Penetrating and rising damp

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Dan.mcg

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I have had damp issues in my place for a while and have had enough of just covering it up so thought I'd tackle it. It's a Victorian two up two down jobbie with a single story extension on the back where the kitchen and bathroom are. Every room has two external walls.

The two exterior corners have been effected by penetrating damp due to old guttering and slipped roof tiles. I striped the lining paper which pulled a some plaster off with it to expose the internal brick so I have now removed all internal blown plaster which runs down the majority of the walls on both stories. I'm assuming the penetrative damp has also caused condensation problems that the central heating and lack of ventalation have enabled. Am I right in assuming this? I stuck a dehumidifier in the top room for a couple of days and then downstairs while I replaced the facia and guttering entirely and have repaired the dodgy roof slates. I used Thomson's sealant on the external brick work which in not sure I should have???? The walls have all stayed bone dry so I'm pretty confident that the water has stopped coming in. I was going to unibond the brick followed by renovating plaster and a lime finish initially but now am thinking that maybe a insulating layer is needed. The rooms are fairly small as it is so I don't want to loose much more space. I'm confused about whether to use a hemp lime mix or an insulated board or not to insulate at all? The more I look into it the more confused I become. I was also told to use vandex?

Another issue I discovered today was a rising damp problem. There are air bricks downstairs but inbetween two of them is a big damp patch that appeared on the external brick with the rain. It has already come through to the internal plaster and skirting board. There has been I dpc injected in the past that i'm assuming has failed in this on area. Is reinjecting the answer or is an external render plynth the way or something completely different?
I want to stay true to the property and sort this problem properly and not have to do it twice and not just cover it up although that maybe easier said than done.
Cheers Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Tank the walls internally to help in stopping the ingress, then dot and dab insulated boards.

The problem with old places is they were not really built to modern regulations so people were not bothered back in the day.

As for the brick work make sure the mortar is good if not repoint then maybe get some of the safeguard masonry cream to help seal the brick work.
 
Tank the walls internally to help in stopping the ingress, then dot and dab insulated boards.

The problem with old places is they were not really built to modern regulations so people were not bothered back in the day.

As for the brick work make sure the mortar is good if not repoint then maybe get some of the safeguard masonry cream to help seal the brick work.
Nothing wrong with old places, only issue is modern people unable to live with old properties. As soon as you upgrade windows and doors to the latest and best to keep the cold out and the warmth in you stopping the airflow because you had natural gaps in the original timber doors and windows. Ventilation is key. As for dabbing boards on membrane, I thought you have to mechanically fix boards as well for fire regs, so then membrane would be as effective as lining the walls with a sieve.
 
Never known anyone fix boards with anchors, I have always used dry wall adhesive, have you ever tried to get the stuff off ?
Look if you want to go back to oliver twist times then yeah the houses were ventilated, but you forgetting that the main issues with condensation is lack of extraction, when doing surveys I always highlight the need for this and recommend humidistat extraction.
I agree ventilation is a problem but reducing humidity is the main issue to deal with.
A bit like the guys plugging PIV I saved a women £750 by telling her to close the doors in the kitchen and bathroom when in use and opening the door. Seen here a few months later and the damp issues had cleared up.
 
Never known anyone fix boards with anchors, I have always used dry wall adhesive, have you ever tried to get the stuff off ?
Look if you want to go back to oliver twist times then yeah the houses were ventilated, but you forgetting that the main issues with condensation is lack of extraction, when doing surveys I always highlight the need for this and recommend humidistat extraction.
I agree ventilation is a problem but reducing humidity is the main issue to deal with.
A bit like the guys plugging PIV I saved a women £750 by telling her to close the doors in the kitchen and bathroom when in use and opening the door. Seen here a few months later and the damp issues had cleared up.
Yes you shouldn't fix boards through the membrane because whats the point of having a membrane then? I think pivs are good as it creates airflow. Other than that I'm not a damp expert, I just use common sense, however my senses playing dirty tricks on me recently
 
Pivs are very good and even have one in my own house that is only 19yrs old..... people cause most of the problems as I am going to jobs at the moment and they have the heating on all day with all the windows close and it's bloody sweltering .... couldn't live like that........
 
haha greenhouses, I think PIV is a good thing but only in houses that suffer a lot, most houses get black spot mould and suffer from condensation but I think extraction is the way to go as its dealing with humidity at source.
I have fitted a couple mainly for landlords, i try to alter the persons habits first before talking about PIV.
I was not talking about membrane i tank with S&C and use HeyDi, then spot boards to that. Membrane is not for me, seen dry rot thrive around that stuff, zero airflow, humidity and temperature at the right % Bang you have dry rot.
 
haha greenhouses, I think PIV is a good thing but only in houses that suffer a lot, most houses get black spot mould and suffer from condensation but I think extraction is the way to go as its dealing with humidity at source.
I have fitted a couple mainly for landlords, i try to alter the persons habits first before talking about PIV.
I was not talking about membrane i tank with S&C and use HeyDi, then spot boards to that. Membrane is not for me, seen dry rot thrive around that stuff, zero airflow, humidity and temperature at the right % Bang you have dry rot.

Membrane is a form of non intrusive tanking though.
You never tank below the timbers unless youve taken them out and replaced in which case the membrane can be dropped lower aswell, so the dry rot is going to be there regardless?
 
I believe In keeping water/humidity out of a property than let it condensate and run down into some kind of channel and pumped out.

We all have an idea of what's best but I have seen dry rot feed of this type of system, also its just the same as the old cowboy tactic of putting visqueen behind the studwork.
Moisture temperature and inadequate air flow result in creating the ideal conditions for dry rot.

The plastic membrane is designed for the external of a building, some rave about it but I personally do it the old fashioned way and hack it off the old and install a cement based tanking system. They work and are harder to install but the men who cannot plaster use membranes otherwise they would lose the job, your just hiding the problem with a plastic coat lol
 
I believe In keeping water/humidity out of a property than let it condensate and run down into some kind of channel and pumped out.

We all have an idea of what's best but I have seen dry rot feed of this type of system, also its just the same as the old cowboy tactic of putting visqueen behind the studwork.
Moisture temperature and inadequate air flow result in creating the ideal conditions for dry rot.

The plastic membrane is designed for the external of a building, some rave about it but I personally do it the old fashioned way and hack it off the old and install a cement based tanking system. They work and are harder to install but the men who cannot plaster use membranes otherwise they would lose the job, your just hiding the problem with a plastic coat lol
You still hiding the problem with your tanking render, it still penetrates the brickwork. :)
 
Some builders used that membrain over the whole of a house down my way on the external elevations
They rendered it in sand and cement and it looks s**t.
 
It is quite simple you need to find the cause and stop it, forget all these new systems, they weren't there in the first place and like what's been said 9 times out of ten they add to the problem. People want you to do all this bullshit they won't change their habits, they would rather lie about the clothes they dry inside and the work previously done. They would rather pay someone a fortune to wreck their house then spend the rest of their lives blaming someone else when it returns.
 
You will never stop ground water every time it bloody rains you get more and more. Any tanking system is "designed to stop the water penetrating your property" short of digging a moat around your house and having pumps running 24/7 you have to understand you will always have moisture there.
So what happens to construction below a DPC ? that is always wet as its in the ground. Its a form of controlling moisture.
The wall is still wet when the membrane and pump method is used lol. at least with a proper tanking system the place is dry. I fitted the egg box once for a guy I was working for, it was a joke tape and plugs and some putty lol.
Joiners must love that crap.
 
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