Damp problem older house

[gaz1]

aj is already experiencing the above pic

Internal wall breaking up, suggestions please?

This is the dividing wall between the two 100 year old semi detached cottages. It has been crumbling away since before we moved in four years ago. I am not sure what to do about it. Next door has the same happening on his side. it isn’t just the plaster, as you can see, the stone is breaking up...

www.mig-welding.co.uk

all caused by the damp coarse layer

 

[Onoff]

water proof pva is useless it re emulsifies when it gets wet thats why damproof firms use sbr bonding agent on tanking . it can be painted on wet surfaces mixed with a bit of cement and cure dry

I agree SBR is great but I always understood the genuine "black can" PVA was actually waterproof whereas the "red" wasn't.

Don't forget SBR dries far quicker than PVA.

Just remembered, I even bought into the whole damp roof injection thing and bought a DIY kit.

With hindsight eh!

 

[Wozzaaah]

When we bought our house back in ‘93 the survey picked up damp so we got a bit knocked off the price. My mate came round and injected a new damp course. One of the holes he drilled from the kitchen joined up with one he’d drilled in the lounge….. we wondered why it was taking so much fluid…

 

[brightspark]

When we bought our house back in ‘93 the survey picked up damp so we got a bit knocked off the price. My mate came round and injected a new damp course. One of the holes he drilled from the kitchen joined up with one he’d drilled in the lounge….. we wondered why it was taking so much fluid…

ive seen when they were pressure fed at 90 psi squirt in to the neighbors house that cost a bit in damages .

 

[Gareth J]

im going to point this out the banks have been the worst for idiots and surveyors its all been a big money con

If they even MENTION Rising Damp - they are incompetent. Do NOT pay them.. Walk away from the survey, and get someone who knows about old buildings. Stephen Boniface, former chairman of the construction arm of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS )

Do NOT let any building society or bank force you have any form of damp treatment before they approve a loan. If they do, contact us and we will stop this rubbish. Be aware that times are changing, and more and more people are questioning this ridiculous practise - it is only a matter of time before banks drop this expensive and unneccesary habit - but we all need to put pressure on them to stop it.

the banks have been the main culprit and have caused so many issues with there refusal of loans for propertys unless you have the work done ( now in some cases this is right ) the suyveyer has caught what is right but where damp has come into it

with old buildings the suyveyer is highly wrong by incompitance of having no knowledge about the workings of the building

Dont think the historical soceity is right either they have found out the hard way over the years, even they have been so wrong caused by there own surveyors and even they have caused alot of damage themselves to old propertys that they have saved over the years by using the wrong stuff and been advised about using the wrong stuff

even that stuff has had to be removed and repaired and put back to old school methods as they even learnt why they used them

Did you mean to quote me? Can't see the relevance?!

 

[Wozzaaah]

ive seen when they were pressure fed at 90 psi squirt in to the neighbors house that cost a bit in damages .

It ruined our carpet.

 

[gaz1]

Did you mean to quote me? Can't see the relevance?!

sorry was going to delete that reference so no reference for you

that was for another post but to be honest its finding the old slate reference as banks have ruined what was protecting alot of houses by telling owners to remove it when infact it was protecting the building

ive seen it and the style that was used with slate and stone the issue also stands where the bank has forced a removal and rebuild of the wall

when it was there own surveyors that was causing the whole issue and costs to owners when it was the surveyor that was at fault with old buildings

 

[addjunkie]

aj is already experiencing the above pic

Internal wall breaking up, suggestions please?

This is the dividing wall between the two 100 year old semi detached cottages. It has been crumbling away since before we moved in four years ago. I am not sure what to do about it. Next door has the same happening on his side. it isn’t just the plaster, as you can see, the stone is breaking up...

www.mig-welding.co.uk

all caused by the damp coarse layer

Not me, my old house damp issues have been pointing, or a couple of minor roof issues around the dormers

 

[armalites]

In huge amount of cases with older houses the problems are made worse by "experts" tanking/dry lining or sealing things to within an inch of their lives when they were originally built with breathable materials.

I fitted the central heating to an old cottage for family relative, they were doing up an old cottage. Chap's dad was a builder and insisted on sealing everything, covered lime mortared walls with modern plaster, put plastic over walls and plaster board over the top. A few months after they moved in everything they had in the loft was ruined because is was all loaking wet from condensation. I watched them tank one "damp" wall then procede to replace the rotten manky 150 year wooden window frame directly above. At no point did anyone consider the cause of the damp wall was the rotten window.

 

[addjunkie]

I watched them tank one "damp" wall then procede to replace the rotten manky 150 year wooden window frame directly above. At no point did anyone consider the cause of the damp wall was the rotten window.

when I bought this place there was damp and leaks everywhere. Bedroom wall soaking and wall below. As a quick fix I hacked out wood rotten window sill and packed it with a shaped lump of quick drying water proof cement, wall below dryed up in a couple of weeks. Lasted long enough till I took the roof off and went back to bare stone.

 

[armalites]

when I bought this place there was damp and leaks everywhere. Bedroom wall soaking and wall below. As a quick fix I hacked out wood rotten window sill and packed it with a shaped lump of quick drying water proof cement, wall below dryed up in a couple of weeks. Lasted long enough till I took the roof off and went back to bare stone.

It's amazing to see the change, we have one room that was damp and cold feeling when we moved in, the floor had carpet over lino over flagstones that were laid on the soil. Once we pulled the carpet and lino it wasn't uncommon to find small frogs/toads in there. Root cause wasn't the flags on the dirt it was a very strong pebbledash mix over sandstone that was allowing water in a the top and holding it. After I chipped off 5-6 foot of pebbledash I almost heard it sigh with relief. The stone went from wet looking dark colour to mostly dried out over a few days. That room has never felt damp since.

Modern ways are great if you have the whole package, fully sealed houses work well if you have the correct ventilation. I appreciate we live in a rural area and that makes a difference to the air but it's really common when people stay that they sleep really well. I'm sure the slightly draughty, breahtable nature of our house makes a big difference.

 

[brightspark]

rendering of walls outside cover a multitude of sins

 

[Wozzaaah]

Just stripping the woodchip wallpaper off the lime plaster on our hall walls “solved” the damp problem but it does still need replastering.

 

[armalites]

Just stripping the woodchip wallpaper off the lime plaster on our hall walls “solved” the damp problem but it does still need replastering.

Wood chip would probably be ok but it always seems to have satin paint finish

In our house they went next level, framed out timber/brick infill and covered it with hardboard and wall paper. We would hear the mice having right old dust up behind it.

 

[Nomad]

A great forum where damp in older homes is often discussed (the website is acting slow today so maybe they have gremilns) https://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/whats-new/posts/8879/

Common causes I've seen mentioned :
Lifestyle (lots of cooking, drying washing indoors, windows always kept closed so no ventilation)
New building methods used without understanding their impact - double glazing and draft excluders, fireplaces blocked off.
Waterproof coatings (vinyl paint inside & cement render outside) which stop the building "breathing"
Water leaks (slipped tiles, broken gutters)
Poor drainage outside (raised flower bed built against the house, blocked french drains)

Plenty to pick from !

 

[armalites]

A great forum where damp in older homes is often discussed (the website is acting slow today so maybe they have gremilns) https://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/whats-new/posts/8879/

Common causes I've seen mentioned :
Lifestyle (lots of cooking, drying washing indoors, windows always kept closed so no ventilation)
New building methods used without understanding their impact - double glazing and draft excluders, fireplaces blocked off.
Waterproof coatings (vinyl paint inside & cement render outside) which stop the building "breathing"
Water leaks (slipped tiles, broken gutters)
Poor drainage outside (raised flower bed built against the house, blocked french drains)

Plenty to pick from !

All pretty common stuff, the other thing that often doesn't get mentioned is on old property will vary through the year because the whole point of many of the materials involved is they will absorb moisture when it's in excess and expel moisture when the atomosphere is dry.

I pass an old stone barn on the way to and from work, it is set into a bank so there is probably quite a bit of moisture. I watched them a few years back cover the stone wall in mesh and then concrete render. They have had to repatch that render a couple of times since they did it clearly because it's totally the wrong thing for the job and it blowing out with probably frost. While they were doing it I was so sorely tempted to stop and ask them if they were using lime render.

 

[gaz1]

A great forum where damp in older homes is often discussed (the website is acting slow today so maybe they have gremilns) https://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/whats-new/posts/8879/

Plenty to pick from !

i can pick some of that apart

Lifestyle (lots of cooking, drying washing indoors, windows always kept closed so no ventilation)

there was more cooking done in them times than there is nowadays, as for drying most of the clothes was on clothes hangers infront of the fire unless you could get near enough you didnt feel the warmth from the fire, cloths hanger hanging from the ceiling so plenty of damp and wetness in them times

windows was kept closed as it was too cold too open them in winter and having cold flags on the floor made it cold anyway

+ baths was done infront of the fire in a steel bath from heated kettles and poored into them


New building methods used without understanding their impact - double glazing and draft excluders, fireplaces blocked off.

double glazing is fine you can still have it with wood the issue starts with rotting timbers caused by silicone, fireplaces had closure plates that was closed when not in use so the reference of chimney being blocked off they also did that one

Waterproof coatings (vinyl paint inside & cement render outside) which stop the building "breathing"
Water leaks (slipped tiles, broken gutters)

Poor drainage outside (raised flower bed built against the house, blocked french drains)

the victorians started the drains and sewers many houses still used dumping the water outside around the 1920s + years and if they did have a sink it was still dumped outside of the propertys straight onto the garden or it flushed along the path into the street ( many still exist to this day where its till flushed into the street gutters )