Procedure & cost of sorting out damp in a few 100yr old house?

cyclonebri1

Ask the question here;

Has any one had rising damp?

You may get a few yesses, they may me correct, the pressure is on to "sell" rising damp as a major issue in old properties.

The ask again if any one has seen rising damp? as you seem to believe you have? and in response, that's with all due regard,;)


There is a strong feeling, backed by much scientific research, to support the theory that rising damp does not exist.

The report I read said the only way rising damp works is in a vacuum, don't think that's the case on a canal.

I'm not fully supportive of this view, but anyone with any knowledge of the subject will understand why it is in question.

The point in question now really is, I can see water vapour/moisture on my walls, is it damp or condensation?

I'll leave that open and hope the replies help you:T bye.

OldFartPlumber

Well said askasurveyor - and good to see another poster from Sussex In reply to the original poster - Get the woodworm sorted , it`ll do more damage faster than the damp ( from what you`ve described )

AlexMac

I'm no expert, but I am aware that although the causes of damp are Rising, Penetrating or Condensation, they often combine, and present particular challenges in older houses. A stone house, typically won't have a damp course and an older house with a solid floor may not have a damp-proof membrane under its concrete or flagstones or tiled surface.

Assuming you fix any obvious sources of penetrating damp such as earth piled up against outside walls, leaky roofs, downpipes and overflowing gutters, it's also worth considering the specific challenges of stone buildings which were probably originally built with lime mortar and lime external render (and possibly, internal lime plaster). the problem is, that modern, waterproof cement mortars and renders conflict with the natural porosity of stone walls, whereby they would 'breath'; get damp, but also dry out naturally through the 'breathable' lime, both externally, and , assuming reasonable levels of heating and ventilation, internally too. This applies both to continuous renders where the stone is covered, or, where the individual stones are visible, to the pointing between them.

The balance can have been upset by the application of modern waterproofing or cementitious renders- applied externally, (in an attempt to keep rain-water out) these can actually make the dmap worse by preventing the stone from drying- effectively driving the moisture inside.

So 'modern' solutions, like 'tanking', or the injection into walls of chemical damp-proofing can be ineffective.

My mate bought a 200-300 year old stone cottage in Dorset, and we argued about solutions; he (as an engineer by trade) went for a high tec fix; he effectively sealed the whole interior by excavating the solid floors, inserting a membrane (literally a waterproof sheet) throughout which extended a short distance up the internal walls, then re-laid the floors with sand and cement. He damp proofed all internal walls (which can be done by specialists or general builders by hacking off all internal plaster back to stone or brick and either fixing plastic-style membrane before re-lining with palsterboard and skimming with finishing plaster, or applying a cement render containing integral waterproofing solution before re-plastering). The joke was, having spent thousands, he then got a hidden plumbing leak upstairs;water ran down, unseen, behind this waterproof 'space-capsule', eventually emerging looking like internal rising damp downstairs, at floor level, near a weak point in the join between floor and wall at the other end of the cottage!

My preferred solution would have been to hack off any modern cement, and re-plaster and re-point in lime, ventilate and heat. But I'm a heritage obsessive (look at the wonderful SPAB website https://www.spab.org.uk for similar technical advice- they even run DIY courses)

If you had time, you could just try
-fixing the externals- roofs, gutters, downpipes and the pointing on any particularly exposed walls (ideally, overhanging roof eaves should protect walls against rain, but in practice, it can lash in at and angle and penetrate) then
- replace any obviously internal damp or damaged timbers (in my mate's case, even the door-frames had rotted, and been covered over by newer wood which was also eventually deteriorating through wet rot), wash off any surface mould with bleach, then

-heat, ventilate and see if the problem minimises over the coming summer...

Before you go down the radical engineered route. By which time, SPAD will have brainwashed you to pursue the 'old ways' !

Good luck