Damp or not???

Chichi_2

Just bought a property and would like to fit engineered wood floors and redecorate. Had 4- 5 quotes for damp proof ranging from £300 to £2500. Some mentioning chemical injections, others removing plaster etc.. None of them seemed to think the damp was bad. Their meter measured high around fireplace and one wall. I don't see any visible signs of rising damp and really need to save my money for other things. I've searched the net about this issue and have found out that in the majority of cases, high moisture levels are not caused by rising damp. I could instruct an independent damp surveyor ( quoted £300 - £500 ) only to be told no damp course treatment is necessary, however that's still several hundred pounds I'm spending. I want to paint over existing wallpaper which looks fine and is not sagging and has no tide marks, odour etc... Has anyone had this problem??? What did you do?

Poppycat

Damp in walls could also be to do with moisture in the air condensing on outside walls or you can get damp particularly near chimneys because water has got down there due to lack of a cowl

You can get moisture meters cheap on Ebay I got one for a £4 last month

Trimmer_2

Were readings high at the top, bottom or middle of the walls?
Check you vents outside - are they overgrown or blocked, has a conservatory been added and blocked vent or is a shed in the way, whats the pointing on the brickwork like, are your gutters leaking, is there a bathroom above the areas that are showing damp?
What type of survey did you have done, you may have some recourse with the surveyor if the damp was something he should have been checking for.

Chichi_2

All the people who gave quotes pointed the meter about a foot above the floor. One checked the vents outside and I have 4 which are not blocked in any way. Yes there's a conservatory but it doesn't block air vent. No gutters leaking as they are fairly new. Bathroom is not above areas of damp. There was a high reading near an electric socket -that wall is directly opposite an air vent which had been blocked by a concrete block, also high reading in the electric meter cupboard. I'll check pointing and this chimney cowl. I may get a moisture meter so I can test all areas of the walls not just the bottom. Thanks.

cattie

What kind of wallpaper is it you want to paint over? It isn't a vinyl coated type is it? I only ask because years ago a surveyor mentioned high damp readings & I had 2 different companies out to have a look & quote. Both said they didn't think it was problem enough for me to have work carried out at that point.

However, months later when it came to redecorationg the living room, mould enough to grow mushrooms was growing under an existing vinyl coated wallpaper that had had a largish unit in front of it, so neither of the damp experts had been able to access that part of the wall & pick up on it. Had it not been a vinyl coated wallpaper there would of been more surface evidence of what was going on underneath.

Chichi_2

No don't think it's vinyl, there's anaglypta in hall and textured wallpaper with a pattern in lounge- seems well-adhered. Gosh Just seen some gaps in the skirting board, coming away from the wall.

alkip

Re: Your dp quotes, ours shows as £1300 about 6 years ago (done before we lived here) and is a combination of the inserted horizontal plastic type and the injectable. We live in a very old cottage with a fairly recent porch on the front - the porch has had the inserted plastic type course done whereas the cottage itself with it's good old solidstone build was injected.

Just had a well respected and highly recommended local tanking company around to check out our subterranean room which needs a sump and pump installing and had him check everything whilst he was here his reply? "Your walls are dry from top to bottom"

I'd look for recommendations and make sure that whichever you decide to go with are an honest, reputable company and go with it. Better safe than sorry.

Chichi_2

Now it's a case of knowing whether it's condensation or not. I could buy a meter and point it on the wall showing a reading however I want somone to tell me what is causing the high reading. Is it because the fireplace is partially blocked? Damp wall is near a window?? Tempted to buy a dehumidifier and use it for a few months to see if the readings change. I've checked all wallpaper and there are no visible signs of rising damp.

Trimmer_2

If the walls are damp and its been there for a long time then you should see signs of it, paint bubbled, skirtings swollen, wallpaper lifting, staining. Are there any visible signs of damp? Was the property lived in before you brought it or had it been standing empty for a while. If empty then it could be showing slightly high reading as the house had been locked up without much circulation of the air. Did your survey mention anything about damp? What type of floor has the house got - is it floorboards or concrete? Is it in an area that has had any recent floods?

real1314

afaik, when you use the "damp tester" you should take readings at various heights up the wall. If you find that you get similar readings at 5 foot as you do at 1 foot, then you haven't got rising damp. A test at a single height is pretty meaningless as it could just be condensation from lack of ventilation / excessive moisture in the air (from cooking, drying clothes etc).

have a look at ask jeff: http://www.askjeff.co.uk/content.php?id=3

Canucklehead

Good morning: The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) has an excellent series of free online videos about damp which are relevant to properties of all ages http://www.webvucms.co.uk/showcase.php?id=128 Another excellent resource is the Bricks and Brass website http://www.bricksandbrass.co.uk/diyelem/extwalls/damp/damp.htm

HTH

Canucklehead