Damp patch on wall. Roof work hasn't helped

[WaterLeakWoes]

I live in a Victorian, 2 bed end of terrace without a loft conversion, so the loft is just used for storage. In my bedroom there is a big damp patch on the wall on the gable end side. A bit near the ceiling but also big patches lower down above bed level.
I've had two roofers out doing various work but it's made no difference at all. They say the roof is in good order and they've done all they can. It's getting worse if anything with all the rain we've had. It gets worse when it rains and dries out when we have a dry patch of weather. Rain definitely getting in somehow
What can I do next please?

Agree it's clean water coming in

A bit of damp goes into the other bedroom but that's not very visible due to sealant used

in the loft, you will probably find the flues from the front and back rooms join together in an inverted "Y" shape. The damp patch may be below part of the stack going through the roof, and there may be water marks. Water tends to leave white powdery or cystalline deposits as it dissolves lime out of the wall.

The roofer looked in the loft and said he could see daylight and where water had run down. He put further lead flashing but it didn't help. I looked up there during heavy rain but couldn't see water coming in (although might have missed it

I'm not sure what the flashing was done with. I'll try and look on the invoice.

has the chimneybreast actually been removed? or just bricked up?

try to borrow a pair of binoculars from a retired seafarer or a birdwatcher. Very useful for looking at roofs and chimneys.

It says 'Middle chimney need lead flashings re do, Step flashing on the sides and new front aprons and saddle, re use lead where possible. Stormdry to finish" They've done more than that though as when that didn't work they replaced another bit of flashing and also redid the cement where the brick of the chimney stack meets the tube shaped chimney pots

@PigletJohn

has the chimneybreast actually been removed? or just bricked up?

I don't know. Sorry.

@PigletJohn

try to borrow a pair of binoculars from a retired seafarer or a birdwatcher. Very useful for looking at roofs and chimneys.

I've got close up photos from the roofer but don't like to post them online

Just to mention again there was damp coming through into the other bedroom too on the other side of the dividing wall, but I didn't take a photo as you can't see much due to me painting it in sealant pant a couple of years ago. That started in the middle corner and spread downwards too

**I've been looking at this picture of the damp near the ceiling.

I think the water is running down the inside face of the wall in the loft.

you should be able to see something up there.

I would be thinking about the junction of the chimneystack with the roofing. Lead flashing, correctly applied, ought to fix this but there may be some associated fault.**

I'm not sure if I replied to this but the flashing has been replaced twice now

I've got close up photos from the roofer but don't like to post them online
Why don't you send them to @PigletJohn as a direct message if they don't mind?

@FTEngineerM

Obviously I don’t think anyone can properly diagnose on the internet so it’s good you have people coming over but we had a similar issue which it maybe be worth thinking about.

Built in 1901 solid stone and then someone had cement rendered the gable end, blocked up all the fireplaces (there were 4) and then plaster boarded on top. Cement is good, too good for old houses. Old houses need to breathe that’s why they use lime instead.

We hacked off the cement render and put lime back on, then used vent bricks on the old blocked up fire places so that there was some airflow.

It’s gone now, the walls would be saturated on a rainy day and it drove us mad for years. We kept thinking it must be rain pouring in but it was actually just a wall at peak saturation and then the humidity in the chimney would be sucked into the salt deposits and just condense and show up as damp.

If you do get a damp specialist in I’d recommend one specifically for old buildings, there is one but they charge >£1k for an in person survey or less if done over video call. To be honest I wish we’d done that at the start rather than just spend what turned out to be thousands on things that didn’t fix it.

Just rereading and not sure if I replied to this. Thank you. It does seem like a possibility

Did you find the problem? We’re having a very similar issue and feeling as though we’ve worked our way through the possibilities!