Investigating possible rising damp

hatt55

I have a terraced property, and the front two rooms were knocked through some time ago before I lived there. The base of the wall (what's left of it anyway) that would have previously seperated the two rooms has some small 'flames' of what seems to be damp coming up. They're above the skirting board and I noticed them maybe 6-8 months ago. The marks seem to have spread a little bit in that time.

The previous owner had damp proofing work done to a lot of the exterior walls/party walls a few years ago. I have the paperwork for that and this wall wasn't included so my first thought is that it might be suffering from the same issue.

What's puzzling me a little bit is why it's confined solely to such a small section of wall and is only visible on one side of that wall. It hasn't spread onto the wall that separates the corridor and front room, whiich adjoins it. Can rising damp be confined to just a very small area? Could it be a difference in the material of the wall?

So my obvious next step seems to be to get a damp specialist to come out. My questions are whether a) any of the above description sounds unusual or like it could be something else, perhaps a water leak and b) is it likely that a damp specialist would investigate underfloorbards and the like before concluding what the cause is? Would a general builder be better to get first to come and poke around and see if there is anything untoward? I lifted the corner of the carpet and the floorboards beneath seem fine, but have not done much more than that.

There is a definite musty small in the hallway when you come in, so something isn't right. But that's on the other side of the wall and there isn't much, if any, smell in the living room where you can actually see this damp.

Any suggestions/experiences appreciated!

stuart45

Many so called damp experts will try and sell you some more injected DPC. They often offer a free survey which can cost you thousands of pounds on work that was not needed.

FreeBear

Please have a look around this site https://www.heritage-house.org/damp-and-condensation/the-fraud-of-rising-damp.html - The guy is a bit evangelical, but much of what he has to say is fairly accurate,