Hi
I've got a 1900 build terraced house with a shared outrigger to the rear. A few years ago I noticed I was getting water leaking in to the upstairs bedroom in the outrigger part of the house. it's a standard brick build with a slate angled roof. The leak wasn't terrible, it was extremely slow and manifested more as a spreading damp patch.
I got a few people round to have a look and they all suggested replacing the roof as tracking down such a leak was practically impossible. So I got quotes and arranged for the roof to be replaced. The roof was completely stripped back and replaced but just on my side of the shared outrigger, next door was untouched. after about a week, heavy rains came and unfortunately, the leak was still there. The builders came back, stripped it all back again and started from scratch. after another bout of heavy rain and another leak, they were at a bit of a loss. I'd repeatedly asked if it was possibly the flashing round the shared chimney that was the problem but had been assured it was not. however, they pulled down the external part of the chimney (including next doors aspect without asking them) and replaced it with tiles as per the rest of the roof. After this, the leak seemed to stop for a few years at least.
Earlier this year I started getting a damp patch in the same place again after a spell of heavy rain and high winds. I got somebody in to have a look and explained the work that had taken place previously. they suggested that it was possibly that water was tracking across the cavity (the cavities are very narrow, too narrow to have cavity insulation in fact) and coming through the brickwork which was potentially porous due to age. he suggested removing the internal chimney breast cavity, partially pulling down the wall and rebuilding it all and squaring the room off. in the process, I think he put some sort of rubber sheeting in the cavity (I could be wrong on this).
anyway, long story short, I'm still getting the damp patch appearing on the internal ceiling where it joins onto the external wall. Looking at the outrigger from the outside, I can see that the backboarding underneath the gutter isn't great on the neighbors side (a fair few gaps) and when I went up with a ladder, it looks like there are gaping holes under where the roof tiles end and the backboarding at the top of the house wall comes up to. Again, this is purely on my neighbors side.
At this point I'm at a bit of a loss as to he would be best to get on or how to fix the problem myself. I'm at my wits end because I desperately need to decorate the room and make it useable again and this has been going on for a while now.
Any pointers very gratefully received.
cheers
Matt
I've got a 1900 build terraced house with a shared outrigger to the rear. A few years ago I noticed I was getting water leaking in to the upstairs bedroom in the outrigger part of the house. it's a standard brick build with a slate angled roof. The leak wasn't terrible, it was extremely slow and manifested more as a spreading damp patch.
I got a few people round to have a look and they all suggested replacing the roof as tracking down such a leak was practically impossible. So I got quotes and arranged for the roof to be replaced. The roof was completely stripped back and replaced but just on my side of the shared outrigger, next door was untouched. after about a week, heavy rains came and unfortunately, the leak was still there. The builders came back, stripped it all back again and started from scratch. after another bout of heavy rain and another leak, they were at a bit of a loss. I'd repeatedly asked if it was possibly the flashing round the shared chimney that was the problem but had been assured it was not. however, they pulled down the external part of the chimney (including next doors aspect without asking them) and replaced it with tiles as per the rest of the roof. After this, the leak seemed to stop for a few years at least.
Earlier this year I started getting a damp patch in the same place again after a spell of heavy rain and high winds. I got somebody in to have a look and explained the work that had taken place previously. they suggested that it was possibly that water was tracking across the cavity (the cavities are very narrow, too narrow to have cavity insulation in fact) and coming through the brickwork which was potentially porous due to age. he suggested removing the internal chimney breast cavity, partially pulling down the wall and rebuilding it all and squaring the room off. in the process, I think he put some sort of rubber sheeting in the cavity (I could be wrong on this).
anyway, long story short, I'm still getting the damp patch appearing on the internal ceiling where it joins onto the external wall. Looking at the outrigger from the outside, I can see that the backboarding underneath the gutter isn't great on the neighbors side (a fair few gaps) and when I went up with a ladder, it looks like there are gaping holes under where the roof tiles end and the backboarding at the top of the house wall comes up to. Again, this is purely on my neighbors side.
At this point I'm at a bit of a loss as to he would be best to get on or how to fix the problem myself. I'm at my wits end because I desperately need to decorate the room and make it useable again and this has been going on for a while now.
Any pointers very gratefully received.
cheers
Matt
