Damp in internal wall

whatatotaljoke

AlexMac wrote: »

If it was me, and unless the place feels or smells damp; I'd ventilate as much as poss. over this summer, heat and ventilate well this winter, and meanwhile, while its still warm and dry weather, strip wall-paper from vulnerable areas, sponge the visible mould with bleach or fungicide then do an initial quick redecoration job, using ordinary 'breathable' matt emulsion paint on the walls (not impermeable 'vinyl' emulsion).... and then sit back and see.

If after a year you really have excessive damp, get the work done then

Externally, I'd ensure
-no build up of soil against walls,
-that any air-bricks are clear so they ventilate the sub-floor below the floorboards (and maybe add sub-floor ventilation if absent) and
-no leaking or splashy gutters or downpipes (probably more important than re-pointing);

100-year old houses inevitably get a bit damp but are incredibly tolerant and built to breathe. Ironically, modern waterproof external cement renders can cause more problems than they solve, by preventing drying out!

Given that there are only 3 sources of damp; rising, penetrating or atmospheric (condensation/poor ventilation, etc), if you give it a year, the worst thing that will happens is that the damp persists. This will mean either
- there really are problems of rising damp due to deteriorated DPCs, and/or
- that over the years, damp wall-plaster has absorbed mineral salts from the brick or soil below and become 'hygroscopic' (more prone to absorb atmospheric moisture or condensation)
- that water is penetrating from splashes, gutters or (perish the thought!) plumbing leaks.

But I bet it will dry acceptably

The reason that so many of us are suspicious of the experts is that if you stick a damp-meter in anything some damp will register!

Or go down the engineered route; strip, inject, waterproof/render and replaster; then wait til your neighbour moans if the damp migrates to 'their' side of the party wall! Good luck!

fdl8 wrote: »

The independent surveyor has been and has said the situation is even worse than the other two companies have stated. He agrees that the internal wall needs to be done (as does pretty much every downstairs wall) but he went further to say that the rear of the house needs to be re-rendered due to cracks. So we have rising damp as well as issues with cracks in the render allowing water to come in. I fear the next quote is going to be substantially more than 4 grand!

He also spotted signs of woodworm in the floorboards but advised that I can treat this myself with insecticide from B&Q.

This is a joke right? Independent surveyor?? Had a 'look' at your property and said you need a new DPC?

Charged you for the wrong advice. The industry is laughable.