Damp wall

[leanne9312]

I have a damp patch on the wall in the living room just above skirting boards, I am looking for a way to keep it hidden using an object/furniture , we are getting it seen to but at the minute I'm expecting a baby so we are just looking for a temporary solution for a few months (we have a damp injection kit thing to use in a few months) I'm just sick of seeing it and when I paint it it comes back the same

Hoping someone has an idea !
Thankyou

You really need to find out where the damp is coming from and fix the cause. Also do some research on rising damp - there is information on line which suggests it doesnt exist and chemical damp proofing is a waste of time and money.

you have damp / water next to electrical sockets eek! deffo dont hide it and get someone out asap.

@shapeshifter88 omg I didn't even think about that !

Couldn't see the photo properly on my phone but that look likes on the chimney breast? Either water is coming down and you need a new chimney cowl or could need repointing...or you may just need an air vent put in at room level. Most common cause of damp is just condensation.....don't get a free damp survey done though, they are salesmen and will tell you you need injections. Get a good builder round or pay for an independent surveyor.
Get it fixed properly before all your plaster falls off or it blows your electrics 👍

Ok, we were thinking the chimney has something to do with it as it used to be an open fire and the previous owners covered the hole with a fire place so we plastered it and put a new fire place in, the damp is also on one of the other walls just above skirting so it is either rising damp or a leaking pipe somewhere in wall. We need a new roof too and the outside bricks repointed 😕 it's just all soo costly! And with a new baby due soon and only a two bedroom house we're stuck in a hard decision of wether to sell however need all the work done before hand , either that or an extension 😫

It could be that you need your flashings repointed around the chimney, or that a stone in the chimney is damp and it spreads when the weather is more humid. It can spread out from the chimney.

This might shed some light, and is what happened to our house
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/advice/11243701/What-can-I-do-stop-chimmney-damp.html

You need to get that sorted as soon as you can; damp conditions can affect babies.

It's an isolated area of damp and not in the nursery or the OP's bedroom - unlikely to be a health risk for the baby.

Common causes of dampness in base of chimney breasts is when fireplaces are bricked up and plastered over is:
Old soot and dust from the inside of the chimney falls down over time and builds up in a pile behind the bricks acting as a sponge for condensation and soaks into the bricks from behind.
If you have a vent or gap behind the electric fire ( that's what it looks like in the Photo ) check behind and scoop up any old dust etc. or have a builder create a decent sized vent which can be removable in future for access for cleaning. Also check that the chimney is capped with a vented cap to prevent rain entering but allowing ventilation, there are various types on market.If this isn't the problem then could be a bit of rising damp as when chimneys were built back in the day sometimes they didn't put in proper DPC on the fireplace plinth/base.
You can get tubes of chemical DPC from Tool Station which fit in normal mastic gun very reasonably priced, just remove skirting drill into bricks as close to floor as poss and squeeze in DPC paste which slowly migrates into bricks.

it looks to me like a water leak from a pipe. How old is the house?

There is a yellow mark on the skirting suggesting long-term wet. Pull back the carpet. I think you will find there is an old stone hearth that is wet.

Is the rest of the floor wood or concrete?

We have just had a long dry spell followed by a couple of weeks with rain. Did it disappear during the dry spell?

Certainly a blocked-off chimney needs ventilating, but your mark is not typical of condensation in a flue.

Chemical injections do not cure leaks.