Stain marks half way up wall

[lee666]

I would say that when we went next door, the damp issue was bad, especially on what would have been the external wall which is covered by the lean-to.

The old tenants didn't use the electrical socket which is/was located on the wall in question due to how bad it was and the worry of water around it.

We don't have a water meter fitted either so I can't use that as a means to detect a supply pipe leak unfortunately.

 

[JohnD]

the flat roof abutting the house is very suspicious, and I see some pipes on or through one of the roofs. Can you stand back and take some wider pics? I'm not sure if all your pics are of terrible roofs or if there is a terrible wall as well.

Does the terrible gutter drip, leak, or overspill?

How many chimney pots does (did) each house have on that stack, and how many fireplaces remain?

 

[lee666]

the flat roof abutting the house is very suspicious, and I see some pipes on or through one of the roofs. Can you stand back and take some wider pics? I'm not sure if all your pics are of terrible roofs or if there is a terrible wall as well.

Does the terrible gutter drip, leak, or overspill?

How many chimney pots does (did) each house have on that stack, and how many fireplaces remain?

Hi John,

Here's a couple more pics below. The downpipe next door used to get blocked by moss off the main roof. The guttering across bother our houses at the top doesn't overflow either.

With regards to the pots, I've still got all 4 pots, though only 2 are still in use. I presume the house next door would have been identical and had 4 fireplaces but they don't have any pots now and no fireplaces.

The friend of mine who did some repointing on the stack had a look at the neighbours side, and the cap on top was OK, albeit some of the bricks could do with some repointing on his side but this was more on the front of the house side.

Unfortunately the new owner isn't a hands on type of owner, his front guttering needs doing and I've even said I'd lend him the bits to clean it and he hasn't bothered to do it.

I'm just trying to make sure everything with regards to my house isn't the cause before I then have a word with the neighbour.

 

[JohnD]

where do you think the kitchen and bathroom used to be before the flat-topped extension was added? May be the same as similar houses in the road.

Your house has four chimneypots. Does it still have four fireplaces?

 

[lee666]

where do you think the kitchen and bathroom used to be before the flat-topped extension was added? May be the same as similar houses in the road.

Your house has four chimneypots. Does it still have four fireplaces?

At a guess I'd say the kitchen was in the same place. There is an old chimney stack on the back of the house that goes down to the kitchen, some houses in the street have older type extensions that would be in keeping with being done 60/70 years or more ago.

Only 2 open fireplaces, both of which are downstairs. The 2 others would have been for the bedrooms but have been long covered over.

 

[foxhole]

Chimney looks poor, no lead work at base just a lump of mortar and pots have been removed on one side, if sealed any rain penetrating cannot be dried out and will find its way inside.

 

[lee666]

Chimney looks poor, no lead work at base just a lump of mortar and pots have been removed on one side, if sealed any rain penetrating cannot be dried out and will find its way inside.

Yes, I don't like the fact there's mortar instead of proper lead flashing. The cap on top is fine as my friend checked it when repointing my side.

Now, it's been a few years since I was in next doors house but off the top of my head there were no chimney breasts in any of the rooms. It also has a loft conversion so I wasn't able to see if there was part of the chimney in what would be the roof space. If there's no chimney breasts, any idea where the water would run down, and would there be issues further up the top of the house?

 

[foxhole]

Any rain entering at chimney could travel down party wall to just about anywhere on the walls .

 

[lee666]

Any rain entering at chimney could travel down party wall to just about anywhere on the walls .

Thanks for the reply. Think I may have to have a chat with my neighbour, and also see if he's still having issues since his work was done.

 

[lee666]

Thought I would post a bit of an update. I haven't had chance to speak to my neighbour due to him being away a fair bit, however I have 1, possibly 2 companies coming out to view the wall. With the rain over the last few days the main mark has got bigger and also a bit darker obviously indicating new moisture, which is not surprising given the length and amount of rain we've had.

I'm hoping by getting a couple of companies in to look at it that i'll get the answer i need as to what is causing it, and hopefully they'll suggest the same thing, although I'm still of the opinion that it is something my neighbours side that is letting water in, especially given the issues that the previous occupants had next door.

I do have 1 question though, which I think I know what the answer is but want to double check. Basically, as you can see in 1 or 2 of my photos the roof on my house and my neighbours has what looks like strips of lead flashing joining our houses. Would this be classed as their boundary and as such they would be liable to fix it were it be to failing?

I would also like to add that there are zero signs of water ingress on the same wall in the bedroom above, is it likely that water could get all the way down to the ground floor without leaving any trace of it's path? Just thinking that if the flashing between was failing there would be evidence in the bedroom above?

Once both companies have been round i shall post the results, my guess is it's either the chimney stack or shoddy leanto allowing water into damaged brick or mortar joints.

 

[lee666]

OK, so 1 company popped round earlier today. They specialise in damp problems, he had a look and deduced that it down to the neighbours lean-to/the wall that it sits on.

He suggested hacking the plaster off to a height 30cm above the problem, waterproofing the area and then replastering.

Now, I'm happy to do that but should the cost of doing so be covered by my neighbour given that the issue is caused by the neglect of said lean-to? I would like to add that he is aware of the state of it as when he first moved in I informed him and he said someone would have a look at it and get it sorted, which never happened as no one ever asked to come round and look at it from my side.