Damp help please

rosamy52

Thanks to everyone,

Apologies for not replying individually but I’ll try and cover everything here. So the landlord is coming on Saturday to knock through a bit of the arched roof of the dining room fireplace space and will likely put in a vent so that’s good. He thinks, assuming that’s successful, the walls will then dry out over time though I’m not sure how much time - any idea anyone? He hasn’t really said anything about the living room though so that’s the bit I’m more worried and confused about. The chimney in the living room hasn’t been swept since I moved in just over four years ago. They had a tenant before me but I’m not sure how long for, apparently he wasn’t great and caused/left quite a bit of damage but landlord didn’t specify what.

Re neighbour - I don’t really know him, he’s quite aggressive (as in very verbally abusive to a hopefully former partner) when I’ve heard him through the walls though I’ve not seen him or heard anything for ages, so I’m not inclined to talk to him. I’ll let the landlord do that on Saturday if he wants to!

Re chimney draughts I haven’t noticed it particularly, there are guards on both chimneys on the top, I can sometimes hear the wind through it but not feel it.

ThisIsWeird

rosamy52 said:

Apologies for not replying individually but I’ll try and cover everything here. So the landlord is coming on Saturday to knock through a bit of the arched roof of the dining room fireplace space and will likely put in a vent so that’s good. This is the chimney in your photo, yes? 

He thinks, assuming that’s successful, the walls will then dry out over time though I’m not sure how much time - any idea anyone? A couple of weeks should do it, I guess. You should start to notice an improvement in a day or so - provided it's the cause. 

He hasn’t really said anything about the living room though so that’s the bit I’m more worried and confused about. The chimney in the living room hasn’t been swept since I moved in just over four years ago. What is your concern about this open chimney? Do you want to use it for fires? If so, then I guess it would be up to you to get a good 'sweep out, and to check it's drawing correctly. Has your LL said anything about having fires? If you are concerned about loss of heat from the room due to the updraught, then that's a valid concern, but the solution is easily available - a 'balloon' or whatever they are called to stick up t'flue, whilst allowing a some ventilation to keep it dry.

Re neighbour - I don’t really know him, he’s quite aggressive (as in very verbally abusive to a hopefully former partner) when I’ve heard him through the walls though I’ve not seen him or heard anything for ages, so I’m not inclined to talk to him. I’ll let the landlord do that on Saturday if he wants to! Yes, now't to do with you - phew!

Re chimney draughts I haven’t noticed it particularly, there are guards on both chimneys on the top, I can sometimes hear the wind through it but not feel it. A flue draught would be very noticeable - a sheet of newspapre placed across the fireplace opening would get sucked strongly. These chimney guards - do they keep the rain out?

Replies and Qs in bold above.

rosamy52

ThisIsWeird said:

rosamy52 said:

Apologies for not replying individually but I’ll try and cover everything here. So the landlord is coming on Saturday to knock through a bit of the arched roof of the dining room fireplace space and will likely put in a vent so that’s good. This is the chimney in your photo, yes? 

He thinks, assuming that’s successful, the walls will then dry out over time though I’m not sure how much time - any idea anyone? A couple of weeks should do it, I guess. You should start to notice an improvement in a day or so - provided it's the cause. 

He hasn’t really said anything about the living room though so that’s the bit I’m more worried and confused about. The chimney in the living room hasn’t been swept since I moved in just over four years ago. What is your concern about this open chimney? Do you want to use it for fires? If so, then I guess it would be up to you to get a good 'sweep out, and to check it's drawing correctly. Has your LL said anything about having fires? If you are concerned about loss of heat from the room due to the updraught, then that's a valid concern, but the solution is easily available - a 'balloon' or whatever they are called to stick up t'flue, whilst allowing a some ventilation to keep it dry.

Re neighbour - I don’t really know him, he’s quite aggressive (as in very verbally abusive to a hopefully former partner) when I’ve heard him through the walls though I’ve not seen him or heard anything for ages, so I’m not inclined to talk to him. I’ll let the landlord do that on Saturday if he wants to! Yes, now't to do with you - phew!

Re chimney draughts I haven’t noticed it particularly, there are guards on both chimneys on the top, I can sometimes hear the wind through it but not feel it. A flue draught would be very noticeable - a sheet of newspapre placed across the fireplace opening would get sucked strongly. These chimney guards - do they keep the rain out?

Replies and Qs in bold above.

I'm pretty sure there's no draught as yes you'd think it'd be noticeable. No rain coming in that's obvious to me, like it's not dripping into the fireplace.