Rising damp?

[Clipcloppity]

Can anyone help with damp issues?

We've recently bought a Victorian terrace and decided to remove the anaglypta then get the wall skimmed. The rear or the property near the patio doors had a bit of mould on the wallpaper.

Had a plasterer and damp proof specialist round today for a quote and after prodding a meter around all the walls and floor has said we have rising damp issues. He recommended stripping knocking the plaster out then concreting and tanking the (original flagstone) floor and the walls before plastering / skimming.

I'm just not convinced, the plaster although a little patched up in places, feels dry, the wallpaper hadn't peeled in +15 years, would rising damp be more obvious?

If it feels dry but it looks moldy could it be from an old leak repaired years ago ?

Damp proof specialist you say? One who charges for providing unnecessary and expensive solutions to damp?

What did your survey say? There are always going to be higher damp readings around windows and doors because they are openings in the brickwork. Rising damp is rare - things like leaking pipes and rainwater goods are much more likely to be the cause. I bet that mould is in the coldest part of the room - more likely it's caused by condensation than rising damp if there is no peeling wallpaper, etc.

Much better to remove all wallpaper, allow the wall time to dry out. If it is an old house is it lime plaster? If so you need to use limewash not modern paint. Lime wash allows the plaster to breathe. Damp courses are ok, but aren't suitable for houses with lime plaster. Personally I would wait until after next winter before thinking about a damp course and see what happens. Rising damp usually leaves a tide mark around the plaster up to about 1 to 3 feet.

Thank you, we're FTB and feeling a little overwhelmed but something didn't feel quite right that such drastic action is needed. The flagstone flooring doesn't have a waterproof membrane being the original floor which is why he suggested tanking this and the walls.

Yes we had a full survey which highlighted some damp readings in that corner. (No mention of floor though) Previous owners had a small tree outside at some point planted directly adjacent to the mouldy area, there was only a stump left which we removed as soon as we moved in and we also lowered the level of the soil as it was covering the last lot of injection holes created by the old dpc. We suspected that was the cause along with poorly installed guttering in the same area which has also been fixed.

Just standard pinkish plaster unfortunately, I'd have loved to see lime plaster. The plaster itself feels dry, no mould it was just on the wallpaper. No signs of tidemarks etc either but it has been patched over the years, still only a few hairline cracks and dints we were actually surprised by the condition when we stripped the paper having expected crumbling plaster.

Would a dehumidifier help dry the walls?

Gosh, sorry for the rambling post I'm just feeling rather out of my depth!

I'm not at all sure there is a damp problem. I think he's trying to get you to have a bigger job done and scaremongering by telling you it's rising damp. It doesn't feel damp and you've already taken action outside to sort things out. I'd get someone else to quote for the plastering.

Don't rush into fixing the damp problem. If the house was empty for a while before you moved in it might just be due to condensation. I would eliminate any sources of water from outside, leaky gutters etc and see if it dries out. You might need some sub floor ventilation, I. E. An air brick in the external wall but damp Proofing is usually not a good plan in old houses.

Thank you. I'll get another opinion but this damp proofer/ plasterer had really positive feedback it was only when he let I started to doubt things.

It was occupied when we bought it but there was a bookcase covering the area 🙄

I'll also look at getting an air brick, we have them at the front and in the extension but nothing in that area.

Where did you see this positive feedback?

Was it on one of those websites where traders pay for a listing (so it is an advert) and where they can prevent unfavourable comments being shown?

How many of the comments were written by the trader, and their friends and family?

It was on Checkatrade then followed up with google reviews etc. I'm guessing that's one of the websites yoyre referring to PigletJohn? I admit to being a bit naive but it's difficult finding someone trustworthy without a recommendation.

Anyway we think we have found the root of the problem, nothing to do with rising damp but I'll not bore anyone with the details. Thanks everyone for advice, much appreciated

Bookcase in a cold corner is highly likely to be condensation.

Practically every builder / plasterer / tradesman out there still believes rising damp is common, even though it isn’t, and if their reviews are for plastering work there’s no reason why they couldn’t be good despite their lack of knowledge about condensation.

We’ve had loads of work done on our house in the last 18 months and there was nary a tradesman who didn’t advise DPC injecting the damp patch in our cupboard under the stairs. I’ve had to be quite firm in insisting it’s unnecessary.

We had a survey done by an independent damp specialist (we paid them, so they had nothing to flog), and he declared it to be condensation. It’s improved a lot since we ventilated the space and should dry out eventually.

We’re FTB too - so much to learn, but getting there!

Rising damp is like a religion, either you believe everything is caused by it or you believe it effectively doesn't exist.
When we moved into our place we had high damp meter readings mostly caused by condensation, and an injected damp course already in place.
We had damp stains on an internal wall around a doorway.
I was convinced they were condensation even though they didn't get black mould like the other areas, then when we were insulation the dormer floor I found loads of crystals on the bricks under the floor. After drilling into one of the mortar joints I found the mortar was so wet it was like a paste, even though the ground level under the floor was fairly low and it was dry under there.
Long story short, a trip to wickes for some dry zone cream and I fixed it myself.

Ha, I think I’m agnostic on rising damp. I think it’s rare, but there are people who bang on about how it doesn’t exist who will still then talk about damp proof courses being important.