patchy damp....cheap fix????????

[Brazilnut]

please don't laugh ...i am trying to cure a problem on cheap

i keep getting patches of damp...the damp course is gauranteed but all they doo is come back chip of plaster /rendering paint some thing on bricks go away come back 6 weeks later and render and plaster ....then 3 months later it all comes back................they have injected a couple of times but mainly now they are disintrested (they have a bad rep in town and plenty of court cases which they dont seem to care about).......... anyway what i want to now is this .....on these pages i spotted some advise on removing bricks(drill round and remove etc).....is i did ths just above floor level then replaced with a chopped down breeze block (someone told me breeze blocks don't soak up damp)....would this work or am i being totally silly ........has any one got any other cheap fixes......i am not a fully fledge handy person who can do everything i am more like a botcher who makes do

 

[ss_fraser]

Damp can be a real problem in properties.... you did not say what age the property was etc... as DPC's have not always been used in old houses.

What type of walls do you have and ground floor is it suspended or ground bearing..?

Where is the water coming from..? have you got leaky gutters, downpipes and is there suitable fall of the ground away from your external walls to carry away the water..?

Next time it rains just check where the water is ponding and make a note of this and see if there is any relationship between appearance of Damp in the house.

Cheap fix..? don't think it exists...if you have to pay someone to do it....

But with a bit of research you could find out about a drill and grout injection damp proof system.

Only go for a system that is BBA (British Board of Agreement approved) that way you should get something that does wat it says on the tin.

The following web site give some sound advice.. http://www.dampness-info.co.uk/

Last thing has the damp effected any other elements of your property such as timber or the plaster. Please note damp patches reappear through normal emulsin paint..

 

[Brazilnut]

i have a terrace house built approx 1910, the damp patches are on totaly internal walls (all the external walls are great at moment) 2 patches are on 2 different walls either side of hose (so shared with either neighbor) 1 of which had a new damp course about 4 years ago the other has a damp problem in the area the other side to where i have it so i suspect it is bridging somehow....but i do have a prob on a wall that is totally internal dividing 2 room ....... i have painted that damp paint on and emulsioned over that put it still shows through . and it does feel damp .......so would the breeze block thing work

 

[oilman]

WHERE is your house? Is it on a hill , or on a river bank? If you have covered the damp patch with impervious coatings, rest assured the damp will win. You should have porous coatings, then the problem might be insignificant. One of the more pointless things is playing around with the damp course, it's often anything but the damp course.

 

[ss_fraser]

Block thing will not work, damp travels up masonry blocks just as it does with brickwork.

Other issue, is there an old chimney breast in the location as damp...?

Were the internal walls treated with damp injection system..? Any paint on system is just acting as a barrier and you will no doubt find that the core of the wall still remains damp and the wall will feel cold to touch.

I would go for injection solution bellow suspended floor joists..

 

[Brazilnut]

house is just in a normal street in a town one patch it is on a chimney breast but another it is just a dividing wall....it has been injected at least twice before ........ i have concrete floors so can't do it below floor joist level ...........i also heard something about blue bricks , would they work

 

[jbonding]

does the plaster run all the way to the floor?

 

[Nige F]

Re. The patch on the chimney breast............. make sure the chimney is ventilated Grin and bear the fact that you will loose some heat up it from your central heating.BUT your house will be better for it. Removing/replacing bricks will end up replastering half of the wall in question consider it may be condensation ...particularly behind large furniture, like a bookcase

 

[Brazilnut]

no plaster doesn't go to floor

 

[carpetkarl]

Is the wall exposed, or do you have a bookcase in front of it?
A lot of damp is caused internally, you will be amazed at the about of damp people create living in a sealed area. Are you windows open or permentally closed?

 

[Brazilnut]

the patch i am talking about more than anything is totally exposed either side , it is the foot/2 foot peice of wall to the door frame to the hall way

________/_|
................^| if you imagine this is the room it is the peice above arrow
................. |
................. |
__________|

 

[masona]

As carpetkarl pointed out that most damp problem are poor ventilation therefore known as "trap condsenation".