Rising Damp Solutions

JenniferM91

FreeBear said:

As a rough guide, the DPC will be at the base of the front door or one (maybe two) bricks down. Some of the time, the joint where the DPC is, is a little wider than the others. By the looks of it, yours is about the same height as the soil level in the flower border.

Solution - Dig a trench 200-300mm wide and about 200mm deep. Fill this with coarse gravel so that it finishes 100-150mm below the DPC. Do this all the way round the building. If you can get rid of the paint on the brickwork, that will allow the walls to dry out.

Want to repaint - Consider using lime wash or a silicate paint once the old stuff has been removed.

Thanks so much for your advice. Will definitely try this around the border where there's soil. Will be slightly more difficult further round the house as it's been block paved badly by previous owner... good to know re paint too. Thank you! 

JenniferM91

neilmcl said:

JenniferM91 said:

Oh dear. Is there anything we can do about the paint? Or is it best to get it repainted and hope the moisture leaves from the inside once it's no longer drawing in from the outside? Yes, the surveyor would carry out the work. Although he comes recommended and his theory seemed to make sense. I had thought that re travelling to upper floors. 

Recommended or not, he's just trying to up sell you into getting something that's completely useless. Two things, rising damp is largely a myth and a chemical DPC only adds to the amount of moisture in a brick wall.

What's the base of the property constructed from, concrete or is it just plain earth? By the dates of the build I'd suggest the latter. This time of the year onwards you can start to get fungi growing in the soil and this sometimes lead to a bit of a musty smell coming up from the ground, not a great deal you can do about it with houses of a certain age. Also if the walls are holding onto moisture then it's probably worth getting rid of the paint and let the brick breath. 

I was worried about this and good to know I'm not going mad. I fear it probably was plain earth but again, dodgy previous owner/developer has just concreted the whole ground floor, and probably not properly either. It was concrete in the front room and in the hallway. I wondered if the smell was maybe coming from the ground too. I think it's a combination of that and the walls holding moisture. Thank you for advice! 

JenniferM91

stuart45 said:

The walls look to me like they have been repointed at some point, so it may be a hard sand/cement mortar rather than lime which could add to the problem. As neilmcl stated the walls would benefit from being able to breathe and dry out.

Thanks so much. I wouldn't have had a clue about that! I guess I need to start getting quotes to have all the dash and paint removed from the house and repointed with a breathable mortar...it's whether it's worth it when we may only stay in the house another year! If only there were a less drastic solution! 

JenniferM91

ComicGeek said:

Solid brick outside, but what's on the inside of the external walls? OP mentioned in the 1st post that the house seems well insulated, have these been insulated internally? If so, and non-breathable insulation etc have been used (like Celotex etc), then there will also be moisture trapped there.

I actually have no idea shamefully. We didn't take back the plaster (in hindsight we should have done) as it didn't seem that bad when we moved in. I think it's probably warm because it's south facing and only little which helps! We had a new boiler installed as well and new radiators so that is very efficient. I do think the walls could be trapping the moisture though. I guess it's whether it's from the dash/paint on the outside or the internal insulation... 

JenniferM91

Watt_O said:

Damp/Moisture meters measure conductivity, it isn't as straight forward popping it at the wall and it letting you know its wet. From the pictures of the painted brick on the outside, if it's not shadowing from light,  it looks like there's efflorescence building up which would suggest the wall is holding in extra moisture, which as others have suggested probably due to the paint or potential cement pointing. Taking the paint off giving it a brush down and a more suitable covering would sort that out. You say you stripped the place back but what did you do with the walls on the level you are still experiencing the foosty smell? I'd bet if the smell is worse on wet days that you definitely have a water ingress problem. 

Beautiful house btw

I bought a small early 1900s house last year and it stank of damp in the bathroom the day I got the keys. Thought it was the questionable carpet tiles in there but once I lifted them and could still smell it, I followed my nose and I knew it was in the walls. The previous owner's shower had leaked behind tiles for years and the bath was literally keeping the walls up right. New joists, battons and plaster later, the smell has gone! Also had a wet patch in an internal wall at the bottom which google would have you believe was a textbook case of "rising damp", just a blocked downpipe on the other side not letting the wall dry out. Definitely follow your nose and ask what's on the other side of any wall! 

That's really interesting re damp meters. Looks like we need to be stripping the paint! On the walls where the smell was worst we scrubbed them clean and repainted with primer. We thought it was just damp and fusty due to condensation and poor ventilation. Turns out that was hiding a worse problem... Thanks re the house! We do love it but its just really disheartening how much everything smells 😔 Very good advice re following nose! Thank you!