Rising damp in a Victorian house

wallbash

Habbakuk wrote: »

Did you see my pic above with the red tiles?


Both houses adjoining this property are either in the process of being renovated or been done recently. So both have been empety too.

I quickly dismissed the red tile pics. Those quarry tiles would be impervious to water, unless the water was coming up thu any breaks.
And therefore the black marks would be more on straight lines..... not blobs.My thoughts the air above the tiles is damp .Not necessary coming from below.

Habbakuk

But couldn't those tiles be directing water to the outside wall along which the bin is situtated? And since the patio is higher than the floor inside, could be finding it's way indoors? I'm not sure how these things work so forgive my ignorance.

wallbash

Habbakuk wrote: »

But couldn't those tiles be directing water to the outside wall along which the bin is situtated? And since the patio is higher than the floor inside, could be finding it's way indoors? I'm not sure how these things work so forgive my ignorance.

So wise man said the only stupid question is the one not asked! ask away.A patio as you say which is higher than the floor will always give rise to problems , damp air will always sink .

those tiles be directing water to the outside wall

But where is the water coming from in the first place??

Sorry midnight so bedtime , but will check back tomorrow.
Ps did you check out my pics?

AlexMac

Coming late to this post, duplicating other answers and considering the Qs " How far down below ground level is this (injected DPC) done? .... If I remember correctly, it the dampness was going to cost a couple of thousand pounds if not more. Just wondering if I could cut the cost by doing the digging myself. So, how far down".

This really isn't a big problem, and you don't need to dig anything, in that almost every Victorian house has a bit of damp and from the photos, yours has less than most (I've owned five or six). As they were built with solid walls, and either no DPC, or only a layer of slate or bitumen a couple of brick courses above ground level which breaks down in time, or in some cases (such as typical semi-basement properties or those built into a slope) with soil piled up against the walls due to being partly underground, its inevitable that some damp penetrated.

Your builder has diagnosed the classic fix, which is
- to inject or drip-feed an allegedly waterproof liquid into the walls from outside, through a series of holes drilled into the bricks about six inches above ground level
- to strip the surface plaster and underlaying cement 'render ' from the inside of the brick walls - bizarrely usually only above the floorboards , and sometimes without even removing the skirting...
- replacing this with new render (with an integral waterproofing solution in the mix) and a surface skim of plaster- a fairly messy, dusty job
- to offer you a 25 year guarantee against recurrence of the problem, which is why its £3k not a few hundred quid, for what is essentially a simple, cheap fix. The fixes I've seen done in my and mates houses don't often go as far as the total solution of removing floorboards to inspect the joists below, to check that id these have been sitting for years in saturated brickwork they may have developed wet rot or (worse) dry rot (in which case the suspended timber floor will feel a bit springy or move if you jump heavily!). Suspended floors need sub-floor ventilation, which is why someone above asked you to check there were air bricks to encourage through draughts

If the builder's not offering a 25 year guarantee then is price is toppy, but fair if he is.

But an altogether more pragmatic solution would be to buy, move in, strip off that awful bumpy wallpaper (and the six layers below it?), and, unless the plaster below is falling off the walls, simply redecorate without lining paper, using ordinary matt emulsion, not vinyl (which is not porous so prevents the wall from 'breathing' ). Then, heat and ventilate the area well and see if it disappears nest summer. If not, get the builders in.

After all, for hundreds of years, people lived without damp courses!

Habbakuk

wallbash wrote: »

So wise man said the only stupid question is the one not asked! ask away.A patio as you say which is higher than the floor will always give rise to problems , damp air will always sink .


But where is the water coming from in the first place??

Sorry midnight so bedtime , but will check back tomorrow.
Ps did you check out my pics?

That red tiled patio is uncovered and it will get a lot of rain water.

I did look at some of your pics. And I went and moved on a few pages. Yes, it was quite a project to undertake. It was late and I didn't have the time to look for your finished house. Could you direct me to where it's shown? That thread is pretty big.

Habbakuk

AlexMac wrote: »

Coming late to this post, duplicating other answers and considering the Qs " How far down below ground level is this (injected DPC) done? .... If I remember correctly, it the dampness was going to cost a couple of thousand pounds if not more. Just wondering if I could cut the cost by doing the digging myself. So, how far down".

This really isn't a big problem, and you don't need to dig anything, in that almost every Victorian house has a bit of damp and from the photos, yours has less than most (I've owned five or six). As they were built with solid walls, and either no DPC, or only a layer of slate or bitumen a couple of brick courses above ground level which breaks down in time, or in some cases (such as typical semi-basement properties or those built into a slope) with soil piled up against the walls due to being partly underground, its inevitable that some damp penetrated.

Your builder has diagnosed the classic fix, which is
- to inject or drip-feed an allegedly waterproof liquid into the walls from outside, through a series of holes drilled into the bricks about six inches above ground level
- to strip the surface plaster and underlaying cement 'render ' from the inside of the brick walls - bizarrely usually only above the floorboards , and sometimes without even removing the skirting...
- replacing this with new render (with an integral waterproofing solution in the mix) and a surface skim of plaster- a fairly messy, dusty job
- to offer you a 25 year guarantee against recurrence of the problem, which is why its £3k not a few hundred quid, for what is essentially a simple, cheap fix. The fixes I've seen done in my and mates houses don't often go as far as the total solution of removing floorboards to inspect the joists below, to check that id these have been sitting for years in saturated brickwork they may have developed wet rot or (worse) dry rot (in which case the suspended timber floor will feel a bit springy or move if you jump heavily!). Suspended floors need sub-floor ventilation, which is why someone above asked you to check there were air bricks to encourage through draughts

If the builder's not offering a 25 year guarantee then is price is toppy, but fair if he is.

But an altogether more pragmatic solution would be to buy, move in, strip off that awful bumpy wallpaper (and the six layers below it?), and, unless the plaster below is falling off the walls, simply redecorate without lining paper, using ordinary matt emulsion, not vinyl (which is not porous so prevents the wall from 'breathing' ). Then, heat and ventilate the area well and see if it disappears nest summer. If not, get the builders in.

After all, for hundreds of years, people lived without damp courses!

Thank you for that. I should say that the floor is some for of concrete. Not sure if that makes a difference.

Habbakuk

Deleted.....

Habbakuk

I spoke to an Estate Agent yesterday and I showed him the above photo of the 'rising damp'. He made a few points which were interesting. Firstly, he said that looking at the photo, the problem wasn't that bad. He then said to try and dry it with some fesh air - make sure it's well ventilated. Then, if its still damp, take off the plaster. It is a stone wall. And see if this will dry out now that it's able to 'breathe'. If it does dry, then point it. If not, the lime plaster it.

I should also obviously look at the patio area and water flow when it rains heavily etc.

What do others think on here about his suggestions?

wallbash

Habbakuk wrote: »

I spoke to an Estate Agent yesterday and I showed him the above photo of the 'rising damp'. He made a few points which were interesting. Firstly, he said that looking at the photo, the problem wasn't that bad. He then said to try and dry it with some fesh air - make sure it's well ventilated. Then, if its still damp, take off the plaster. It is a stone wall. And see if this will dry out now that it's able to 'breathe'. If it does dry, then point it. If not, the lime plaster it.

I should also obviously look at the patio area and water flow when it rains heavily etc.

What do others think on here about his suggestions?

Seems very reasonable.

JohnB47

Good idea to look at that tiled area when it's raining, as you say. Is there somewhere for the water to flow away to? Is it sloping away from that 'external' wall. Otherwise it's going to soak into that wall which, in my experience, may not have a DPC at all.