How bad is this damp? :(

RoughNeck

Hi all,

Why oh why did we buy an old house!? I've recently posted about issues on our chimney breast with damp patches appearing with all the rain we've had. Well, tonight I saw another dark patch behind one of our chairs in the same room. On pulling the large chair away from the wall, I see the chimney breast is the least of our worries. This seems like a terrible case of rising damp across two walls which has sent my head spinning really: see below.




Could someone tell me how bad this is please? We hadn't even noticed it before, but the chair is quite large and has probably been hiding it for since we've been here (just over a year). We have evidence that a damp proof course was installed, but I think back in 1995. Even though there was a 30 year guarantee, surprise surprise the company has gone bust. Can anyone offer any advice on what can be done about this please? How big a job is it? What kind of prices are we looking at? I'll obviously get someone round to have a look, but I'd like to get an idea first. It's so stressful!

We did have a surveyor check the house over before we bought it (a mid range inspection) and there was only a small mention of potential rising damp. Would we have any comeback on this? They did miss a couple of things in the house, and now I'm wondering whether much of an inspection was done at all. Might it be too late by now anyway?

Thanks in advance for the help

Jon

RoughNeck

Images:

htt ps://ibb.co/vQHFNxZ
htt ps://ibb.co/d0WCYdc

BananaRepublic

RoughNeck wrote: »

Images:

https://ibb.co/vQHFNxZ
https://ibb.co/d0WCYdc

I fixed the links for you. Rising damp is often (always according to some) really due to a leak from above. It is worth going outside during rain, and seeing if the wall is excessively damp. I had guttering overflow and drench a wall, it was weird the way the water curled inwards towards the wall.

G_M

BananaRepublic wrote: »

I fixed the links for you...Rising damp is often (always according to some) really due to a leak from above. .. .

well done!

Not so much 'from above' as penetrating from the side.

First thing to do is go outside. What is outside the house at that corner?
* where is the ground level in relation to the dpc? (can you identify the dpc? If in doubt, google 'pictures of damp proof course'!)
* is anything piled up against the wall? Rubbish/rubble? A rockery?
* is there a downpipe at the corner from the gutters?
* is there a drain in the ground?


Take photos and post them for us.

BananaRepublic

G_M: You’ve explained it much better than me.

markin

Was the an air gap around the sofa? At least 5cm? My guess is not if you had the chair crammed into that space.


Walls need to breath in old houses, mold and damp patches will always start behind wardrobes and furniture against the walls.

BananaRepublic

When was the house built? Roughly 100 years ago or more and there might be no air gap in the walls.

G_M

BananaRepublic wrote: »

G_M: You’ve explained it much better than me.

but I couldn't get the pictures to work! :beer:

G_M

BananaRepublic wrote: »

When was the house built? Roughly 100 years ago or more and there might be no air gap in the walls.

Mine is 150 years old. Solid stone with no airgap. But no damp as I keep the gutters working, the walls clear, and the ground at the base of the walls clear.


Oh! And a very effective slate dpc!


Now - why is my 30 year old brick garage coming apart!?

Doozergirl

BananaRepublic wrote: »

When was the house built? Roughly 100 years ago or more and there might be no air gap in the walls.

They mean keeping furniture away from the walls for air to circulate behind. But you're right. Houses 100 years old, we're moving into cavity walls becoming common, but they were very rare during Edwardian/Victorian periods.

Keeping furniture away from the walls is only a symptom solver, it doesn't deal with the source. That wall is wet and there's definitely something going on outside and I very much doubt that moving the sofa is going to help much. I bet it isn't expensive to fix, but we need to see. The outside pics are more valuable than inside!

BananaRepublic

Is the wall inside surface cold during some of the day? Do you have a source of humidity on the house such as drying clothes? It could be condensation of moist air on a cold wall.