Damp block?

[Merlin5]

Last week I had my whole kitchen taken back to the brickwork, sand and cemented, bonded and plastered. Nothing painted yet. Where part of an old chimney breast on the inside wall was removed and old artex and plaster taken back to the bricks, it exposed a vertical copper pipe which feeds cold water to the flat above me. The new plasterwork in front of the pipe is now showing what appears to be signs of degradation right along the line of the pipe due to cold. It's not leaking, just cold. The wall actually feels colder if I run my hand along the line of the pipe which is visible in my pictures, but either side of it, the plaster isn't cold. Near the bottom of the wall (new skirting boards have not been done yet) you can see dark patches. The upper dark patch (which I've done a close up of) is rough to the touch compared to the rest of the plasterwork. What can I do to stop it getting worse?, assuming this isn't still plasterwork drying out, which I don't think it is. Damp block was mentioned to me, would coating the plaster with that help to seal it, or any other product? I'd rather not paint the walls till it's fixed. Central heating has just been installed in my flat and I've kept the kitchen rad on pretty much 24/7. Also, there is a new 6" extractor fan installed though not operational for a couple more days or so. Presumably the fan plus central heating should help to minimise cold damage. The last picture isn't as bad as it looks, it's a patch of white filler for some plaster that chipped, and some other stuff stuck to the plaster.

 

[keyplayer]

It looks alright to me - should just paint over all right if it's not actually damp. Maybe it's condensation forming from the roomside on the coldest part of the wall. However, you shouldn't bury copper piping directly in sand/cement or gypsum plaster. It reacts and leads to leaks. Although I'm not sure if that's what you've done.

 

[Merlin5]

I appreciate your reply, keyplayer. Well tbh, I'm kind of surprised the builder didn't consider lagging/insulating the pipe from condensation. Although according to one of the guys here who was working on it, apparently it would have been difficult to actually get insulation around it for some reason. Having asked him if the pipe was buried behind the sand and cement or just the plaster, I understand that the pipe is pretty much directly behind the plaster, which I know isn't clever. I'm a bit upset tbh as I've just spent a lot of money getting rid of penetrating damp in the kitchen. You might be right, perhaps it's nothing to worry about. But for peace of mind, can I do something to improve it or should I not worry?

 

[kingandy2nd]

Buried pipes should be covered in Denso tape to stop contact between the pipe and the wall covering.

If this has not been done, you are opening yourself up to potential problems in the future because plaster/cement can corrode the pipe.

Are kitchen cabinets or other fittings (tiles, etc) going on this wall? If so, it’s going to be a lot more difficult to spot or repair a leak in the future.

 

[Merlin5]

Does Denso tape guarantee no condensation? No, the new kitchen, currently being fitted as I type, is not covering that part of the wall so at least I can keep my eye on it. That pipe has been there over 30 years covered by plaster, so it seems to have evaded corrosion so far. It's too late to take off the plaster now, I'll have to live with it and keep my eye on it for the next few months. At some later stage I could get it redone if need be. So, is there something I can coat the plaster with to strengthen it against condensation?

 

[kingandy2nd]

I’m no pro, but I don’t think it’s condensation there. Depending on when last week the wall was rendered/plastered it may well still just be drying.

Denso won’t stop condensation, but it protects the pipe and would have cost your builders/plasterers very little time or cost to have installed before they did the wall.

Fair enough the pipe has been covered for 30 years without issue, but if you turn that round you could always say that it’s already had 30 years corrosion! (Unless it had previously been covered with something…which I probably assume it was because otherwise it would have been a real pain to remove the old wall covering –and which might have damaged the pipe further in the process).

You could play the wait and see game, but by then your builders will be long gone and you will need to pay for the work to be done again.

 

[joe-90]

It's a ****e plaster job anyway, no wonder they don't give a fook how they deal with the pipe.

 

[Merlin5]

Well it's a general builder and his guys, jack of all trades. Yes I've spotted several things that could be better, but unless I paid top dollar for specialists in plumbing, tiling and plastering, I'm simply not going to get the best work. Having just spent over £20K on new double glazing, central heating installed, exterior work, and complete new bathroom and kitchen, I wouldn't have been able to afford any better quality workmanship. The work he's done seems pretty decent overall to be fair.

 

[joe-90]

I do all of those to high standard. Dunno why they can't.

 

[Merlin5]

I do all of those to high standard. Dunno why they can't.

I'm not quite sure why you think it's a bad plaster job anyway, especially from such a small area shown in the photo. The rest of the plasterwork they've done in the kitchen and bathroom to both sand and cement and to plasterboard looks fine to me. Perhaps your work would indeed be even better in all skills, but perhaps you'd charge more too or have more time to do it in. These guys have been here 3 weeks doing everything from scratch, ripping the whole bathroom and kitchen out, smashing out a rotten partition wall and building a new one, ceilings back to the joists and new plasterboard put up then skimmed, walls back to the bricks, sand and cement, bonding, skimmed, concrete floor chased for central heating pipes, new floor tiles down, wall tiles, same in bathroom, new kitchen units, new fuse box going in, new cabling, new power points, new appliances fitted, exterior work, etc. They're on a tight schedule too, there's an awful lot of work been done here. For better craftsmanship in all those areas I could easily have ended up paying a lot more, much more than I could ever afford.

 

[joe-90]

Well if you are happy with it.

All we can see is that they've bodged the pipe and can't plaster. The only way to be quick - is to bodge it, otherwise we'd all do it that way.

 

[Merlin5]

Seems this place is full of people who just criticise and say how they can do everything better. Great. But how about making a suggestion of how I can improve the situation which I've asked several times now and still got nothing.

 

[joe-90]

Sacking the caravan dwellers would be a good start.

 

[stevethespreader]

Seems this place is full of people who just criticise and say how they can do everything better.

thats not true thousands of people has been helped on this forum, some of what joe says is right the plastering job is not a great one and from the small area shown lots of blemishes can be seen, if that part is rougher then it hasent been troweled up properly the treatment for this will depend on how rough it is if its to rough it will show through the paint so it may need rubbing down and filling, it looks to me on one of the close ups that the second coat was put on when the 1st coat was too dry and it was put on thinly and then over troweled resulting in the rubbish speckeled finish if i was you i would just paint it with a mist coat see what it comes up like and then treat it accordingly, its too late to worry about if the pipes been lagged or not, just paint it and crack on

 

[kingandy2nd]

Some of us are trying to help mate

I can understand your challenges, and as someone who is also fiscally challenged, I appreciate your concerns.

At the same time, some of us (joe excluded) are not talking about the quality of you build, but the difference between doing something the right way and doing it the wrong way. Small things like correctly dealing with a buried pipe take next to no time and cost, and should be something that the customer can expect irrespective of the price paid.

I would be asking for your builders to rectify this error if I were you. However, if you’re happy with what has been done and don’t want to go down this route then fair enough.

I don’t think condensation should be an issued for you, it’s more likely to be the plaster drying (I did some plastering on Sunday and it was still damp last night). If the area continues to be damp more than a week after plastering (which is the minimum time you should leave it before decorating) then it might be a sign that the buried pipe has already been damaged.

My advice to you would be not to cover the area in damp proof paint, as this might hide any future leaks which ultimately would cause more damage to your property and the ones around it if the leak goes undetected.

All the best
Andy