Opps. Plaster mystery..

[Rhys Whiteley]

Hi guys. Have absolutely no idea with plaster and walls so forgive me!

Moved into a 1910 ish era end terrace in north wales a few months ago.

I've had a patch in the bedroom staring at me for a while. That was bubbling from the wall around and below the plug socket.

As you can see I went a bit mad and have taken off a lot more than I thought I would be

Anyway.

The layer directly under the paint is just peeling off with very little effort.

Underneath that is the dark brown stuff that is coming off when rubbing with my fingers.

And then there is the greyish layer.

And all the other weird stuff happening on the left hand side.


So yeah. Not sure if it's damp.

Its on the first floor. The roof doesn't slope towards this wall, there no gutting outside here and the outside render looks fine.

Absolutely no idea. Just looking for some tips on where to start! cheers guys.

 

[RandomGrinch]

Is the wall solid behind the plaster, or could it be a layer of plasterboard?
Although to me, it looks suspiciously like one of the walls in my house, where some lazy so and so skimmed over a wall covered in wallpaper/lining paper, without stripping it first

 

[Deleted member 265726]

My thoughts are the same as RandomGrinch. I can see what I think looks like black mould spots running down the length of the left hand corner of the wall in the second photo on what looks to be old wallpaper? I think by 'old brown stuff' you mean to refer to what may be boarding, if so, the mould is likely to be behind it too. If it's just wallpaper, you've likely got mould on the brick/stone walls behind the paper.

Sorry, it is hard to really tell from the images. I've tried to zoom in, but it isn't clear.

Does the property have single skin or cavity walls?

When you say there is no guttering, do you mean there is no guttering because this wall is internal or because the property has no guttering?

 

[Rhys Whiteley]

Thanks for the replies guys. I will do some more digging after work today.

So the wall we're looking are the ones circled in red. I meant that the outside guttering doesn't run down this wall on the outside if that makes sense.

So more pictures of the left hand side too. Under the hard white bit. Is a more greyish with with a kinda of clayey texture to it.

And then the last picture is right in the corner. Whatever is on the other wall seems fine!

Pretty sure these are single skin. But I will ask the neighbour if I see him today

 

[mattylad]

If you knock on the wall is it a hollow sound or a solid one?
A hollow one would be plasterboard.

If you dig a knife in (well away from the socket area) can you reveal whats behind the brown paper? Do not dig too much, you want to be able to fill the hole easily.

What's on the other side of the wall? Is it an external wall? If so what's the state of the gutters above it?

 

[Rhys Whiteley]

If you knock on the wall is it a hollow sound or a solid one?
A hollow one would be plasterboard.

If you dig a knife in (well away from the socket area) can you reveal whats behind the brown paper? Do not dig too much, you want to be able to fill the hole easily.

What's on the other side of the wall? Is it an external wall? If so what's the state of the gutters above it?

Hi Matty just answered some bits above!

Does sound fairly hollow to me tbf. Here's a pic of the hole I've just dug

The guttering as you can see is on the other face just to the left of this wall.

 

[mattylad]

That looks to me like it's plasterboard and the brown side is to you, some did have a brown side many moons ago.

So when you said it's "bubbling" did you mean it's wet and bubbling or were you just describing the plaster?

The mold may well be condensation, especially if you have poor ventilation and dry clothes indoors.

 

[Rhys Whiteley]

Should have taken a picture before I got scraping

Basically it look like the paint had bubbled up from the walls. It's been like that from before I bought the place tbf.

It's was dry but just peeled off with the other layer underneath in.

It could be condensation. But I always leave windows open and the clothes are dried in the porch with windows open aswell.

Anyway off to work. I will add when I'm back! Thank you again guys

 

[Rhys Whiteley]

Don't seem to have uploaded the pictures of the house and room. Here they are

 

[Deleted member 265726]

Something doesn't look right to me on the external left hand side of the property under the roof overhang. Are you missing a fascia board? The overhang itself is not very deep by the look of it. Water could be running down in that corner and causing the damp you see on the inside of the room. That is my best guess. Perhaps some further inspection by yourself or a professional wouldn't go amiss.

 

[Rhys Whiteley]

Thanks sunshine I will have a look. The board on the left side under the roof? There's definitely a small one put it doesn't stick out from the wall.

But neither does my neighbours on the other side (pic attached)

I have taken the liberty of taking the plug from the wall and yeah. Visibly wet and damp in there.

Tbf the boards on the right side of the corner don't look the best.

So what kind of professionals should I ring

The last picture is the neighbours.

 

[Deleted member 265726]

You're looking to see how rainwater is getting in via that top corner area. It needs someone to go up there and look. A roofer is probably best. It may be that the rendering is shoddy up in that area but until it is properly inspected, I can't say, it needs eyes on it in real life.

Don't use that electric socket

* if those are cables that have been rendered over in that top corner, hard to see from pic, it could be that water is dripping off the overhang, dripping onto the cables and running down behind the render.

 

[Rhys Whiteley]

Thanks sunshine!

I did wonder if it would be around the cables.

Not sure what those cables are even for. Do have solar panels. But they run a different way.

Thanks for your help I'll get a roofer down at some point this week.

 

[Deleted member 265726]

What's this? Worth checking behind this too whilst up there for possible ways water is getting in.

 

[Rhys Whiteley]

Believe it's for the alarm system installed in the house. Which I have no idea how to use

If its the issue I'm more than happy to get rid! If the postie can't find where I live no one is gonna rob me!