9" thick) and so probably doesn't have a damp course. The house has UPVC windows and it is a small house lived in by an old gent so probably hasn't been looked at for some time i.e. maintained well.


The main wall which is northwest facing gets the brunt of the weather and the chimney is also bricked up and the stack taken off. I wonder whether it would be better to render the entire outside wall of the property and then treat the inside but am not sure what the best method is on the inside. I am not a DIY expert and a family friend has suggest 'mastic' I think he called it and sand thrown on top so that the plaster will bind to it better once dry.


Would anyone happen to know if there is a treatment that could work for the inside and the outside? Any help would be massively appreciated! Am just trying to gauge the likely costs and whether the above solution would in fact work!

chippi_2

Picture this, given the age of the property it will have no cavitys and would of had open fires and draughty windows also the walls would "breath" as it is solid brick, even the plaster would be breathable to some extent, over the many years all these things that help the house breath have been taken away or covered over, im guessing the old chap would have kept the place shut up all the time as they feel the cold, i would not worry too much.
I suggest removing the old render and treat the walls with a waterproofer if they are good, fit trickle vents to all windows, and possibly open up the fire again if thats your thing. Check leaky gutters and ground levels outside.

tony6403

Before getting carried away with treating the walls , is there any evidence (other than a smell) of damp penetrating the brickwork. For example can you see any damp patches , mould or stains?
Some( by no means all ) old properties have very dense bricks which have extremely low water absorption.
It may indeed be that the walls are porous in the case of your property but examine the pointing , seals around window frames, missing roof tiles , flashing etc, first.