Rising Damp, dont all rush at once!

[ZeViteVitchofCwismas]

Rising Damp, is it possible anyone out there knows anything about it? We have some, its getting worse, its started about 3 years ago, classic victorian terraced house, wondering why it would suddenly start....also on a party wall....I was quoted over a grand to get it sorted but they didnt seem to be sure why it was there that concerned me....we are short of cash for this but feel blind about it!

Visit this site, I always recommend it on here, www.ukdamp.co.uk and read the information pages (I think you will find actual cases of true rising damp are very, very rare) We had to have someone see our house before the mortgage company would let us have our cottage because of high moisture readings in walls. We chose this company because they won't try and sell you damp coursing, tanking etc which rarely works. They will find cause of problem and give you a NATURAL remedy. (we had extra air bricks added for example and then the mortgage company released money to us).

Damp isn't some mysterious thing, it is basically WATER coming from SOMEWHERE. Once you've figured that out, you're half way there...

I think we paid about £250 approx for this man to come and give report to send to mortgage company and then another £750 for the air bricks etc.

BE WARY of people giving free inspections of your damp problem, they will get their money back when they charge you £1,000's to give you something your house doesn't need.

I am in a terraced victorian cottage by the way.

I'm sure Piglet John will be along soon, he will be able to tell you where your water might be seeping from...

If it's a party wall, perhaps next door have their washing machine there and it is leaking???

Thanks so much, I am amazed got any replies.

I have been into next doors house and there is nothing there....its on outside wall and running into party wall.

One thing that has changed in past 7 years, is that outside in our side return the past owner put in new patio slabs and concreted the gap between the house wall and the slabs, previously there was just normal soil and stones...Maybe that has sealed in moisture perhaps, or created a level for water to sit in ???

Will check that site out mini.

( its in corner of room, so half is outside wall half inside part wall)

It will probably be the raised ground level.

With us, the raised ground levels had bridged the original slate damp-proof course which is level with the bottom of the air bricks which allowed low level moisture ingress into the brickwork where it then traveled through the wall by capillary action to appear as ‘rising damp’ internally. We had a waterproof fillet at the wall/ground junction to divert water away from the wall and applying a silicon water repellent on exposed brickwork at the front of our house as well as extra air bricks. A drainage channel was also installed at the base of our rear wall to allow rainwater to drain away before it can be absorbed into the wall and remove the ‘moisture reservoir’ condition that existed.

Hope that helps, you can fix this!

Have you also checked for leaking gutters around that area as that won't help you situation either, wait for it to pour heavily with rain and then take a brolly outside and look around and it should be quite evident if there are any problems. There is a house opposite us with a badly damaged gutter, during recent storms, water was literally pouring down their brickwork at front of house I've never seen anything like it

Sorry to be thick, but when you say "rasied" ground level, do you mean it could be this concrete this man put in, right next to house wall and to paving slabs....its only a hands length long....it was 7 years ago, in the corner it started a few years back and how now spread all along that wall.

If that is what you mean, then maybe DH and a pick hammer would help to simply removed the concrete and put it back to what it was?

Yes checked gutters in rain no sign of anything there...

Yes, that's exactly what I mean, it's when the ground is made higher than it originally want meant to be. So I'm assuming if DH hack it away to what it was originally your problem might be solved. Do bare in mind that for a wall to dry out fully will take quite a few months we were told.

Plus, you're not thick, it's usually me asking the thick questions on this board LOL but Piglet John on here usually comes to my rescue

OP, with us, the pavement level had been raised at front of house and at back, concrete had also been put and the ground level have been heightened when this was done.

Sorry about bad typos by the way, I should proof read what I type

Thanks so much its been on my mind for so long and has been such a worry!

Am going to get DH to try and get rid of the concrete first and see if that makes a difference! What you have said makes sense to me. .

You're very welcome.

Yay, I'm so glad I've helped someone today, has made me feel very positive! I know what it's like to have something niggling, not a very nice feeling.

I hope it all dries out OK!

...just to add, if the above doesn't work, then look at possibility of condensation, "Nearly every case of so called rising damp is just condensation - the bottom of the wall is coldest, so moisture condenses near the floor - it doesnt rise!"

This is from this website here with very useful information about damp and older houses: www.heritage-house.org/pages/managing-damp-in-old-buildings.html

I know modern gypsum plasters/ wallpapers can cause problems in older houses as the walls can't breath properly and so moisture gets trapped in the walls. We are renovating our cottage at the moment and we are plastering with lime putty for this reason.

Our walls were also replastered about 6 years ago so that could be another issue. Thanks so much Mini.

You're welcome Ze.
if it ever becomes apparent that the modern plaster is an issue, it can get taken back to brick and then something like lime putty can be put on so your walls can breath again and release any moisture build up. We're using this website here to buy the lime putty etc for our plasterer. Our plasterer has been busy hacking of a layer of pink modern gypsum plaster skim which was put on by previous owners over the original lime.
www.oldhousestore.co.uk

....of course not all of it would need to be taken back to brick, just loose areas of the original plaster and any gypsum skim that has been put on. We've just had to take a large area back to brick but that was because the original old lime was loose. Our plaster said some of our rooms are sound so the gypsum skim will need to be (gently) hacked off before a new lime layer is done but it does not need to go completely back to brick.

*plasterer