Damp plaster - how long to dry out

quietheart

Hi
we've had a problem with penetrating damp from the chimney. We had the chimney removed about 6 weeks ago. it seems the rain has been coming in for years but has been covered up. we painted over it a week ago and it bubbled up straight away.
shouldn't it have dried out by now? i've scraped some paint off and it looks patchy, the darker patches are smooth, the lighter are rougher.
I'm just concerned that damp could still be coming in (it's an external chimney breast on a detached house).
what do you in the know think?
http://s199.photobucket.com/albums/aa147/withnail1969/?action=view&current=plaster008.jpg

cargo

Looks nice that wall.
Does it feel wet to touch?Is it sticky?
It will not dry a uniform colour after all that moisture and minerals have come through It.
I guess a decorater would use some kind of stabilizing solution before painting.
Me being a Plasterer by trade would as long as back ground is solid.
Scrape loose paints off pva and give skim coat let dry and paint.
I have know doubt some will say take of to brick and start again.
As is it can take months to dry.

quietheart

it is dry to the touch, not sticky at all. small area needs filling.
we had a plasterer look at it when it was wet and he thought it'd dry out alright. i'm reassured to hear that it wouldn't necessarily dry out evenly. thanks for your advice:beer:

Doozergirl

Could you hire a dehumidifier? I bet the weather isn't helping it dry. We've had similar problems recently. It's the only part of the house that hasn't dried out properly and there isn't even a chimney anymore!

quietheart

I've got a dehumidifier in there now so here's hoping!
Yes I was hoping for the sun beating down on it to help but sun is very scarce...... we can hope for an indian summer i guess!

Poppycat

More importantly you want the chimney to have some sort of cowl to stop the rain coming in, we had a new log burner/chimney liner installed the other week and builder said to use that many people get wet coming down the chimney and need it sorting out to stop rain coming down

Suzkin

Hi - this is exactly what I had over a year ago. My neighbours chimney was leaking, and causing damp on my ajoining wall. They fixed the chimney, but the roofers told me to leave the wall for 6-9 MONTHS before doing any painting etc. This kind of thing could take months - years to dry. Apparently, it depends on the extent of damage. I was alo informed by a reliable roofer firm that damp bricks can even take YEARS to fully dry. Good luck.