Damp - help I’ve had 5 different tradespeople tell me 5 different things

[purpletrees16]

I bought a house with damp in the bay window and some suspiciously next to a drain on the side wall and some in a porch. Driveway slopes away but is too high & covers air brick. 1930s

Just had a range of tradespeople (from damp specialists to drainage people) have a look at it and every single one has come away with a different plan. Costs vary but it’s the sort of job where is seems they are going to escalate due to set out exclusions in the quote document but the starting point is £750 to £1500. It’s not so much about the money but about not Messing up the house with chemical injections or bad damp solutions that will be ongoing. House needs decorated etc. but we’re looking to create a safe & warm family home rather than something that looks like in a magazine finish wise so it suits us and we got a great area/space for the price.

I’ve been told not to do chemical injections
To do chemical injections
Not to do french drain as no where for water to go
To do ftench drain as arco drain won’t work with left/right camber and french drain will drain under driveway as there is a camber away from house.
To remove all my skirting immediately
To let my skirting dry out and then replaster & replace damaged in bay and leave the wood.
To flat render the whole bottom front outside (currently painted bricks going to pebble dash.)
To do arco but have a second channel to make the water flow in the right direction.
That the two metal down pipes need immediate replacing
That they are fine and if I do the bathroom extension in a few years I should do then.

Everyone will fix our misaligned drain. Only one company also does guttering cleaning. There’s a crack in the mortar at the side that seems to sit out with everyone’s quotes at the moment.

Trade 1: £750

• clean guttering and sure up leak at end cap
• dig out square around air brick using slope to get water away.
• seal up edge of driveway and wall with triangle of cement (?)
• come back in two months after it’s dried out and re plaster in front room.

Trade 2: £1350
-arco drain along front

• seal up edge around with plastic triangle.

Trade 3: ??
-arco drain but also a drainage channel as this guy took more measurements and thinks that it will have to left rather than right and therefore need a second run off channel to get the water away

Trade 3: ??
French drain
Arco drain on straight bit
Fix mortar by making crack bigger & filling in

Trade 4: £1500
Reseal the front with smooth render 1.2m & Waterproof it
Damp injections
Remove all skirting along hall (original and screwed in apparently - going to be hard to replicate.)
Replaster bay (lots of provisions in this pit)

Any advice would be well received!!!

Tempted to do small to start with and see if that dries it out and then next year can do more. We’ve got money to sink into the house but no rush for everything to be completed -just safe for dog & 2 years till kid.

Dehumidifier has a humidistat so I have both. Also got that because the damp surveyor said I had to tumble dry or line dry all my clothes forever and I own a lot of cashmere that I wear in winter (I’m basically a giant jumper) so a dehumidifier is a long term solution for that!

Okay I had a very similar problem in a Victorian House

Driveway had blocked vents and over the damp course, damp course should have 150cm above ground for rain bounce!

So yes you need a french drain to run the water off the bay

Damp lives in plaster so when that's finished take off damp plaster and treat and the plaster

Another one reading the whole thread with interest

Have a bit of wall! Floorboards are screwed down but they feel firm and read dry with the damp meter.

Going to do the plaster first because it was so much fun! Seriously! I am having the best time.

Screws are easy to take out.

It will be interesting to see if the void is damp, and if there is rubble under the floor.

Is that actually plaster? It looks like it might be a cement render with a plaster skim.

This is so interesting I’m hoping to complete in the next few weeks and I too have a damp problem and so I’m going to be taking tips from you.

It could be.. there are definitely two layers. should I be taking off the cement? This was the dampest bit so it came away like cake.

I had a £350k mortgage retention for damp, quotes for up to £60k for damp treatment. Paid an expert £800 to examine it, retention was reduced to £20k and cost to deal with it was about £7k, mostly to do with render, roof repair and drains.

If they are giving you "free advice" it isnt free.

@purpletrees16

It could be.. there are definitely two layers. should I be taking off the cement? This was the dampest bit so it came away like cake.

yes, cut it away back to the brick. You may have found layers intended to hide damp.

such attempts don't really work, you have to find the source of water and repair it.

The correct tool is a bolster and a club hammer, but you can also use a spade to strip off large areas of plaster, like a giant scraper. Try not to damage the brickwork or mortar. You will notice when you have got past the damp bricks, that the dry ones look and feel different.

p.s.

you can also smell damp plaster, damp brick, damp concrete, and damp wood. See if you can train your snout to tell the difference. Dry material smells different (probably just the dust).

mushroom smells are more serious.

sorry to de rail. we have penetrating damp one corners of 2 bedrooms. The roof probably needs replacing as it's a period property with original roof and we know the membrane is in bad condition. however, we are not in a position to replace it for a few years. my question is how bad is it to just leave it? will it mean more damage to the walls? is there a fix in between? thanks

@deathbollywood

you really ought to start a new thread, there is so much detail on here that your (different) problem will add confusion.

Post some pics when you do, please.

It does smell slightly of fresh earth when you do it but haven’t sniffed the plaster due to masks. I am being careful with bricks. Luckily it’s pretty separated.

Yes - picked up a bolster and hammer set From tool station for £15. Also have gloves and a properly rated mask and eye protection... and rubble sacks! Using a brush to get the remains of the render off after the bolstering. It seems to come off in two goes. Have also got a better spade for the trench (and any future gardening) so I will update on that too but that will be the weekend.

Dehumidifier has sucked out 3.5l so far!

If this works then we’ll think about the hallway. It’s less damp and is used so I I can’t tape a dust sheet and just leave the room unused.

Our retention was only £3k... damp survey confirmed it’s just at the front of the house and the hallway is technically “at risk of damp” rather than damp.

We have had a look through the air brick and it looks clear.

Found out why one side may be damp despite ground outside being dry: a crack?

Also under the floor looks ok though there is pipe lagging lying around.

Pics

the crack appears to be a vertical one, about where the wall of the bay meets the house wall.

This might be where the bay had a foundation that was added later, or not as deep, as the main house. If it has not got any bigger in the last 50 years, it is not very worrying. Sometimes adventurous bays get the urge to travel, and move away from the house.

However, if it is close to a leaking pipe or drain, it might indicate that the ground beneath has been eroded. Also, look at the radiator pipes for any signs of leaks.

Under your floorboards the surface looks like it is concrete, which is very satisfactory, and I do not see piles or rubble or organic material such as wood or woollen lagging. I like to sweep out these voids but this may be excessive. if you have a builder's canister vac (not a domestic vac) it is good for cleaning up grit and dirt.

Some of the brickwork under there looks very wet.

Can you see a slate dpc? It will probably be just below the wooden joists.

look at the ends of the joists where they touch the walls to see if they have been damp. You might find there is a low wall built just inside the house wall for the joists to stand on, this is intended to protect them from damp, as long as the cavity between is not filled with builders rubbish (it often is).

If the airbricks are working there should be a constant slight air current in the void.

An inch gap protects the joists from the walls only rubble is rubble I am creating. Will be extra careful to make sure gap remains. Joints feel not damp at all & no damage e.g can rub them pretty hard. Damp meter reads low as well

This side is completely dry outside down to 15cm and is protected by the lip of the house from the guttering. There was no sign of damage on the plaster - not even a hairline crack and the plasterwork is definitely quite old.

If you zoom in on the air brick you can see the dpc as a black line above it.

Will see if we can notice the current now we’ve cleared out the brick. The front of the bay soil was damp but not sodden. Definitely got a lot of rain splatter though we could see it when we went out at the start of rain.

Guttering is the first thing we can fix just organising the time to do it. Then we dry stuff out and wait.

The bottom stuff along the bay came off in my hands no bolster needed... suffice to say it is pretty damp.