How long should I wait for bricks (internal) to dry?

[huddsspread]

Have you checked that the damp is not condensation? most of my call outs are now condensation.

Went to one yesterday, she had black mould in her attic room. She said a roofer said its leaking, and needs the ridge re pointing £380. I looked at it, saw the iron, and clothes horse. Wiped the mould off in 30 seconds with a wet wipe......it was only surface mould, and now its gone. She dont open the window, drys clothes, and irons up there.

Yes if waters got behind the render it will push it off, but i would not blame that straight away for the damp, unless your 100% sure it is penetrating damp.

 

[peaps2]

Don't be silly Peaps - most houses have no render but they aren't damp.

So you paid a damp expert to come around and pick your pockets and all he told you to do was 'fix it'?

Typical conman. They should be jailed.

Now stop being a big girl and get the ladder out and find out where the water is coming from.

Ignore Peaps he's on drugs.

Cracked render hold in the water

You need to open your eyes.

Nah we don't get enough rain to go through 9 inches of brick. The render is cracking because water from above is getting behind it. If you look at a house in the rain it hardly gets the walls wet - that's what the roof is for.

 

[peaps2]

Victorian brick are soft with a harder thin outer layer, if you apply cement render it will cause spalling of the brick add water to the equation and you have a problem.

Cement render applied to a victorian built property will crack due to movement.

Joe you are giving out very bad advice once again, you should be banned.

 

[joe-90]

Since when has curing the problem been bad advice?

 

[tom2011]

er, anyway...

I'm certain (as I can be, not being an expert...) that its not condensation. We bought the house back in August last year. The room has been more or less empty since we moved in, with the odd bit of furniture and storage stuff, but nothing that I thing would cause condensation. Certainly not been used to dry clothes. I can't think of anything that would cause damp from in the room.

I still haven't had chance to get up on the ladder yet - the joys of a 9 to 5 job and a 5 month old baby to look after when I get home - but hopefully i'll get up to repair the render soon and I will double check all the guttering.

Still, nobody had answered my original question... which is how long should I leave the brickwork (internal) to dry out?

The plaster has been removed from the affected areas so thats done now (rightly or wrongly). But I would still like to know how long I need to leave it, once the external wall and any other problems/causes have been rectified, before I re-plaster.

Thanks

 

[joe-90]

Look mate. Repair is pointless until you have cured the problem. Your problem is that the guttering is either leaking or spilling out the back when it rains. This then drips or runs down on to the corbelling and down into the rest of the brickwork. It gets behind the render and spalls in the frosty weather. It gets into the house and shows up as damp, mould and efflorescence.

Ignore my advice if you choose - but you'll have to do it all again if I'm right.

Thirty years experience says that I am.

 

[peaps2]

You need to repair the outside wall first.

 

[joe-90]

After you've found the leak that has damaged the outside wall.

 

[tom2011]

Christ, this is most circular discussion i've ever been involved in!

You need to repair the outside wall first.

Look mate. Repair is pointless until you have cured the problem.

ok. I get it. I understand. In ALL of my previous posts I have stated that I will repair the cracks in the external wall. Show me where i'm dis-agreeing with you...!

Its not that i'm ungrateful for all of your advice, its just that you keep telling me the same thing over and over again, yet failing to answer the question that I asked right at the beginning.

Can we just assume, hypothetically, that the external repairs are made? Now, how long should I wait before I make the internal repairs?

 

[joe-90]

Not until you find the leak that has CAUSED the problem geditt yet?

If you don't find the leak the render will spall and the room will go all mouldy - and so it goes round and round. Just like your circular discussion.

 

[peaps2]

Christ, this is most circular discussion i've ever been involved in!

You need to repair the outside wall first.

Look mate. Repair is pointless until you have cured the problem.

ok. I get it. I understand. In ALL of my previous posts I have stated that I will repair the cracks in the external wall. Show me where i'm dis-agreeing with you...!

Its not that i'm ungrateful for all of your advice, its just that you keep telling me the same thing over and over again, yet failing to answer the question that I asked right at the beginning.

Can we just assume, hypothetically, that the external repairs are made? Now, how long should I wait before I make the internal repairs?

You control suction from a wall by soaking it with water so to answer your question, fix the outside then plaster the inside.

 

[joe-90]

Then wait for the rain to leak from the gutter and start all over again next year.

 

[huddsspread]

Ill try and answer you mate.......


Re condensation-dont dispell it straight away, it can happen without you knowing....

Was the mould on the top of the plaster, or all the way through to the brick? If it was on top, i.e just the paper, thats is 100% condensation, not damp.......

anyway

As for the internal stuff, it can be done immediately, BUT





Find the leak first, guttering or whatever it is. If you can get a hose up on the gutter to flood it, see if you can see the problem.

Once you can see where the waters coming from it needs to be fixed, new gutter etc......

THEN, have the rendering done, properly so no water can get behind it, and push it off.


As for the bricks inside, leave them till they are dry. Touch them and feel. Or get a de humidifier in the room to suck the moisture out. But don't fix the plaster inside untill the water ingress has been fixed.

Some say use sand and cement and water proofer, some say use lime and sand. Some say that not using lime will cause problems years down the line, some say it wont.

If it was my house, i would just sand and cement render. As theres to much yay and nay about houses breathing etc. I cant see the problem, as doors open, windows open, airflows etc. So again i would fix the water problem, what ever it is, sand and cement render, plaster inside.

Some people agree, some disagree. BUT i have never had any problems with using sand and cement on really old houses with lime mortar.

Joe will agree with me, peaps wont.


also, how much did you pay for this damp experts advice?

 

[peaps2]

 

[peaps2]

Mixing old and new

Whilst it may be tempting to use impervious modern materials on old buildings this is not recommended because there is a serious risk that the balance between water entering the fabric and water evaporating from it will be disturbed. The use of impervious materials, even as part of a diligent maintenance or repair programme, can change the way the building functions and have an adverse affect on its performance. For example using cement renders, masonry paints or sealants on the walls of an old building will substantially reduce its ability to allow water to evaporate. As the amount of moisture in the wall rises, the possibility of decay increases. Vulnerable materials, such as timber and soft bricks or stones, are particularly at risk. If you look closely at an old building that has been repointed with modern cement mortar you may be able to see where the original fabric has started to decay more rapidly. This happens because the moisture that is naturally present in the historic fabric cannot escape through the hard and impervious cement mortar. Instead, it evaporates through the softer stone or brick accelerating the rate of decay.

Another important factor is the hardness and inflexibility of modern cement-based renders, mortars and plasters in comparison to traditional lime-based products. The inherent brittleness of cement mortars makes them vulnerable to cracking, particularly where they are bonded to softer, more flexible traditional materials. Even a fine hairline crack in a cement render can cause a problem, as moisture is drawn through the crack by capillary action and is then trapped behind the impervious coating. If this process continues over time, the moisture content of the core of the wall will rise dramatically and may provide the ideal conditions for decay in adjacent timber or plaster.

http://www.spabfim.org.uk/pages/understanding_traditional_materials.html