Rising damp on internal wall, concrete floor

SusanMoore

I've started decorating in my living room and notice that the skirting in the middle of one of the internal walls has started to rot. The wallpaper peeled off really easily, and I could see faint water stains up to about a foot above the ground. The plaster seems sound.

I've had one guy in to give a quote. He pointed out a pale blue/green section of plaster on the wall and said this was a special treatment used for damp - so the people who lived here before me must have had problems in the past and had had work done.

He also reckoned that this blue/green plaster stuff wasn't very effective. He quoted me 1200 pounds for knocking all the plaster out up to about a metre (this section of wall is about 5 metres wide) and redoing it with some special anti-damp stuff (I didn't really understand how this is different to the bluey green plaster that was already there, but he reckoned it would be a much more effective solution).

I'm waiting on some other quotes, but thought I'd best read up so I know what the next bloke who comes to give a quote is talking about ... but now I'm even more confused.

I read that the rising damp could be if something (eg plaster) was breaching the damp proof course ... but do internal walls have DPC? I thought it was just external walls?

If the plaster is sound, does it really all need to be taken our and re-done? It's definitely not crumbling away.

What's the best way to treat something like this? I've been reading about putting damp proofing membrane on that part of the concrete floor, with about an inch going up the side of the wall. I've also read about some sort of anti-damp sealant that you put along near the bottom to stop the damping rising any further up.

Any help please?

FreeBear

Houses built in the last 100 years or so will normally have a DPC on internal and external walls. What you haven't told us is how old your home is.

As for the application of waterproof render/plaster, you've had a "free" survey, so it is expected that the salesman will recommend their products. You need to get a qualified surveyor in who is not linked to a damp proof treatment company, and get a proper report done. The source of the damp needs to be identified and treated, then any remedial work can be carried out on the walls.