moisture soaking through utility room wall

firely2327

Hi folks


Well, having spent a small fortune these last two weeks on a new roof and door for my utility room (£2.5k) I'm hoping finishing this room won't cost me too much more, so advice would be appreciated please. The problem with the room is that the walls are single-layer red brick and inside there's no insulation or plasterboard etc. In fact the brickwork is just painted (badly!) with white paint.


Before the new roof (replacing asbestos one) and door (rotten wood with gaps top and bottom and sides :eek:), the room was freezing and extremely damp. It had gotten so moldy that all the walls were practically black. While the renovations appear to have helped with the cold and the ingress of water, there's moisture penetrating the brickwork. Rubbing a hand down the external walls, one in particular, leaves a clammy/wet hand. I've bought some Ronseal stuff for waterproofing brickwork and have yet to apply it as it's supposed to be done at >10 degrees Celsius temperature and when it's not raining (I live in north Wales, so it may be April-May by the time that day comes around :rotfl:)


Anyways, just wondering whether anyone has any experience of such matters and any pearls of wisdom as to what other measures I can take? There's a hole in one of the walls for the tubing for the previous owners dryer, which I'm planning on putting a grid over to stop slugs coming in (already one got in and destroyed washing machine!) so there's some ventilation in there. It's been suggested by a friend that I put up some battens and then plasterboard with a foil-like inner surface, to help moisture penetrating. Is this a good idea? I don't want mould again and the expense of paying someone to install it (and then plastering ), only to have to redo it again in a year or so when the walls become damp and soggy, like the old ceiling.


Advice welcome. Thanks all

phil24_7

With damp issues, always stop the cause, not do things that mask it.

If it is penetrating damp the stop the water coming in. It may be that pointing needs redoing, guttering is leaking or poorly fitted or bricks are not in the best of condition. It may also be condensation forming on the cold wall which could be treated any number of ways.

Make sure you are 100% sure of what type of damp it is before deciding on a course of action.

Regards
Phil

firely2327

Thanks Phil


I've had to look up pointing! Yes, it must either be that or the bricks. The 'room' was built in the 1930s and it's very basic. I'll have a go at the pointing and give the external surface two coats of the Water Seal, as it suggests on the can. Hopefully that'll help.


There's no guttering. Brand new rubber roof and facias, but opted for no gutters as I couldn't see the point of them. Single storey extension and all that, with small surface area and a flat roof.

Doozergirl

firely2327 wrote: »

There's no guttering. Brand new rubber roof and facias, but opted for no gutters as I couldn't see the point of them. Single storey extension and all that, with small surface area and a flat roof.

:eek:

There's your problem! Gutters aren't optional, they're essential!

greenbee

Doozergirl wrote: »

:eek:

There's your problem! Gutters aren't optional, they're essential!

Definitely! I had one of these single skin utility rooms on my last house. Putting gutters on made a huge difference.

As there was also no damp course, I painted the bottom 3-4 courses of brick with bituminous paint, and then painted the outside of the walls with PVA. It made enough of a difference that I was then able to get it dried out and insulate and plasterboard it and tile the floor, which made it a much more pleasant room to use.

DRP

Is the space heated?

If the room is just brick ,no cavity, no heating then you will have a lot of condensation in there. Doing your washing in there will exacerbate the problem by creating lots of water vapour.

force_ten

is the moisture on the walls now condensation ?

what room adjoins the utility room it it the kitchen, all the warm moist air from the kitchen or the adjoining rooms rush into the utility when the door is opened and then condenses on the cold single skin walls making them wet

it will be difficult to bring the room up to standard without insulating it fully all walls and the roof as well and then heating the room to make it a warm space

devon_scouse

Having similar problems to you with porch. Just coated it with
KA tanking and slurry

http://www.kabuildingproducts.co.uk/page_2350337.html

Easy too mix and brush onto brickwork. hopefully this will solve my problem. Once dry intend battening and plaster boarding with foil backed plasterboard.

firely2327

Thanks everyone for your advice, it's given me a lot to think about. I guess it could indeed be condensation. I'm going to shore up the opening to the outlet pipe for the washing machine, to hopefully prevent any vapour entering the room. I'll put a few damp traps in there again too, which will hopefully help, together with working on the pointing and coating externally. Pity about the atrocious weather at present, otherwise I would start in the morning!
The new roof is insulated and the new door double glazed. To be honest it feels much warmer than it did two weeks ago, thanks to these.

phil24_7

I wouldn't bother with the brick paint. Plenty houses don't leak through their bricks and it was never around when the house was built!

I would get some guttering up which will stop most of the water hitting the outside of the wall and heat and vent the room more.

KA Tanking slurry is great stugg but not for your situation.

Like I said, stop the problem not hide/mask it.

Regards
Phil

phil24_7

If the pointing doesn't look damaged or crumbly it is probably ok.