I would take the ridge tiles off and tiles 3/4 rows down and place felt over ridge, replace battens and tiles and re bed the ridges.
Mystery Damp Patch
- Thread starter saz84
- Start date
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erm thanks investigator - just a small job then......perhaps one for the summer!
JohnD - no sign of funny colours coming through but what was your feeling? We replaced the lead under advice from a building inspector, he said it was worth a try. Water runs off the lead straight into the gutter BUT I did think I saw water going off the end and back up of one of the tiles - maybe this drips onto the wall. Due to the age of this building, we wondered whether it was originally thatched and has a steeper pitch than later roofs? Also pantiles don't quite fit the roof, they could maybe do with being replaced?
Thanks for everyone's help with this - we will try to tackle this in summer but that will have to wait 'til after we have put new windows/doorways in etc to prepare for an extension!!
JohnD - no sign of funny colours coming through but what was your feeling? We replaced the lead under advice from a building inspector, he said it was worth a try. Water runs off the lead straight into the gutter BUT I did think I saw water going off the end and back up of one of the tiles - maybe this drips onto the wall. Due to the age of this building, we wondered whether it was originally thatched and has a steeper pitch than later roofs? Also pantiles don't quite fit the roof, they could maybe do with being replaced?
Thanks for everyone's help with this - we will try to tackle this in summer but that will have to wait 'til after we have put new windows/doorways in etc to prepare for an extension!!
Hi
An update on the mystery damp patch!
After having had next to no rain for the past 6 weeks or so, we conclude that it is probably not a rainwater problem! I think we may be under attack from below - water is coming up through the floor and not the brickwork. It looks like there may be a collapsed sewer in the road outside, highways have had a look and are going to refer to Severn Trent. The wet soil around the house doesn't smell stinky so may be nothing to do with this but could do with being sorted.
Our mains seems OK even though I can't find it, we turned the water off for a day and the meter showed nothing.
There are 2 service pipes coming in - one black plastic with no stopcock which I presume is the one feeding us and a metal one (copper or lead?) with a stopcock you can't move. We have to turn the water off at the meter! I am wondering if the old service pipe is still connected to the system and burst in that really cold November weather last year. Trouble is I can't find the bloody thing - there are holes all over the place and no sign. Is there any chance this pipe could have been laid under the house originally in anyones' opinion?
Anyway I will post some pics tomorrow of generally wet soil, holes, dip in the road etc and if anyone has any bright ideas of how to find this damn pipe I would be really grateful for them!!
Sara
An update on the mystery damp patch!
After having had next to no rain for the past 6 weeks or so, we conclude that it is probably not a rainwater problem! I think we may be under attack from below - water is coming up through the floor and not the brickwork. It looks like there may be a collapsed sewer in the road outside, highways have had a look and are going to refer to Severn Trent. The wet soil around the house doesn't smell stinky so may be nothing to do with this but could do with being sorted.
Our mains seems OK even though I can't find it, we turned the water off for a day and the meter showed nothing.
There are 2 service pipes coming in - one black plastic with no stopcock which I presume is the one feeding us and a metal one (copper or lead?) with a stopcock you can't move. We have to turn the water off at the meter! I am wondering if the old service pipe is still connected to the system and burst in that really cold November weather last year. Trouble is I can't find the bloody thing - there are holes all over the place and no sign. Is there any chance this pipe could have been laid under the house originally in anyones' opinion?
Anyway I will post some pics tomorrow of generally wet soil, holes, dip in the road etc and if anyone has any bright ideas of how to find this damn pipe I would be really grateful for them!!
Sara
That guttering is sloping downwards towards the corner of the house instead of sloping towards the outlet. Unless its a trick of the pic? Its bogging anyway, get that changed & run properly whether or not you throw money at any other 'cures' it will benefit you. 
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saz84";p="1964711 said:
He said second set of pics 3rd pic, no lead work there, water is cascading over the end on to gable wall , soaking down thru the corner.
New guttering has been ordered, should be here in a couple of days. Had some good advice about how to make it better. What I can't get my head around is why everything is still so wet after no rain for so long - the soil outside is wet but up the garden is bone dry!!
I'll post pics when we do the new guttering - btw we found another drain which goes straight into sewer rather than soakaway and are going to give that a go.............unless that is a really BAAAAD thing to do ?!
Sara
I'll post pics when we do the new guttering - btw we found another drain which goes straight into sewer rather than soakaway and are going to give that a go.............unless that is a really BAAAAD thing to do ?!
Sara
Hi
Back in July we started to tackle the problem by looking at the roof. We took off everything and found............... evidence of more than one bodge which could have dated back years!
Where to start? The wall plates had rotted so much that there was less than 1" support in THAT corner. The same had happened in the opposite end on the other side. The roof was tilted towards the corner. Also the rafters fell well short of the brickwork so whoever couldn't get tile lats far enough over soooo the felt (which was horrible sand/bitumen brittle stuff) was stuffed down the inside of the wall. It seemed then that any water which got onto the felt ran down the inside behind the internal render causing the damp patch.
I also think the floor damp was caused by the same problem made worse with the amount of snow we had last winter. It all melted at the same time, dripped onto the felt and fed down the inside of the wall and pooled onto the floor. This has long since dried out.
Anyway - wallplates replaced, rafters now meet the right level and more importantly are not rotten - very old and we didn't really want to mess about with such a good structure! Felt replaced with modern breathable stuff, new lats and old tiles put back with a few new ones (you always break a couple...) And new ridge of course!!
We also got rid of the disgusting concrete coping things and replaced all the guttering.
Some pics are below if anyone is interested I will post some more but thanks to everyone who gave advice - much appreciated and to those who said "baldilocks to anything else but the roof" - you were right!!!
Ta very much - Sara
Back in July we started to tackle the problem by looking at the roof. We took off everything and found............... evidence of more than one bodge which could have dated back years!
Where to start? The wall plates had rotted so much that there was less than 1" support in THAT corner. The same had happened in the opposite end on the other side. The roof was tilted towards the corner. Also the rafters fell well short of the brickwork so whoever couldn't get tile lats far enough over soooo the felt (which was horrible sand/bitumen brittle stuff) was stuffed down the inside of the wall. It seemed then that any water which got onto the felt ran down the inside behind the internal render causing the damp patch.
I also think the floor damp was caused by the same problem made worse with the amount of snow we had last winter. It all melted at the same time, dripped onto the felt and fed down the inside of the wall and pooled onto the floor. This has long since dried out.
Anyway - wallplates replaced, rafters now meet the right level and more importantly are not rotten - very old and we didn't really want to mess about with such a good structure! Felt replaced with modern breathable stuff, new lats and old tiles put back with a few new ones (you always break a couple...) And new ridge of course!!
We also got rid of the disgusting concrete coping things and replaced all the guttering.
Some pics are below if anyone is interested I will post some more but thanks to everyone who gave advice - much appreciated and to those who said "baldilocks to anything else but the roof" - you were right!!!
Ta very much - Sara
Sara, i only noticed your post today and read it carefully. Thank you for getting back to this site and telling us what happened next, very few do.
Is your final pic how things are now? What happened to your concerns ref. the well and the sewer "problem"?
As a matter of interest, you should have accessible shut-off's for any water service pipe entering your property.
Perhaps you will "report back" next spring on how things are?
Is your final pic how things are now? What happened to your concerns ref. the well and the sewer "problem"?
As a matter of interest, you should have accessible shut-off's for any water service pipe entering your property.
Perhaps you will "report back" next spring on how things are?
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