Damp problem..

[Rachelloyd]

I wondering if you lovely lot would help me. We recently purchased a house in August 2019, all was well until winter arrived. Now we we have a horrid wet damp patch half way up the front external wall by a window and slightly on the party wall in our bedroom. (will add pictures if I can) I have a dehumidifer in the room and I’ve used a fan against the wet patch which seems to dry it and reduce the patch but it just appears again. The walls are solid stone and covered with rendered pebble dash. We had the guttering cleaned 2 months ago but that doesn’t seem to have worked. Any help would be much appreciated

yes, the ballcock may wel be worn and dripping. This is easily repaired. I see you have shoddy pipework that you also leaks inside the house, it has been going on for a long time. The tank is likely to overflow late at night and early morning when no water has been used from the taps, so nothing to prevent the level going up.

It's strange to have a cold water tank when you have a combi boiler and no hot water cylinder. Put your thumb over each bathroom tap spout and turn it on. Can you stop the flow from either the hot or cold taps?

There is a waste pipe going up into the ceiling, it might be for a feed an expansion tank for the boiler, but again this is not usually needed for a combi.

Start asking around for a personal recommendations of local plumber. You do not need a gasman for these jobs.

Advertisements on websites where the tradesmen pay to be listed are not personal recommendations (although some of the glowing reviews might be written by his friends and family).

There might be a more sensible route for the overflow pipe. It would be hard to think of a worse one.

what else is in the airing cupboard?

am I wrong about the combi? I may have been thinking about someone else.

Not sure when the leak happened, but it hasn’t done since we have owned the property touch wood
Sorry I should have said, we have a Baxi back boiler behind a fire down stairs and the hot water cylinder, pump and diverter valve is in the airing cupboard. We had a plumber come out to service the back boiler and water cylinder when we moved in and to price up a combi boiler. He said it wasn’t worth changing until it broke down or our heating bills were over £1000 a year.. not sure if this is correct?

A combi is suitable for a small home. How many people live in yours? Is it just one bahroom?

Fill a bucket at the kitchen cold ta (and the outdoor tap if you have one). Time it. Calculate how many litres pr minute you get.

Your house may have a lead, or iron, incoming water supply pipe of small diameter, which restricts water flow. If you look at the icoming pipe under the sink, below the stopcocl; or in the outdoor stopcock pit next to the front gate, you might be able to se it. As you are in a soft water area there might be a Lead Pipe Replacement scheme with a subsidy or free reconnection. Have a look on your water company or local community websites. Do you have babies or children?

Check when its raining to see if the guttering is overflowing it looks very green and on the porch roof area .
Also it overflow pipe is in the right area to suspect . I have seen them split in the wall also if it has a joint in the wall it could fail

@PigletJohn just two of us with one bathroom. We will look to put a combi in in the future but need to sort the damp issue out first

@Henryloveseatinglego we did have the gutters cleaned last month and they were full apparently. would it just be a cause of extending the overflow pipe so that water is not dripping on the window sill/portico and splashing the wall, hense the black mark?

As well as extending the overflow pipe (or finding a better route) to need to replace (repair if you insist) the valve causing the overflow.

It is probably the ball valve at fault, a new one is not expensive. You need a Part 2. For example
www.screwfix.com/p/flomasta-brass-part-2-float-valve/358fy
note the plastic bridge on the top to prevent contamination
If you see a Pegler, that's a superior make.

Not wishing to hijack, @PigletJohn I didn t realise that about occupational exposure to lead and Alzheimer’s, have just googled it seems there’s a well known link. Sobering.

Thanks both @PigletJohn I’m not entirely sure, Trial and error with the cheapest option first. Hopefully it’s not a case of replacing the render on the house or maybe the guttering needs replacing

Yep just eliminate one at a time . also if the patch comes and goes it weather related roof gutters ridge tiles rotten felt just before guttering . leaking gutter joint . also could be something to do with cable and bi if water running down it somehow . stick you head out of the window when its pouring down to see if its something running down the wall near the joint in the guttering . if the damp always constant even in dry weather its usually plumbing related

Thanks @Henryloveseatinglego