*UPDATE* Damp Floor

Anoneemoose

I’ve asked another question about this room lately so hope this is ok to post too. This seems unrelated to my untrained mind but if you saw my other post and think differently then any information will be good.

I noticed a small damp patch on my dining room wall - peeling paint. It’s an internal wall with no pipes behind it (as far as we’re aware but think not as there would be no need due to the location of where we know there are some). It joins the living room wall. Dining room blue, living room white in the pictures. 

I had things stored on the floor and when I moved I noticed black seeping through the cushioned flooring. Anyway I’ve just peeled back the flooring and it has revealed this..so the black was obviously mould. The damp patch seems to be where it’s just concrete(?) and the rest is covered in what I thought was bitumen but I’m no expert. As you can see, the other side of the same wall is totally unaffected. (Checked carpet for damp etc). 

Can anyone shed any light on what it might be please? And if it’s an easy fix for a diyer or do we need professionals in. 

As I mentioned on my other post, we are getting this room done (sooner rather than later now) and will get professionals in if needed but I like to try and get an idea of what it is so I know how much it will hurt my bank balance!! 

Thanks again for any help. It really is appreciated. And apologies for my toes.

FreeBear

Where are the radiators in relation to the damp patch ?

Any loss of pressure in the boiler ?

Do the (copper) pipes go down in to the concrete ?

If yes to the last question, I would suspect a pin hole leak in the pipe. Copper pipes in close contact with cement (a major constituent of concrete) will slowly corrode over time. Fixing these leaks gets to be a messy and expensive undertaking - Your household insurance may cover some/all of the cost.

Anoneemoose

FreeBear said:

Where are the radiators in relation to the damp patch ?

Any loss of pressure in the boiler ?

Do the (copper) pipes go down in to the concrete ?

If yes to the last question, I would suspect a pin hole leak in the pipe. Copper pipes in close contact with cement (a major constituent of concrete) will slowly corrode over time. Fixing these leaks gets to be a messy and expensive undertaking - Your household insurance may cover some/all of the cost.

Thanks again. The radiator is to the left of the damp patch. Damp patch is about 3ft away from the corner, where there are some boxed in pipes. I don’t THINK they go into the floor. 

I’ve added another picture. The radiator wall is at right angles to this wall (rad with flowers on) and as far as I’m aware the pipes go straight along and then up into the bit that’s been boxed in (with the alarm PIR on). The pipes go up into upstairs from here (the old water tank used to be above the boxing in) and then across to the bathroom. 

The damp that I’ve shown is behind the sewing machine/grey chair to the right of the picture that you can just see. Apologies for the mess, I’m sewing! 

And no loss in boiler pressure. 

Eldi_Dos

The pictures of your dining room floor show markings where there could have been a hearth, is there a chimney above that spot and if so is it capped?

Anoneemoose

Eldi_Dos said:

The pictures of your dining room floor show markings where there could have been a hearth, is there a chimney above that spot and if so is it capped?

I thought it looked like that but no, no chimney. The only chimney is in the living room. Thank you trying to help though.

FreeBear

It may pay to pop the skirting off the bottom of that vertical section of boxing. There could be a slight leak which is tracking across floor.

How old is the property ?

Anoneemoose

FreeBear said:

It may pay to pop the skirting off the bottom of that vertical section of boxing. There could be a slight leak which is tracking across floor.

How old is the property ?

We’re going to take the skirting off probably at the weekend. It’s a good job we were planning on renovating!😂 It was built ~1948. It’s an ex LA house. I don’t know if that makes a difference to how it would have been built. Thanks again for your contribution. 

ComicGeek

Looks like a very narrow and very wide boxing - too wide surely for just a pair of heating pipes to the radiator in that room, and very narrow. 

A thermal imaging camera and turning the heating on quickly would identify where the heating pipes run. It does look suspiciously like a pipe leak - could be a pipework joint below there. 

Where is the radiator in the adjacent room? If you draw a line from the damp patch through the wall, is the radiator on the opposite wall?

Anoneemoose

ComicGeek said:

Looks like a very narrow and very wide boxing - too wide surely for just a pair of heating pipes to the radiator in that room, and very narrow. 

A thermal imaging camera and turning the heating on quickly would identify where the heating pipes run. It does look suspiciously like a pipe leak - could be a pipework joint below there. 

Where is the radiator in the adjacent room? If you draw a line from the damp patch through the wall, is the radiator on the opposite wall?

Thanks for your input too. I’ve drawn a rough diagram of the overall layout of downstairs in case it helps. 

We’re going to take the skirts off in there to have a look anyway. It seems weird that it hasn’t seeped onto the rest of the floor and only that concrete(y) bit. 

I think I’ve put the picture in the wrong place but you should still be able to see it. 

FreeBear

Any boxed in pipes in the other rooms and/or pipes disappearing down in to the concrete ?

Anoneemoose

FreeBear said:

Any boxed in pipes in the other rooms and/or pipes disappearing down in to the concrete ?

No boxed in ones apart from in the front corner of the living room but they’re just gas pipes rather than water. I’ve just asked my husband and he’s pretty confident none of the pipes go into the ground.