Help! Panicking about damp patches!

[Pixie83]

Am really hoping somebody can offer some words of wisdom/experience to stop me feeling sick with worry this morning!

We've lived in a 1930's house for a few years and we have always had a problem with condensation, which I try to deal with by having a dehumidifier in the conservatory and leaving windows slightly open at night, etc. This seems to work.

But this morning I noticed damp patches have appeared on the walls either side of the hallway leading into the dining room. They are visible just above the skirting boards going up about another 15cm, and go along about 30cm in length on each side.

DH & I know very little about building work. I am now panicking to the extent of making myself feel sick - I am imagining all kinds of very expensive things needing to be done to treat whatever it is (rising damp? Don't even know what that is....). And we are not in a position to pay out huge amounts - probably like most people ATM....

I would be so grateful for any advice - thank you!

Do you know if the wall is a partition wall or a structural wall and what it is made of (brick/plaster and lathe etc)? Silly question but are there any plumbed devices on either side of the wall - sink/radiator/concealed pipework running to the upper storeys?

Thanks lala - sorry as I say I know nothing about diy, but would assume it's just a partition wall as it would originally have been the doorway through to the kitchen, but was bricked up by previous owners years ago. I think it's brick and plaster (definitely sounds solid when I knock it anyway!).

For those reasons I don't think there would be any pipework behind it, and there are not devices either side or pipes anywhere you can see (our central heating pipes aren't concealed). Could we maybe have a water supply pipe running under the house or is that a stupid question?

Thanks!

You're quite likely to have a water supply running under the house but if it had burst then logic says that your floors would get wet first and there would be a smell. If the wall isn't a structural wall that goes down to the foundations, it can't be rising damp as that means the wall is absorbing water from the ground upon which the house rests. If there aren't any plumbed-in devices behind it, then it's a bit of a mystery. It's strange that it's fairly isolated - I suppose the most sensible thing to do would be to take off the skirting boards and see what is happening behind those (you just need a jemmy tool and a big hammer, you've got to be firm but not brutal so as not to split the skirting boards).