Does anyone know what this is?

[botswanasafarilovers]

Hi all!

I'm looking at properties and our budget is quite tight, I found a property. The property is in England incase thats important (kent to be more precise) and I noticed the property has two strange areas. One is the flooring is all curled and to me , I'm thinking this looks like water is getting into the property from under the wall? what are your thoughts?

The second is the picture in the top corner of the first floor bedroom. No clue what this is. I don't think it is discoloured from smoking because other parts of the property are fine...so could this be a second part of the house water is entering the property? or would the damage be different to how it looks?

Any opinions, appreciated. Please keep things constructive, thanks all

Looks like damp

Both look like damp. Are the rooms on top of each other? Check outside for leaky guttering or cracks in render. Is there a kitchen or bathroom on the other side of the wall downstairs? Could be leaking bath or sink? What kind of flooring is it?

What’s on the other side of that wall? Could it be a blocked gutter? Leaky downpipe? Might be the pointing needs sorting.

Damp. Check the gutters/pointing on the outside.

All looks like water ingress, yes.

Looks like damp. It also looks like cheap vinyl flooring, rolling back the corner to look underneath might reveal more of the problem. Leaking guttering/downpipes is a common (and easily fixed) cause of damp. Worth checking if that might be the case as it may then be not as big a problem as you might think.

I think you need to get professional advice, OP. It does look like water ingress but it could be old damage or it could be ongoing. The floor could be a burst radiator pipe or something.

With issues like this they can look really terrible but be quite easily and economically fixed if the problem can be identified - or the complete opposite: it looks like a simple repair but as you start to strip away the damage you find there’s a bigger problem going on behind it that could require extensive remedial work.

Are they both first floor? That could imply issues with guttering (easy to fix) or roof (potentially a hell of a lot more expensive). It looks the place is unoccupied but have you asked the vendor or agent if they know the cause?

And do you have a renovation budget or will you have to take the property as is? In which case you need to weigh up the pros and cons - incoming damp will likely lead to mould problems which can be dangerous.

Are those rooms on the same side of the house, is the crly flooring on the ground floor.id look outside and see if the gutters and drains are blocked or leaking. Is it a house. The yellow staining on the radiator looks like nicotine, does it wipe off. What did the agent say.

Classic penetrating damp

Hi everyone, so the otherside of the wall whereby the floor has curling floor boards is this:

Oh and sorry yes it's on the same side of the house. Both of these pictures. The flooring picture is ground floor, the corner picture is the floor above.

That open box looks pretty risky, it looks like it should have a door and nit tape. Can you get a picture of the sides of the house, all the way up, including gutters and downpipes. There's a drain on the pavement to the right, that would need inspecting in case the pipes are cracked. Was it advertised as needing work.,

Hi yeah i'm not sure what that box is but you're right, I would imagine it needs a door. It wasn't advertised as needing work, but rather just a lower than normal price for properties on that road.

@botswanasafarilovers you need to discount that one. The damp cannot be resolved and render/painted combo have compounded the problem. Also it’s end terrace, solid wall. Will be freezing.
The government are actively discussing EPC ratings for private housing. Along the lines of rented EPC ratings. They may bring in laws to force property owners to improve the insulation up to an EPC ‘C’ rating at the point of sale/rental contract renewal.
Sounds like crazy talk, but so is net zero, no more ICE cars and no more gas boilers.
These old houses are about to become a massive liability.

The box looks like the end of a bt phone cable which runs up the wall to that top bedroom. The overflow pipe may be running water and I can't see a gutter under the right hand side under the roof tiles.

The roof has a sag in it. Probably because someone has replaced the slate tiles with heavier concrete ones.

Is it a recent pic? The number of windows wide open also suggests a damp issue.
You need a good survey and a healthy pot of ££ for remedial actions with this house.
(I assume there is a front door somewhere!)

What's the material of the flooring? If it's fake wood sheet vinyl then it's maybe not been stuck down properly so it's rolling up at the edges..

OP. Did you take those exterior photos when you viewed? The multiple open windows suggest they are airing to get rid of the smell of damp in the property.

Not a lot of guttering or drainage visible.

Wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. You'll be throwing money at it.

First thing I'd investigate with the flooring one is whether the radiator is leaking.

I'd be more concerned that the house doesn't seem to have a front door :)