Damp in old house

jamielittlechild2019

Hello, I am in the process of buying a terraced house (built 1850) and had a building survey report done. The report mentioned damp being at higher than acceptable levels across the entire house. Walls are combination of timber stud and lime plaster and lath plaster ceilings. Flooring is combination of suspended timber deck and a ground bearing concrete slab. The house is in need of extensive renovation and visible damp is present in the front room (under bay window) and bedroom (ceiling previously from leaky water tank) but the wallpaper put up throughout in the 1980's is still intact and I couldn't see any damp/mould or smell damp. Seller is 83 y/o and admittingly a heavy smoker so walls and ceiling are a dark yellow yet the surveyor says discolouration is from condensation. The report consisted of 1 photograph showing damp at the mentioned bay window. I am so confused and also I am scared of discovering a bigger issue and not having the money to rectify it as a lot of work is needed and I am putting my savings into doing it up. There has never been a damp proof course and the house on the outside looks bone dry. Any advice would be appreciated as a newbie! I questioned the surveyor asking where the rest of the damp is located and what the percentage of damp was and this was his reply....

'Further to your email I can confirm that the damp meter readings taken at the time of inspection varied between 6% and >20%. However, this information alone is somewhat useless in establishing the extent of a specific dampness issue. 

You will appreciate that the walls of the property are made up of numerous different types of material, all of which have differing acceptable levels of moisture content. As such, an electric handheld moisture meter cannot be used to identify quantitive readings, hence the reason the actual readings are not reported. Instead, surveyors have to call upon their experience and construction knowledge, in addition to the moisture meter readings, to provide their opinion and associated advice.'

[Deleted User]

Hi,

I never trust the reports given, I reckon they make it appear worse than what it actually is, then recommend a firm to 'do a good job', whilst getting a nice backhander from them.

Maybe I'm just a bit cynical.

Anyway, grab a cup of coffee and have a read through THIS, give you a better idea about damp in old houses.

twopenny

I was told by a surveyor that older buildings have more'natural' damp in the walls. Finding out how much is normal and how much is a problem is the issue.
Do you know the cause of the damp patch under the window?
How has the house been heated in recent times?
Some types of old fashioned heating can create moisture. Not ventilating the property too.
Another aspect could be the construction. You should be able to find out more about that online.
I wouldn't be worried about the leak from a water tank other than checking in the loft to be sure it's not rotted anything in the area. Have you had a look in the loft for yourself? Worth doing to check for woodworm, the tile conditions. 
I had a tank leak just as I'd finished painting the ceiling. No further damage except to my temper. 

FaceHead

As the surveyor says informally, a held held moisture meter is no better than taking a look, so don't put much stock in the readings. Nonetheless, with a high amount of natural moisture and old timbers which wouldn't have had modern treatments, you'll be dealing with rotten flooring, and you should expect to need to be replacing joists etc. as par for the course.

The house needs 'extensive renovation' and you are a 'newbie' on a tight budget by the sounds of it. 

What is your renovation budget? How much do you think it'll cost, and how much do you have available? How big is this house? I'm imagining a two-up two-down of the period, which might have had an extension bolted on at some stage. 

What do you plan to do? Are you doing major building work (i.e. extension) or are you expecting to give it a lick of paint and live with it? 

jamielittlechild2019

Thanks @[Deleted User] I will have a read of that link you sent. Yea I feeling the same tbh with some of the stuff I'm reading about these companies.

Thanks @twopenny the windows are timber and single glazed and very old. I suspect water ingress and the external concrete sill underneath the window is bending downward at the left and right side so I think rainwater maybe running downwards and into tiny cracks. The seller hasn't lived there for over a year. And there appears to be only one subfloor airbrick under mentioned window but nothing at the rear of the property for flowing through ventilation. Not seen in the loft but got photographs from the surveyor and he did say the timber looked fine. Sorry to hear about your ceiling – can imagine very frustrating!

jamielittlechild2019

Thanks @FaceHead So, we have about 50k which we understand it will cost with 10k contingency to do works and have a list of stuff that we have gone through with a builder with what the surveyor has suggested needs fixing. Replacing windows and doors is a must. No major works like an extension. Its 2 up, 2 down. Want to get it back to a liveable state and eventually move into. Damp just worries me and the surveyor wasn't specific enough with where it is located and I am worried when taking wallpaper off its just going to be everywhere.

FreeBear

If the property has been uninhabited for a year, then it isn't surprising that there are signs of damp. Single glazed windows and no heating/ventilation won't have helped. Start heating the place, insulate where you can, and most of the problems will dry up.

Any remaining damp issues will have a root cause (elevated ground levels, leaking gutters, downpipes, roof, etc) - Don't waste your money on injected DPC or other damp proof "treatments", fix the problem at the source.

jamielittlechild2019

Thanks @FreeBear that's all great. Hopefully doing it that way it will resolve any problems and be simple enough fixes rather than DPC.

Doozergirl

jamielittlechild2019 said:

Thanks @FreeBear that's all great. Hopefully doing it that way it will resolve any problems and be simple enough fixes rather than DPC.

DPC is NEVER an answer in an old house. 

It's peddled by snake oil salesmen.  

What you're describing , the only
visible elements are from leaks - windows and a water tank.  Even if injected DPCs actually did something (they don't), it wouldn't
help water from above.  

daveyjp

Old house, but modern living are not the perfect combination.

When built an 1850 house would have had an open fire and probably a range in the kitchen,  the range would have been used every day.  All that heat, along with leaky chimneys, doors and windows were great at keeping moisture levels down.

150 years later the house is leaking, water is getting in to the fabric and that 24/7 hot range has long been on the scrap pile.

Fixing where the water is getting in, drying the property out and introducing heat and ventilation will work wonders.  

Don't do as a house owner near me did earlier this year.  Victorian back to back had magic gloop DPC injected, lots of plastering etc.  The living room is still used to dry clothes on racks!  It would have been cheaper and more effective for them to buy a tumble dryer.

Phil4432

Could be due to the house being closed up for a year.  The house I purchased was closed up for a similar time; it stank like an old fridge.  Thoroughly cleaned it, aired it, replaced the carpets and it still stank.

Had some minor roof work done, the builder found rotting leaves and moss under broken tiles and cleared them out.  The smell was gone withing a couple of days.

So it could be that some airing, cleaning, painting will sort it out.  But its hard for anyone to know without seeing it.  Is the guttering ok?  Is the house below street level, and has rain water flowing down to it? 

Perhaps a structural survey would be necessary here.