Exterior inside wall treated for rising damp. Scammed? 12 months until decorate?

[WillShatsWig]

Hi all,

We're about to have our sitting room wall treated for rising damp.
From doorway in hall, to window bay in sitting room.

The builder has sent an FAQ that states that, once they've finished, that we can apply some paint 4-weeks after, but shouldn't decorate for at least a year.

Is this correct?

We were looking to put the house up for sale in January.

 

[JohnD]

Are you having silicone injections or a repair?

What do you think was the source of the water? A leak? Broken drain? Raised soil level?

Have you repaired the cause?

Photos might be informative.

 

[WillShatsWig]

Hi,

Here are the pictures.

 

[JohnD]

Water is running down that wall from above.

Is there a bathroom up there? A chimney? A gutter? A roof leak? A pipe plastered into the wall? A bay window? A porch roof?

Did somebody tell you it was "rising damp?"

 

[WillShatsWig]

His report said the following:

Survey Report

Thank you for inviting ****** to carry out a damp survey on: ********
.
The above mentioned property is a terraced house constructed of random stone/brick masonry under a tiled roof.

Rising Damp

Accessible walls were tested with a hand held moisture metre and positive damp readings were noted in the walls and skirtingb oards. The dampness was varying in heights and obvious damage was noted to the internal decorative finish.

The reason for the dampness is due to moisture travelling from the ground floor walls by capillary action and causing the plaster workt o be affected by hydroscopic salts and these salts have the ability to absorb the moisture from the surrounding environment.

Recommendations:

To rectify the dampness it is recommended that the defective contaminated plaster is removed to a height of 1mtr and floor to ceiling where necessary and a silicone injection damp proof course is installed followed by the associated specialist re-plastering
incorporating a salt inhibitor and damp membrane system where necessary. The reason that re-plastering needs to be undertaken after ***** works is due to the existing internal plaster work being contaminated with hygroscopic salt and these salts have the abilityt o absorb the moisture from the surrounding environment.

 

[WillShatsWig]

Continued...

Re-plastering needs to be undertaken incorporating a salt inhibitor to
hold these salts back.

Treatment Area: Lounge

Building Work: *******

We to:
• Remove Skirting Boards and set aside for refitting by others or disposal.
• Remove defective plaster up to 1mtr and from floor to ceiling as necessary which is indicated on enclosed sketch plan.
• Drill and inject a silicone damp proof course.
• Re-plaster all walls incorporating a salt inhibitor on the enclosed sketch plan and membrane system as necessary.
• Remove all associated debris and leave site clean and tidy.

 

[JohnD]

Have you paid them any money?

 

[WillShatsWig]

This is the text from the FAQ that mentions the 12-months.

 

[WillShatsWig]

Have you paid them any money?

No, nothing yet.

The cost for the above work is about £1200.

 

[JohnD]

'mmmmm

I'm not convinced that your problem is due to water in the ground soaking into the wall from below; in which case it is not "rising damp"

And I see no sign that the source of the water has been identified, in which case it will not be cured.

How old is the house? In London, DPCs were compulsory from 1875, and are usually slate, which does not wear out. Can you see it on the outside walls, about 2 bricks above where ground level used to be when the house was built?

Is the floor concrete, or wooden with a ventilated void beneath and airbricks visible at the base of external walls?

 

[WillShatsWig]

It's an ex-council house, from the 80s. I'll take pictures of the outside when I get home (should be a couple of hours).

I'll confirm the floor/airbricks when I get in.

What kind of company should I be contacting? We're very limited in Devon. Google just brings back Rentokill and some businesses that haven't been around very long. Either that, or businesses that are more for much higher-end properties/new builds.

Thank you helping so far.

 

[JohnD]

If it turned out that the damp is caused by a pipe leak upstairs, you would call a plumber. If it turned out to be rainwater penetrating round a chimney, you would call a builder or roofer.

If it was caused by raised flowerbeds against the house, you might call a gardener.

If there was water under the house due to a broken drain, you would call a builder.

Interestingly, silicone injections do not repair any of those faults.

 

[Koolpc]

I think damp company is doing what they normally do, alarm and scare people.

As above, check outside first. Is that an outside wall in first pic?

By the window could be coming from above....

 

[JohnD]

you mentioned it's an external wall, so show us the outside. All the way up to the roof and showing the gutters, downpipe, any plumbing overflows, and any bay window roof and gutter. If there is one, photograph it from an upstairs window as well if you can

 

[WillShatsWig]

It's an external wall.
With vents in the outside wall.
The first pic is of the hallway, between sitting room and front door. The damp is coming through here too, as you can see the wallpaper is coming away from the wall and darkening.

I have taken pics of outside wall and on top of window bay.