Damp

[slacker]

OK here goes,
background:
I have a terrace house - front and back knocked though - kitchen extension all done before I moved in [probably 30+ years ago]
Front of the house has floor boards , back seems to be a solid concrete floor, kitchen is concrete floor. rotten window frames, no sign of water leaking from gutters. no sign of air bricks in the back half of the house - there are some in the front.
central heating fitted -= though not brilliant , old gas fires in fire places [front and back - not used]
kitchen floor is lower than the back room
Artex over everything.

Problem:
Damp, in alcoves round the fire place on the back wall and in the kitchen - plaster is decaying from the walls in lumps in the kitchen and flaking like crazy in the back room. - images can be supplied on request.
I don't have mildew or mould but the plaster is crumbling [ badly]

Id like the artex removed and to have flat walls. [luxury] - but curing the damp would be the first thing

suggestings on where to start or anything would help.

 

[JohnD]

start by ventilating it to dry it out

tightly tape a piece of clear plastic to any damp walls to see if it is condensation

look for leaks in roof, drains, water pipes, baths, radiators, boiler, disused backboilers, basins and including water main laid under solid floor, also where external drainpipes have water gushing out against the wall

look for flashing failures around bays and lean-tos

Look under ground floors to see if there is bare wet earth. If you crawl about down there you may find signs of leaks.

look for DPC, and, if present, see if it has been bridged inside or out by paths, flowerbeds, solid floors

read //www.diynot.com/wiki/building:condensation_in_houses

 

[slacker]

Thanks, will check it out,

the back room, where most of the damp is, has a solid concrete floor - possibly was a filled in cellar ? -