Damp survey?

[Fispi]

Our survey prior to buying (late 40's Red brick ex council house) 3 years ago advised having a damp survey due to high damp readings in the lounge and kitchen. We moved in, had a baby a few months later, put central heating in after 18 months to replace storage heaters and are now looking at what we do next.

The previous owners had done very little in nearly 40 years. There was and still is a tide line on the woodchip a foot high around the lounge. It's worst on the chimney breast which does have a vent. It is a working chimney as next door have a log burner. The floor is solid (I assume concrete) with red tiles under the carpet so no leaking pipes.

I have cleared the soil from close to the air bricks and removed shrubs from in front of the lounge bay window. There is a visible damp proof course. No leaking guttering or pipes that I can see.

I don't use the corner cupboards in the kitchen as everything gets mouldy.

The house is much drier now after having central heating installed. We fixed a leaking pipe in the kitchen which has dried out one wall. The other kitchen wall backs onto the bathroom. We have installed an extractor fan in the bathroom. All windows have vents open or are locked slightly open.

So to get to the question...do we need a damp survey? We are now going to start renovating the house properly and want to start with the damp but I have read about injectable damp proof courses being pointless and damp surveyors all trying to flog them. Any advice?

most damp is actually just condensation....injection is usually a con and dont work...seems you have done the right things...maybe run a dehumidifier for a bit and see how things are...?

I'd strip the paper off the walls back to plaster, and repaint with a breathable paint- claypaint was what our specialist damp surveyor recommended. The tide mark didn't return.

If you are planning a lot of work, I'd get a good survey- from a specialist surveyor, [not from a damp-proofing firm, they will just tell you a load of expensive work needs doing which a) doesn't, and b) will be bad for the house.] Worth a read of Heritage House's website too, esp, w.r.t. 'damp meters'.

Sounds like you're doing exactly what ours told us to do, clearing vents, removing shrubs against the walls, checking gutters.

PigletJohn would probably suggest having the drains checked, as on older houses they often have small leaks which can cause problems.

We were also advised not to keep the house too hot, or have it warm in the day and cold at night, but to keep it at a constant moderate temperature, about 18 degrees. And if that wasn't warm enough for us, to just heat the room we were in as long as we were in it. Apparently cycling the house through hot and cold each day isn't great. Though our house is older than yours, of course.
As the house dried out, the same actual temp felt a lot warmer (just as he said it would).
Make sure all shower/kitchen extractors are working well- our shower one wasn't really up to the job, and the ancient kitchen cooker hood at full blast was doing nothing at all. Showers generate a huge amount of damp.
Kitchen cupboards- well, they may just have got too saturated to dry out properly, and need replacing. I was recommended by a lady who is a landlord to use the Dettol spray for getting rid of mold on walls, she reckoned that provided you have solved the cause, this gets rid of any residue. ( though I'd not use it in a food cupboard). We only had one patch of mold under the paper, but it dealt with that instantly and it has never come back.
Don't have walls tanked. The charlatans from a damp-proofing company who did the damp survey on the house before we bought it said the whole house needed it. The REAL surveyor said, absolutely not. And the only bit of wall he found that was actually damp was the one someone had done some feeble waterproofing on the plaster, when we took that off, it dried out and no problems since. Tanking may be suitable for where you have outer ground that's above DPC level, because you're on a slope or whatever. But a normal house ought not to need it.

Thank you both. I have been reading the Heritage House website, lots of useful information. Thanks for the paint recommendation @BlueMongoose I'm pretty sure the drains are OK as someone else on the street was renovating and the builders came round to check the drains as there was a blockage which they sorted.

I'll start looking for a good surveyor then we can get on with stripping it back

I found that the more the house dried out, the harder it was to strip the wallpaper!
We used Earthborn paint. Goes on like a dream, just about no smell at all; lower coverage per litre than bog standard paints, but greater opacity means you need fewer coats. But do get sample pots- due to what it's made of, the light the room gets can affect the colour an awful lot. Colour is my trade, and with bog standard emulsions I generally get my choices right first time, no bother, but I got my choices with the claypaint wrong a few times with one room (a harsh north light, which I had in there, tends to make the colours a lot more bluey/yellowy than it would with normal paint) , so the sample pots were well worth getting as the paint is expensive.
I find claypaint isn't as durable as matt emulsion, but is easier to patch if damaged. I'm using modern washable paint in the kitchen , but in there, it is (or will be, if the plasterer turns up next week) plasterboard with battening behind, so not lime plaster direct to the brick as it is elsewhere.
Have fun, and I'm sure you'll get a lot of satisfaction from how much you are improving the house. Good for you!

Ah that's interesting about the light affecting the colours as I've been thinking alot about that with how we rejig the kitchen (currently 4 very tiny spaces, 3 of them very dark). Thank you! It will never be a really beautiful house (too boxy) but I think it can be a lovely home.

Have you got a water meter?

Damp adjacent to a bathroom or kitchen is most likely a leak.

Please post photos of the wall with the damp patch, all the way from the ground to the roof, and including any nearby gutters, pipes and drains.

I agree wit @BlueMongoose about the steps / actions to do

I think you’ve done everything you can but the damp in kitchen cupboard is interesting. It backs onto the bathroom. How is the tiling/grout and sealant in there? Issue with this can cause water seeping through. Have you cleaned those cupboards with mould killing cleaners?

In the first house we bought, survey reported damp and house was reduced to allow for remediation. We had leaded light windows and tonnes of condensation. After hearing house consistently, plus using condensation traps, no more issues. Sold the house after a few years and nothing on the survey about damp.

We once started having damp in a bedroom in current house (au pair’s room) - turned out to be combination of her turning off her radiator at night as well as lots of ironing without ventilation (she took in ironing to earn extra money).

Hi @PigletJohn I think we do have a water meter. There's a small metal cover at the end of the drive that the water company come to look at occasionally.

@LongTimeMammaBear the sealant in the bathroom has been redone around the bath but it's a bit stable door and bolted horse. We installed the extractor fan but it's had years of getting really wet. The plaster is crumbling and the panel on the side of the bath has swollen and warped.

Have a look at the meter. The pit might be full of rainwater that you can ladle out. Take a torch and a rag. The end of an old spoon might lift the lid.

They vary with age and district, but the ones I know have a glass window. In the middle is an air bubble. It spins when water is passing through. So if there is a leak it never stops. You might have a blue or black handle to turn it off.