Damp or what

toastMalone

Hi,

I've recently had tenants move out a house and have been doing some painting. After painting the kitchen there were some wet spots that I thought was just wet paint however they have remained wet. It looks like rising damp for what I've read online - paint is chalky and feels damp. There is not heating in the house at the minute but I dried one of the patches out with a fan heater and its come back. This is on a inside wall by the back door. The wall is shared with the neighbors - can it still be rising damp? Do I need a specialist out?

kobe84

What's on the other side of the wall. It could be water ingress from the outside but as it's close to the door it could also be a cold spot causing condensation.

FreeBear

At a guess, I would say it is penetrating damp. Possible cause could be an elevated ground level outside that may be bridging the DPC. Some external photos would help to confirm this.

toastMalone

This is the outside wall, what am I meant to be looking for?

Doozergirl

The affected wall is the one to the right of the door as you look at the house..  what is happening there? 

By the front door I'd say it's rainwater ingress from poor fitting of the door.  

Some building work appears to have taken place on the side wall, hence the interestingly matched skirting and plastering that leaves a bit to be desired.   If that's the quality of the finishing, what sort of quality is the rest of the work undertaken there.   Do you know what that work was? 

stuart45

The damp bit looks like it's down the alley.

FreeBear

Also clear out the debris in the gully and check that water flows freely down the drain.

kobe84

You need to be looking at what's going on on the other side of the affected wall, presumably this is in the alley to the right of the door. Do you have access to that?