Wet wall above previously repaired stopcock

[WetWallStress]

Last January I discovered that the stopcock for my house, which is under the floor in the hallway (just inside the front door) was leaking. I got a plumber from Homeserve in who quickly "crimped" something, and said it was an easy fix, all was sorted, and not to give it a second thought.

Now, eight months later, the wall above that area is wet to a height of several feet, and there is a strong smell of damp/wet that is very noticable when you come in through the front door. I've taken up the floorboard that gives access to the stopcock and the tap itself is now dry and no longer dripping... but the wall behind it is definitely wet and stinky.

Who would I need to look at this, please? There's no visible leak from the pipe now so I can't really call Homeserve again... although it does seem a bit of a coincidence that there's clearly some kind of slow water ingress in an area directly adjacent to the repair made in January.

Panicking a bit in case this starts to seep through to my neighbours!

Bumping my thread in case anyone can help.

I picture might help more 👍

Is the wall damper at the bottom than at the top ?

It is hard to say anything without pictures or inspection.

But it is possible that when your pipe was repaired it caused a leak further down the pipe - often in order to repair stuff you have to put it under a lot of stress as you reclamp it and this can cause other bits to break.

Where does the pipe go from the stopcock - towards the wet wall or away from it ?

Yes, the wall is damp at the bottom but not further up, and also the ground/earth under the floorboards is wet for as far as I can reach. When I lift the floorboard it smells damp, like an old cellar.

But... I've now had the Homeserve person in to check the pipes, and he says there is no leak. The water meter gives no reading at all when the taps are off, so it looks like the pipe and stopcock are not the problem after all. He had a look at my neighbours' water meters a few houses along in either direction, and no leaks there either.

I'm a bit stumped now, and don't know what sort of professional I'd need to consult next. Could this be rising damp? Would it appear so suddenly? I've had the floorboard up at various times over the years to turn the stopcock, and up until my mini (now fixed) leak earlier this year it's always been bone dry.

This is a party wall – no chimney breast – and is a metre or so inside the front door.

For what it's worth, here's a pic...