Old house in Cheshire damp recommendations

[digthroughtheditches]

Hi
We have a 1900 end terrace in Cheshire with damp problems here & there.
The previous owners spent a lot of money on a DPC and it's still got problems so I was wondering if anyone might recommend a company who specialises in damp proofing houses of this age. Preferably in Cheshire.
TIA

First off, is it damp? Old houses need to breathe. www.heritage-house.org/damp-and-condensation/managing-damp-in-old-buildings.html

Before you look at any kind of proofing you need to find out the cause of excess moisture. An independent surveyor used to historic buildings should be your first port of call. Avoid anyone that does free surveys.

Thanks for the advice. I did read that website a long time ago and we have added more ventilation into the roof, opened up all the covered vents and stripped off what appeared to be plastic underneath all the wallpaper in every room.

We have a dehumidifier running almost every day, still pulling lots of water out.
I just need to know what else to do without being talked into more costly chemical damp preprint. Will contact a surveyor food call! We have a buyers report but I see now that's not enough.

Our bathroom is on the ground floor and lot of the damp circulates the walls around that. Also the roof and side wall elevation (it was joined to other terraces a long time ago you can see the fireplaces on the outside!) just wondered if the wall needed the bitumen peeling off and perhaps lime rendered. Again multiple websites giving different advice about this.

Gosh lots of typos do apologise!

Where is the damp on the walls? Is it upstairs as well, or just downstairs? Can you upload some photos of the worst of it?

To have that kind of damp is unusual. By the sounds of it they've put in some kind of plastic tanking to try and stop the damp coming through, but that's the worst thing you can do so you've done the right thing in stripping it off. Lime render can help, but it would be unsual for a 1900s brick building to require this. I presume it is brick, and not a sandstone or limestone?

Just seen that the outside wall used to be attached to another house. Is it just along that wall you have damp issues? Does the mortaring look okay? I'd definitely get a structural survey done.

Have a look at The Property Care Association website. Their members specialise in this kind of stuff and you can search for a member by area.

Was there a guarantee with the DPC work?

Hiya, I also have a 1900 eot. When we moved in there were lots of different damp on gable end (and various other locations) problems to solve.

1. IT NEEDS TO BREATHE so any new materials (cement, gypsum, sealants) are an absolute no go, rip them off. We just had cement render backed off and lime rendered and I can see an improvement already.

2. chimney stacks need ventilation from the old fireplace up and out of the roof, the salt coating the chimneys will suck up water like a sponge. Take out a brick and add a vent if they’re bricked up that will keep warm air moving from the house up and out, taking the evaluated water with it.

3. I ripped off the plaster and black mortar back to stone when I was 6 months pregnant because I was so fed up with the wetness. It’s bare stone now and dry as a bone. I get that’s messy and not always possible.

4. condensation from inside normal house usage will form on that wet wall because it’s cold compared to rest of house so exasperating the problem.

DPC is a waste of money and will not help, if anything it makes it worse as there is nowhere for the water to go.

The damp is in various spots.
the wall attached to the neighbours (at the back of the bathroom) is damp from the floor up to about 2 metres. We did slap damp paint on temporarily but I know this exacerbates the problem underneath so this is why I want to address it now we're in better position financially.
The walls are covered in artex - this as well as poor bathroom ventilation could be the problem perhaps?

There's a patch in an understairs cupboard (again interior wall)

Then upstairs in the ceiling on and around the top of a chimney breast) the fireplace is boarded up, we put one vent at the bottom but I see it probably needs another at the top (this is on the gable end wall).

The walls are brick yes, the bitumen is unsightly but I assume required since the gable wall was once attached?

I don't know if the DPC had a guarantee, a builder suggests they didn't nearly drill enough holes though. So if it was a dud job I suspect not?

We're waiting on a company to test for asbestos in the plaster. I suspect the artex doesn't help since much of the house is covered in it

It sounds basic but have you had all your gutters and drains around the building checked? To be having that much water soaking up on an internal wall means the ground below must be pretty damp. A blocked drain or broken pipe can often cause major issues and you don't realise until much later what it is.
Have you spoken to anyone else on the terrace about it? If every house is suffering that is one thing (poor build, bad earth), but if it's just yours then it means it's something wrong with your house in particular.

That's an interesting thought actually. I will
speak to the neighbours and see.
I know one or two have damp issues but they are upstairs. One neighbour spent £1,000's trying to sort it but still has a small patch of it.

I know we can fix guttering but not sure how to check drains, would a buildings surveyor look at that? Or just ask a plumber? (Sorry I'm completely in the dark about these things)