Hi - I bought a house a few months back which is a 3 bedroom detached built in the 1920s. I noticed a few weeks back that there are mildly damp patches inside upstairs in the four corners of the house (i.e not at each corner of the rooms, but the exterior corners). they are all located at floor level except the bathroom which originally had a chimney which has been removed - at this location, the protrusion of the remainder of the chimney into the top of the bathroom is damp. This protrusion tapers away into the wall at about 50cm below the bathroom ceiling.
Before we bought the house a lot of work was done including a new damp proof course and the roof was rebuilt using the existing slate tiles 2 years ago. I've yet to check if there is any outstanding warranty on the work that was done.
There appears to be no vents on the exterior of the house at all (I'll double check tonight), but the survey we had done say that the walls are only 230mm thick, which suggests that the main house may be of solid construction. The house is rendered at the front and rear, but bare brick to the sides. The roof is pitched on all four sides meeting at the top (see photo).
The house is extended downstairs only.
As the damp isn't major, I assume it was either largely hidden by recent decorating by the previous owners, or alternatively, introduced when the roof was rebuilt. Incidentally, the mid range survey we had done during the purchase didn't discover this damp. Alternatively, could this just be condensations? The bathroom is the worst and I think this is an isssue with moisture in the old chimney section, but the others could be condensation....?
Has anyone come across this before? I'm a civil engineer myself, but don't specialise in this area (I work in drainage/water), but I can't figure out what is happening.
Any info or help in finding out why this is happening would be very gratefully received.
Many thanks.
Mike
Before we bought the house a lot of work was done including a new damp proof course and the roof was rebuilt using the existing slate tiles 2 years ago. I've yet to check if there is any outstanding warranty on the work that was done.
There appears to be no vents on the exterior of the house at all (I'll double check tonight), but the survey we had done say that the walls are only 230mm thick, which suggests that the main house may be of solid construction. The house is rendered at the front and rear, but bare brick to the sides. The roof is pitched on all four sides meeting at the top (see photo).
The house is extended downstairs only.
As the damp isn't major, I assume it was either largely hidden by recent decorating by the previous owners, or alternatively, introduced when the roof was rebuilt. Incidentally, the mid range survey we had done during the purchase didn't discover this damp. Alternatively, could this just be condensations? The bathroom is the worst and I think this is an isssue with moisture in the old chimney section, but the others could be condensation....?
Has anyone come across this before? I'm a civil engineer myself, but don't specialise in this area (I work in drainage/water), but I can't figure out what is happening.
Any info or help in finding out why this is happening would be very gratefully received.
Many thanks.
Mike
