Rising Damp? Rotting wall? Help!

[izools]

I'm sure there have been worse DIY disasters out there but I nonetheless have a problem I don't know how to fix.

I don't really consider myself a proper DIYer, more of a novice in this field. I'm more into the technical side of things; when it comes to wiring / telecommunications / IT I can get the jon done without an issue but thingslike rising damp and plastering well lets just say there have been less cack handed people out there than me.

I was recently trying to diagnose a problem with my ADSL connection as the sync rate was dropping by two meg when the weather got damp or cold (causing condensation)... as per my post on this thread

http://dslzoneuk.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=8746&p=82127#p82127

Well now that I have found this damp / rotting problem, I would greatly appreciate some hints, tips, and help as to the best course of action to take in getting this problem fixed.

There is a picture of the rising damp issue if you follow the link to my post above.

Thanking you in advance

 

[Joe Malone]

It's clear that you have salt contaminated plaster and this will need replacing preferably with limelite renovating plaster. Do you have a rising damp problem? I couldn't possibly say without carrying out tests but the law of averages would say that you don't. My gut feeling is that your plaster is bridging the DPC on the inner face of the wall, this is a common problem and further compounded by the fact that you have very narrow skirting board installed. Plasterwork needs to stop short of the physical dpc or it will bridge it and cause what appears to be a rising damp problem. The move away from deep skirting board means that plasterwork has moved closer to the floor so it can be hidden by the skirting. The move towards cheap skirting boards has caused many a damp problem! See if you can locate the physical dpc once the plasterwork has been removed and consider replacing with a deeper skirting board if necessary. It may be that you need nothing more than replastering to eliminate the hygroscopic salts.

Joe

 

[izools]

Cheers joe Shall give it a go over the weekend