Damp fraud / rising damp myth

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henry said:
It did not take long for the damp deniers to turn up,:RpS_thumbsup: why did they put slate in old terrace houses when built maybe they was wrong, well am waiting for your reply eddie and flynnyman:RpS_thumbup:.
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same me reason they didn't use plasterboard I suppose, they didn't have any (or waterproofer )

if injection cures rising damp lol, why can't you plaster it with bonding ?

The damp 'rises' in the plaster :RpS_thumbsup:
 
irish_spread said:
same me reason they didn't use plasterboard I suppose, they didn't have any (or waterproofer )

if injection cures rising damp lol, why can't you plaster it with bonding ?

The damp 'rises' in the plaster :RpS_thumbsup:
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You could say bonding will draw any moisture that's already in the bricks
 
johniosaif said:
You could say bonding will draw any moisture that's already in the bricks
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Ok, if that's the case if you left the bricks 'dry' for say a year then bonding would be ok ?

i think not. Don't worry, if customer insists on me giving her bricks an injection to make them better, I will :RpS_laugh:
 
irish_spread said:
Ok, if that's the case if you left the bricks 'dry' for say a year then bonding would be ok ?

i think not. Don't worry, if customer insists on me giving her bricks an injection to make them better, I will :RpS_laugh:
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I have decided I'm gonna be a damp magician if they believe it works I'm gonna start performing it :)
 
I have a customer, he bought a flat off of a builder I work for, some damp was found on the top flight of stairs, I expected it to be ingress but could not get next door access, so I hacked off and plastered with dri coat to the top of skirting /stringer . A few months went by, he had some damp spots. I went to look, said its from next door, we got access, the neighbours side was outside and a drain was in the corner, the exterior was pointed but the bottom brick was not pointed along the ground and was soaking water in,I agreed to point this in to weather it, I removed skirtings next door, hacked off down to stringer, bricks were soaked, I said it may take months or years for it to fully dry, recommended leaving the plaster off, he put a heater on this area, went back at his request a few times, he said it drys,gets wet, so on, I said I can tank it, ka tanking or vandex,then dri coat and skim, he is super paranoid, wants me back again to discuss it this week, thankfully the basement I sika tanked is bone dry.
 
When they say they've got rising damp I'm not going to talk myself out of a job lol :rolleyes)
 
Your going straight to hell for that one........................Sinner..........................:RpS_laugh:
 
johniosaif said:
I have a customer, he bought a flat off of a builder I work for, some damp was found on the top flight of stairs, I expected it to be ingress but could not get next door access, so I hacked off and plastered with dri coat to the top of skirting /stringer . A few months went by, he had some damp spots. I went to look, said its from next door, we got access, the neighbours side was outside and a drain was in the corner, the exterior was pointed but the bottom brick was not pointed along the ground and was soaking water in,I agreed to point this in to weather it, I removed skirtings next door, hacked off down to stringer, bricks were soaked, I said it may take months or years for it to fully dry, recommended leaving the plaster off, he put a heater on this area, went back at his request a few times, he said it drys,gets wet, so on, I said I can tank it, ka tanking or vandex,then dri coat and skim, he is super paranoid, wants me back again to discuss it this week, thankfully the basement I sika tanked is bone dry.
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Sounds like someone nicked the lead flashing.
 
thats a good vid. what about the professor who built some walls and left them submerged in water for three years and they never got rising damp ....:RpS_sneaky:
 
Have done many years of plastering for a damp proof firm, not every jobs the same and have seen many propertys with damp issues penetrating and rising damp. What a lot of people forget are that some surveyors are on commission and get paid for the quantity of work they sell.
 
seanm said:
Have done many years of plastering for a damp proof firm, not every jobs the same and have seen many propertys with damp issues penetrating and rising damp. What a lot of people forget are that some surveyors are on commission and get paid for the quantity of work they sell.
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how did you know it was rising damp?
 
When theirs no high ground level against the wall and the damp is 500mm up the wall it came from somewhere and every traditional built house has a physical dpc put in for a reason at time of construction.
 
seanm said:
When theirs no high ground level against the wall and the damp is 500mm up the wall it came from somewhere and every traditional built house has a physical dpc put in for a reason at time of construction.
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Maybe they believed in rising damp and it would be difficult to change now
 
If there is no such thing as rising damp then why bother putting a DPC in a house while building it ?

Of course it exists, the trouble is that its more prevalent in certain types of construction.

Take random stone walls, the stone itself is usually unable to absorb water, but the lime/sand mortar infill is a hydrated material so it absorbs water then you get capillary action causing the water/damp to rise up the wall.

But if its a brick wall of made of modern materials then you probably won't have as much of a problem.

If water does not penetrate walls either from ground level or ingress from an elevation then how is it surveyors find it ?

I will say that its the untrained and greedy eye that seems to see rising damp more than us skint professionals :RpS_laugh:
 
They are not surveyors they are salespeople and capillary a action Will not go up three foot so any chance of any proof it exists?
 
I built houses in Holland in the 70s and we did not install any DPC but noticed in Belgium the other week they do, I personaly don't believe rising damp exists a simple experiment is to fill a bucket with 6 inches of water then place a brick submerged in the bucket then stack another 6 on top leave for a week and see how much damp has risen.
 
Haha well certain bricks are unable to absorb water, that's why they are used underground i.e engineering brick.

nine times out of ten its the mortar that fails and not the bricks, like I said modern materials have helped in removing the problem.

But in certain types of construction the problem still remains, put a concrete brick in a bucket for half an hour and see if its wet in the middle ?

Next time you go past the canal bridge use a damp meter and see if its dry ?
 
adapt said:
Haha well certain bricks are unable to absorb water, that's why they are used underground i.e engineering brick.

nine times out of ten its the mortar that fails and not the bricks, like I said modern materials have helped in removing the problem.

But in certain types of construction the problem still remains, put a concrete brick in a bucket for half an hour and see if its wet in the middle ?

Next time you go past the canal bridge use a damp meter and see if its dry ?
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Is it really a DAMP meter or something else used as a damp meter?
 
adapt said:
Haha well certain bricks are unable to absorb water, that's why they are used underground i.e engineering brick.

nine times out of ten its the mortar that fails and not the bricks, like I said modern materials have helped in removing the problem.
Not many houses built of concrete bricks mate and as for engineering bricks I have seen cases of penetrating damp even with them but never rising, 7.2N concrete blocks are allowed by building control without render but I have seen penetrating damp with them in extreme cases but never rising.
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My damp meter just measures how much im gonna charge............................:RpS_thumbsup:
 
Ask Jeff:

"Damp-proofing salesmen use electrical conductance-type meters to “diagnose” rising damp. These are labelled “moisture meters”, but they do not really measure moisture. They measure electrical conductance, and will give a reading on any building material which allows an electric current to flow through it. Clinker blocks, for example, which are made from coal ash, have a high carbon content, which means they conduct electricity. So clinker blocks will always give a high reading on one of these meters, even when they are bone-dry. These meters are actually calibrated for use on timber, and they can give reasonable approximations of moisture contents in wood, but on bricks, plaster and wallpaper they give readings which are way too high, and can easily be used to give the impression that a wall is damp when it is actually in a perfectly normal equilibrium moisture state with its surroundings."


“Damp” is an adjective, not a noun. So the correct English phrase should be “rising dampness”. But that doesn’t roll off the tongue quite so easily, does it?

Good article:

Rising Damp - Ask Jeff
 
Its a conspiracy, all you damp denier's will be telling us that pva is actually a glue, when we all know its made out of milk :flapper:
 
I knock damp areas off the sprinkle Moon dust all over the wall and replaster with thick custard charge £4grand and leg it as fast as I can!! :RpS_laugh:
 
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