Damp upstairs - terraced house

yumyums

Hi
We recently bought a terraced house and have noticed damp problems in both bedrooms at the top of the wall where the house joins next door.
There is also some damp in the top corner of the back bedroom. This wall does not adjoin another property.
As the roof is pitched it is difficult to see what's going on. We were assured by the vendor that the roof and guttering has all been checked but who knows if this is true.
What sort of trade do we need to call in to sort this problem? A damp company? Will they then recommend we get a roofer to look at it?
Thanks for any help. Want to get this sorted ASAP before it starts raining!

budgetdiyer

Its sounds like its going to be penetrating damp at that height which would likely indicate a problem with the roof, guttering, chimney, or less likely the brickwork / render.

Suggest you need a general builder or roofer to take a look, however.....it could just be a condensation can you take a picture or two of the affected areas?

Is the damp 'black' or more of a water stain?

smcqis

Buy a humidifier (couple quid off ebay) and see if your room has high moisture content this way you can rule out condensation

MX5huggy

smcqis wrote: »

Buy a humidifier (couple quid off ebay) and see if your room has high moisture content this way you can rule out condensation

I think you mean a hygrometer to measure humidity levels, not a humidifier which adds humidity to the atmosphere (which would clearly not help).

katejo

MX5huggy wrote: »

I think you mean a hygrometer to measure humidity levels, not a humidifier which adds humidity to the atmosphere (which would clearly not help).

I have a terraced house which previously had a slight damp problem/leak at the back (not joining with another property). It was solved by having lead flashings applied to the roof.

yumyums

I took some photos today. Sorry they're not very good quality.

This is the damp in the top corner of the back room (that doesn't adjoin next door) The plaster also seems to be cracking


This is the chimney breast in the 2nd bedroom

It has been blocked up in the bedroom but is open downstairs. Not sure what the stack is like or even if there is one.


This is the wall in the front bedroom.

A bit more info:
The property was recently plastered and painted before we bought it. It had also been empty for a while apart from building works. I'm not sure how well ventilated it was but we have been opening windows a lot since we moved in.

Could it be the plaster drying out? If so I'm not sure why the problem is only presenting itself on one side of the house.

Also not sure it looks like condensation either. Could there be issues with not enough ventilation in the chimney breast in the case of bedroom 2?

So the suggestions seem to be that I get a builder round to look at the roof. Can anyone recommend a good builder in Bristol?

pineapple

Personally I'm a bit wary of damp proof firms. It's likely to be a roof/flashing/guttering problem so check it out from that aspect as suggested. Ask if any of the neighbours have had similar problems - sometimes you find common issues in similar neighbouring houses. And ask who they used for any roofing work.
A roofer would be my first port of call - ie someone who specialises in roofs rather than general building.
Don't be fobbed off by one contractor subcontracting another contractor.
That first photo shows something other than simple drying out or lack of internal ventilation.
PS if the house was newly plastered and redecorated before you bought it, that could be why! Going by the first photo it looks like a bit of replastering will be required once the cause has been sorted.

roger196

Have you cleaned out gutters and checked downpipes are not blocked.
Check for missing / misplaced tiles on roof, using a pair of binoculars...you may need to ask a neighbour if you can do this from their garden. Ditto for flashing.
Have you asked neighbouring property if they have any damp problems.
Stand outside and go into loft when it is raining to see if you can spot the problem.

katejo

yumyums wrote: »

I took some photos today. Sorry they're not very good quality.

This is the damp in the top corner of the back room (that doesn't adjoin next door) The plaster also seems to be cracking


This is the chimney breast in the 2nd bedroom

It has been blocked up in the bedroom but is open downstairs. Not sure what the stack is like or even if there is one.


This is the wall in the front bedroom.

A bit more info:
The property was recently plastered and painted before we bought it. It had also been empty for a while apart from building works. I'm not sure how well ventilated it was but we have been opening windows a lot since we moved in.

Could it be the plaster drying out? If so I'm not sure why the problem is only presenting itself on one side of the house.

Also not sure it looks like condensation either. Could there be issues with not enough ventilation in the chimney breast in the case of bedroom 2?

So the suggestions seem to be that I get a builder round to look at the roof. Can anyone recommend a good builder in Bristol?

Could it have been replastered and painted to cover previous evidence of a leak? I only had a leak on one side, right at the back and it took surveys from 2-3 builders to work out the cause

sgun

I had exactly the same problem a few years back. I had some slates replaced, didn't solve problem, gutters replaced didn't solve problem. A re-roof did though, my house was built in 1929 so originally there was no felt underlay under the slates and most of the nails were corroded through so even though I kept patching it up more water came through after any high wind. Your patches look small, it takes very little water to cause that level of damp. You do need to have a look in the attic and check the timbers are still sound as sometimes the water can be dripping down onto them and rotting them.

Re-roof, taking off slates, renewing all slats, fitting impervious breathable membrane as per building regs, using same slates to re-tile (replaced with like for like from architectural salvage yard if damaged) £2,200 in 2009. Took a day and a half. On the plus side the house is MUCH cosier since the wind can't howl through anymore.

Not in anyway suggesting you need this doing but it was the only thing that worked for me. Brother is architectural technologist so was advised by him not by roofer.

budgetdiyer

Having seen the photos its 100% not condensation. I'm afraid it looks like penetrating damp, so could be flashing, roof, gutters etc.