How will I i know that damp has been fixed?

[glamourousindierockandroll]

Since we moved in, we've had issues with mouldly patches and awful condensation on the windows in cold weather. Main areas are external living room wall, top of the landing and our bedroom. Finally getting the roof done in January along with the gutters, flashing including on the flatroof bay window.

My question is about how to deal with the damage already done internally. As a total amateur, i'm hypothesising that I can leave things to dry out over spring and summer, treat with mould sprays and redecorate then just wait and see if anything the problem keeps happening? Does this sound right or am I missing a step?

Hi, i had a similar thing happen to me with the damp and mould.. i was thinking of leaving it until summer but then realised it could be very unhealthy for both me and my son to be living with damp and mould (even though its mainly around the windows and the corner of the ceiling of one of my bedrooms) so i got my husband to use a mould spray and get rid of for now just to be on the safe side. Hopefully if it stays away until spring we can paint over those areas with an anti mould paint. Better to be on the safe side x

How long ago did you have the work done and have you noticed an improvement straightaway?

I guess i'm just wondering whether if the house is already damp, will that take a while to calm down and leave me wondering if it's being caused by something else?

I have a similar issue. I think if you fix the source of the damp (which I’m hoping to do in early Jan - roofer booked in), the next stage is to let the internal surfaces dry out (stripping off any affected wallpaper / paint beforehand). And then I read something about brushing, rather than wiping, any salts that come through the bricks as they dry out. And then after six months-ish you can repaint / replaster if needed. I think you could take off any mould straightaway with bleach etc, but shouldn’t repaint until brickwork is dried out.

It might depend on type and age of house though - this is a Victorian terrace with porous bricks.

I had it done about a month ago, the mould hasnt come back yet. I also bought a few of those small moisture absorbers that use those refills. The devices only cost around £6 each from wilko and placed then in the windows and they help massively and there is no longer the smell of any damp in any of the rooms.
If you leave the house in this weather without addressing the damp problem then it will get really bad because of the cold season.
I did that last winter (waiting for the damp to dry once the eeather gets better) and thought it had dried everything up in the summer but as soon as the cold weather began, the mould started coming out of nowhere

That sounds positive. I'll definitely give it a good clean but it does sound like I should see an improvement in the problem quite quickly which is encouraging. I wouldn't want to waste even
more time and money until I know that i've sorted the source of the damp.

I don’t see how fixing the roof will help a damp problem to be honest. It’s two different things.
Is it a solid wall? Is the pointing in good order?
A lot of the old houses you see with a non original rendered wall are often because of damp caused by driving rain (as well as ‘the fashion’).
If it is solid, you could consider fitting insulated plasterboard along the external wall. It’s an involved job though.
Have you taken usual damp precautions like heating, ventilation, dehumidifier etc?

The damp in the bedroom and landing is almost certainly because of the roof. It's in terrible condition. You can see the water marks on the walls when we have driving rain. The gutters are in poor order with a bad connection to next door's and also need sorting.

I do have the windows open every day and keep the one in our bedroom ajar overnight.

I'm sure the pointing on the bay window could be looked at as well, but you can hear the gutter on there dripping so that's what we're sorting first.

Depends on lots of things but we got the roof and guttering fixed and the difference was immediate in terms of no longer seeing actual water coming through the walls.

Drying out has taken longer, if it’s summer it’ll be easier but we’ve had a dehumidifier going for two months in the bad bit and it’s just gotten reliably below 70.

Where do you think the water was coming from?

(Damp is water)

If it was only the roof, mending the roof will fix it. The house will take about a year to dry out.

If there are other sources, they also need to be remedied.

The most common source is wet washing draped inside the home

Followed by steamy showers with no effective extractor fan

And lack of ventilation.

Do not allow anybody who sells silicone injections into your home.