To ask about this damp?

[Flamingogirl08]

We've just moved into a house and have found this damp patch under the wallpaper in the living room.

Can somebody reassure me that its easily fixed and we haven't bought a damp money pit? 😒

What’s the other side of that wall? That will reveal if it’s going to be costly or an easy fix.

Definitely damp. As above, depends what's behind the wall.

Damp is incredibly misunderstood. Don't panic. a few questions ... what age is your house? What's under the carpet – concrete or suspended timber floor? Any pipes under floor or nearby? External or interior wall? What's other side of the wall?

Thanks for the replies. I'm not actually at the house my husband is there now so he is going to check outside.

It's an exterior wall next to a bay window. House built about 1910.

No idea what's under the floors. We haven't even moved in yet.

Oh but I think its just floorboards.

Bay windows can be prone to damp. My first port of call would be looking outside at how high the exterior ground levels are. In a 1910 house, you should have a suspended timber floor and outside an airbrick below interior floor level, which circulates air in the underfloor cavity. These air bricks can sometimes be blocked, covered by high external ground, too close to air brick (should be at least 7cm from ground level). Another things to look for is if externally you have hard substance like concrete or brick abutting the wall too closely – if you're going to have hard surface floors outside, they need to be low enough and with a gap of 2 inches or so away from the wall.

Happy to advise more depending on what you find, as there are some other possibilities too.

I am just looking at the pictures of the house on Rightmove and there was an old cabinet in that corner.

The house had been unoccupied (but furnished) for about a year before we bought it so obviously no windows opened in that time although the timer was on the heating.

Thanks so much. I will get some pictures when I go tomorrow and get back to you!

It could be that condensation has gathered in that corner (external, solid walls mean they are cold) and furniture blocks airflow. I would also lift the carpet and see if the floorboards below are damp – then you'll have some more to go on.

I am going back tomorrow so will do that thanks and I will look outside. Husband tried to take photos earlier but its absolutely hammering down here so they were no good.

It's an exterior wall next to a bay window. House built about 1910.

Oh, then it could be loads of things, most of which would be pretty easy to sort.

We had a similar issue, and it was just caused by the fact that the exterior ground level had, over time, built up higher than the damp-proof course (1930s house, also a bay window). We had the ground level restored (which was just a matter of clearing a bit of vegetation and digging down a bit) and then some damp-proof membrane put in and that little bit of plaster replaced. Has been fine since then and wasn't expensive to sort.

It could also be that the wall needs a bit of spot repointing, or that there's a puddle or a block drain or something or a leaking pipe that means there's constantly water against that bit of the wall.

I would be surprised if this is a big job to fix. Highly likely to br a breach of damp proof course by external ground level being raised over time, or a small leak of a water waste pipe at a joint on that corner or a downpipe from the bay guttering leaking or the drain it goes into blocked up with debris. All can be fixed. No mould growth in a corner of damp in an empty house for a year in a place of limited air movement shows a good structure to the house. My guess is a blocked drain where the gutter goes in that is puddling above the damp course. Easy fix.

So I have this picture from outside. Not great but I think maybe the concrete is higher than it should be and that is right where the damp spot is.

I also need to inspect that drainpipe!

I will have a proper look tomorrow.

So I think we found the culprit. There is insulation under the floorboards! And it is soaked through.

We're getting upstairs plastered and they've recommended getting all the insulation up and then knocking off some plaster and adding a membrane and then plastering over.

You need to work out what is causing the insulation to be wet though. Water seems to be settling in this corner. What’s under that concrete? Have they filled over a drain that the pipe used to discharge into or something? Or is the pip leaking out of that join and water is running to that corner?

OK will look into that. The builder we had round today seemed shocked there was even insulation under there and was convinced that was causing a problem. However looking online that type of insulation is really common!