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Hi,
I have a Victorian terraced house in Plymouth, built 1904 with solid walls made out of a combination of brick and stone, rendered over. I have a range of damp issues, which I would like some advice on, in terms of potential causes and solutions:
1. The house is built on a steep hill, so has a cellar at the front of the house, but a room behind that is above ground. The cellar has a concrete floor which is damp to the touch and the walls have been dry lined at some point in the past. Many of the walls in the room are wet from the ground up (only a few inches above ground level in most cases), and the moisture seems to be coming up the walls of the room next door. This room has a wooden floating floor and all the wood seems completely dry. I have no idea whether the cellar has a DPC (it seems unlikely, but it may have been added).
2. In an upstairs room at the back of the house (in a three storey tenement, not sure if this is the right word, but it's the bit at the back of the house which is not the full width), the chimney is showing significant signs of damp, all the way around, extending down form the top. It is also spreading across the ceiling. I don't believe the chimney is capped, but there is no ventilation either. I have now cut a hole in the board blocking the fire place opening to try and get a little ventilation. Is the damp on the chimney likely to be because the chimney was not vented?
3. In the kitchen bay window (original double hung sashes in fairly poor condition), the plaster is damp and failing below the window. I believe this is due to water ingress at the window, and these (the windows) are being replaced, but I wanted confirmation.
If any of these (and I kind of expect it for the cellar) are going to require someone to come in, does anyone know of decent damp specialists in Plymouth?
Thank you all in advance for your help,
Andrew
I have a Victorian terraced house in Plymouth, built 1904 with solid walls made out of a combination of brick and stone, rendered over. I have a range of damp issues, which I would like some advice on, in terms of potential causes and solutions:
1. The house is built on a steep hill, so has a cellar at the front of the house, but a room behind that is above ground. The cellar has a concrete floor which is damp to the touch and the walls have been dry lined at some point in the past. Many of the walls in the room are wet from the ground up (only a few inches above ground level in most cases), and the moisture seems to be coming up the walls of the room next door. This room has a wooden floating floor and all the wood seems completely dry. I have no idea whether the cellar has a DPC (it seems unlikely, but it may have been added).
2. In an upstairs room at the back of the house (in a three storey tenement, not sure if this is the right word, but it's the bit at the back of the house which is not the full width), the chimney is showing significant signs of damp, all the way around, extending down form the top. It is also spreading across the ceiling. I don't believe the chimney is capped, but there is no ventilation either. I have now cut a hole in the board blocking the fire place opening to try and get a little ventilation. Is the damp on the chimney likely to be because the chimney was not vented?
3. In the kitchen bay window (original double hung sashes in fairly poor condition), the plaster is damp and failing below the window. I believe this is due to water ingress at the window, and these (the windows) are being replaced, but I wanted confirmation.
If any of these (and I kind of expect it for the cellar) are going to require someone to come in, does anyone know of decent damp specialists in Plymouth?
Thank you all in advance for your help,
Andrew
