!!!!Damp Proof Course!!!!

[masona]

Most moisture in a building comes from inside, people cooking, washing and, worst of all BREATHING!!!

Okay lads,stop breathing for now

Oilman is right , it's known as " trap condensation " in the building trade.I've been to a job once regarding black moulds/damp walls behind a bed headboard and they have spent hundred's with treatment + dpc injected treatment.I've told them you have trap condensation and move the bed away from the wall 12" for better air-flow and they gave me a sarcastic laugh and couldn't see me out of the door quick enough Well, 2 weeks later they apologized to me as the problem now solved their damp problem.

Today building's are well insulated with double glazing etc and this is the biggest problem we're facing now.You can't beat a open fire with draughty windows

 

[martin123]

Oilman, the only reason i was having the walls skimmed is im not keen on wallpaper.The origional walls had 4 layers of paper including woodchip and the last layer someone had papered a border then painted over it, looks crap when highligted by downlighters.

As for the walls, yes i think they are lime although quite crumbly in places.
how do you attach a photo onto the forum??

 

[oilman]

Masona found this which I think is brilliant. Repairing the wall using lime would almost certainly be better than a gypsum finish. Gypsum will probably crack if it is put on top of lime as the lime will move but the gypsum can't. You could probably do the repairs yourself, and if you chose to try it there are several places around which run one day courses. I was pleasantly surprised when I went on one. Lime is readily available and you would only be working with a fine sand for the finish. You can do it, as long as you DON'T B&Q it.

 

[martin123]

Hi, Bit of an update really.

I have again contacted the damp company that originally did the work before we moved in.After speaking to there surveyor ,who was more helpful than the last person i spoke to, was told that when the DPC was done the last owners didnt want the walls reskimmed inside as they had just decorated.He assures me the DPC is ok and other companys are picking up readings from the old plaster.He did warn the old owners this would happen and strongly advised replastering.

If i or the company hack off the plaster he will treat the walls with a special mix(cant remember what) and reskim the walls and issue me with another guarantee from the date of skimming.

He's coming round on saturday to give me a quote.Now does this sound right or is it just some more bull**** in the world of Damproofing

 

[Scoby_Beasley]

Sounds to me he thinks you're orange instead of green and is taking the pith.

 

[martin123]

Yeah, but look at it this way.I could get the walls plastered using lime so its able to breath, leave the damp course as it is and redecorate
But when we go to sell the house and if damp is picked up in a survey the value of the property drops.

At least this way i get the walls replastered, possibly using lime, and a new guarantee(it may be worthless it may not be,its a gamble im going to have to take)I cant see i have any other option.

There must be thousands of homes in the UK that origionally didnt have a DPC but have had one injected and everything is fine.

 

[masona]

He assures me the DPC is ok

So why can't they tell you where the damp coming from ?

he will treat the walls with a special mix(cant remember what) and reskim the walls and issue me with another guarantee

This special mix is propably a sealer barrier to prevent damp going to your new plaster,well that them sorted What about the damp still behind the so called special mix The guarantee is worthless unless the small print say leave all doors and windows open and a few roof tiles off with the central heating on full for 365 days

Try and tell us the best you can,where is this damp? how high ? on the outside walls ? on one walls ? soaking wet ? floor screed or wooden flooring and underneath the bottom of the flooring what do you see mud or concrete oversite ? what ground level outside or is the property on the hill ? Tell us as much as you can doesn't matter how useless the information is and we'll see if we can help you.

 

[martin123]

Ive bought a damp meter(only a cheap one but it gives me an idea where it is) it picks up damp by a tone,the louder the more damp.

Victorian house built 1887

You cant feel or really see damp anywhere except hallway where wall seems cold 500mm adjacent from radiator, meter picks it up on outside walls (semi detached) to a max height of 1metre in various places throughout downstairs and on wall that divides front/dining room.

The house the other side is seperated by a passage way 1 metre wide and quite sheltered from rain

The house is in an area with a history of subsidence due to clay sub soil.
Drainage from gutters goes straight into the ground at rear of house with no manhole(not sure if grassed over or missing)

Floors are solid to the rear of house(bathroom and kitchen) and have a blue plastic sheet under screed as i can see it in certain places behind skirting.front room and dining room have floorboards with a gap of about 1 metre underneath then just soil(dry to the touch) joists are supported by bricks that are layed allowing airflow from front airbrick to rear airbrick.

DPC holes are drilled 2 courses above outside ground level and directly behind skirting inside,DPC holes line up through wall as ive drilled a pilot through course to check.

Behind all the skirting ive taken off there is a different kind of plaster that the skirting was fixed to that feels very damp and makes the meter shriek.

Under stairs has some white fluffy residue on the bottom of the wall and a very small patches in hallway which again has a solid original tiled floor.

The house used to be rented out to 4 students and has fire doors everywhere with closers but have been left open while weve been here to get rid of musky smell.It had been empty for 3 months

Virtually all houses in street have DPC holes and two people ive spoke to have no signs of damp

Front room walls are a lime and i think the dining room is but the wallpapers still on.

Bathroom has 3 external walls one of which is battened then plasterboard, ive cut a hole in plasterboard 500mm from floor and put meter on bare brickwork and it seems totally dry.

i have even put meter on outside walls that seem sheltered from the weather and they seem fairly dry.

thats about it, thanks

 

[oilman]

Have a look here and particularly French drains.

There must be thousands of homes in the UK that origionally didnt have a DPC but have had one injected and everything is fine.

Everything probably was fine before the dpc was injected anyway.

I don't like seeing people ripped off because they've been told they've got "rising damp" when it will always be something else. If you've got, as I read it, damp on a dividing wall, do you have any underfloor water pipes? If these leak there is a source of damp.[/b]

 

[masona]

The house is in an area with a history of subsidence due to clay sub soil.

Virtually all houses in street have DPC holes

This is interesting,you probably live in water spring area without knowing it.

Agreed with oilman regarding french drains,you might be better off getting advice from drainage experts............

 

[martin123]

mmmmmmmm....... anyone want to buy a house, lovely area,bags of character will part exchange for a caravan.

cheers for the replys, i'm looking into it.

 

[oilman]

Done. I'll give you £5k plus 14ft van. (would be worth more if it wasn't for DPC holes. ho hum.)