Hi Guys,
First of all can I just say I know nothing of technical terms for house bits so I will do my best to explain!
My house is a 1940s (I think) semi-detached. In the spare bedroom for quite some time there has been a small brownish patch on the ceiling.. this area is sort of underneath where the two chimneys meet in the loft, there is two chimney passages, one in the lounge and one slightly further up in the dining room area, these go up through the main bedroom / spare bedroom, and meet in the loft in an upside down Y shape, which is covered in lots of concrete or something, and then goes up to the roof... Now for ages this brown patch never changed, it was always just there, never felt damp to the touch, and I couldnt see any puddles when I went up in the loft. Yesterday, in the main bedroom, we noticed what looked like where water had leaked from the ceiling, and stained a line down the top of the wall, this was also dry to touch, but was in the same sort of place (below where the chimneys meet). Also, in the other spare bedroom where the original patch was, it had grown larger, and spread and more brown patches had appeared, but again, none of these were even slightly damp to the touch.
So, I went up in the loft last night, and there was a large cardboard box above where these marks were, I moved this and it was a bit wet underneath - not enough to be a puddle, or anything, but was more than just feeling a bit damp - in the loft there are wooden boards, and I think any water coming in may have got under the box and between the gap in the wood... so I cleaned up all the wetness, to see if i can see where it was coming from.
Where the two chimneys meet in a /\ shape, it is just exposed brick and mortar, and there were a few droplets of water on the bricks (underneath the /\ ) and one of the bricks looked as though it was under stress, almost like it was flexing, although its still flat just looks like its got a bit of a crack in it or something, but this worried me!
As it is now, I have cleaned up any visible moisture on the floor / bricks, and put some large plastic containers underneath the /\ to catch any dripping, and hopefully it can dry out a bit while its not raining...
Basically, I need to know what the possible causes could be, and how much its likely to cost to fix! Am I going to need a new roof?? Is my life in danger????
First of all can I just say I know nothing of technical terms for house bits so I will do my best to explain!
My house is a 1940s (I think) semi-detached. In the spare bedroom for quite some time there has been a small brownish patch on the ceiling.. this area is sort of underneath where the two chimneys meet in the loft, there is two chimney passages, one in the lounge and one slightly further up in the dining room area, these go up through the main bedroom / spare bedroom, and meet in the loft in an upside down Y shape, which is covered in lots of concrete or something, and then goes up to the roof... Now for ages this brown patch never changed, it was always just there, never felt damp to the touch, and I couldnt see any puddles when I went up in the loft. Yesterday, in the main bedroom, we noticed what looked like where water had leaked from the ceiling, and stained a line down the top of the wall, this was also dry to touch, but was in the same sort of place (below where the chimneys meet). Also, in the other spare bedroom where the original patch was, it had grown larger, and spread and more brown patches had appeared, but again, none of these were even slightly damp to the touch.
So, I went up in the loft last night, and there was a large cardboard box above where these marks were, I moved this and it was a bit wet underneath - not enough to be a puddle, or anything, but was more than just feeling a bit damp - in the loft there are wooden boards, and I think any water coming in may have got under the box and between the gap in the wood... so I cleaned up all the wetness, to see if i can see where it was coming from.
Where the two chimneys meet in a /\ shape, it is just exposed brick and mortar, and there were a few droplets of water on the bricks (underneath the /\ ) and one of the bricks looked as though it was under stress, almost like it was flexing, although its still flat just looks like its got a bit of a crack in it or something, but this worried me!
As it is now, I have cleaned up any visible moisture on the floor / bricks, and put some large plastic containers underneath the /\ to catch any dripping, and hopefully it can dry out a bit while its not raining...
Basically, I need to know what the possible causes could be, and how much its likely to cost to fix! Am I going to need a new roof?? Is my life in danger????
