Damp Help

[Bubsymumof1]

Looking for some advice as myself and husband are pretty clueless.

1930s semi in Wales with a lot of heavy, driving rain.

Damp on one side of the house.

In the living room (first pic to show walls blistering and we do get black damp spots coming in)
In the main bedroom (second and third pic)which is directly above the living room. Black damp and wet patches around bottom and side of bay window, along with wet patches, white fluffy bits coming through where old chimney is (no longer in use).
Also blistering, flaky paint damage around front door (which is on the side of house).

We have been advised old cavity insulation needs to come out as getting wet and it has clumped together in places and fallen to bottom of cavity wall.

Gutters checked, no damage or blockages.

Cracks to exterior render which I have been told are in line with where wall ties would be.

Where do we start? Has anyone had similar issues and what resolved it?

Here is front door area

Similar thread recently which contains a lot of relevant information...
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/4155259-Damp-help-I-ve-had-5-different-tradespeople-tell-me-5-different-things

Thank you 😊

what is on the other side of the wall(s)?

CWI does nor clump and fall like that unless water is running into the cavity, so there is probably entry of water from a gutter, roof, or around a window. Less often from a bathroom.

Please show the whole external wall, from roof to ground, especially any pipes, drains or bays.

Sorry @PigletJohn only seeing this now.

Exterior in a real sorry state.

Our thought was remove CVI then re render...possibly wall ties too but now I'm really looking at everything unsure if we need to do something about the ground itself?

More pics of exterior and old chimney where the damp is very bad in upstairs bedroom

The very sorry Bay area 😢

We had gutters checked and cleaned yesterday and were told they were in good shape and no damage, they were doing what they should.

Bathroom is to rear of house away from these walls.

The gutter man said some roof slates had slipped and were resting on the gutter, we had that repaired yesterday. The roofer who repaired said the roof will need doing in next year, there is no felt? But he advised slates are doing their job and should not cause any issues, will need to check again though if we get another bad storm (think they got loose in the last one) but this damp has been getting steadily worse over last year.

Thanks for jumping in @PigletJohn I was hoping you would! 😊

@Bubsymumof1

Here is front door area

in this pic, water is clearly running down from above. This might be from a defect between the doorframe and the wall, or from something higher.

@Bubsymumof1

The very sorry Bay area 😢

in this pic, there is a strong mark on the corner of the wall. Difficult to believe it is not caused by water running out of the gutter, typically a loose joint.

the chomney looks like it has been taken down and capped. Is it ventilated? There should be an airbrick at each old fireplace, and an opening at the top for air to escape (there will be two flues in the stack). If the fireplaces have been bricked up builders may have left a pile of rubble in the cavity, which tends to hold damp. This is usually seen on the inside where the fireplace used to be.

The render looks like it may have a sprayed plastic coating. I have seen a case where a defect allowed water to enter and get behind the coating. As it cannot escape, it formed a loose bubble and soaked through the wall. Frost causes the water to push more of the coating away and increase the gap size.

Try to lay your hands on a pair of binoculars and an umbrella. On a rainy day, look at the outside walls (especially near the gutters) for any water dripping, spilling, leaking or running down the walls.

Water can escape from the joints in a downpipe, or through holes, usually at the back where they have rusted. Especially if there is a blockage preventing water gushing out at the bottom.

Your lower bay window appears to have a small canopy. This might have had a lead cover and flashing. it may have come loose enabling water to get into the wall at the join. It lasts around 50 years. Leadwork is now a specialist trade but your roofer may know someone who does it. Ask them to look at the top of the chimney, and how it abuts the roof tiles and the wall, as well.

This is all very helpful thank you!

We are due rain this afternoon and I have binoculars 😬 so will spend some time today watching the outside to see what I can find.

Next step...get a recommended builder around to check flashing on bay and chimney.

With the spray coating...is it a case that it would all need to be removed? Therefore full removal and re render? Or possibly just repair?

Not very clear in photos but there are quite a few horizontal cracks, roughly around a metre so inbetween in each one...could this be something to do with wall ties?