Damp! help!

Discussion in 'Painters' Talk' started by aak, Sep 30, 2016.

  1. aak

    aak Member

    In need of some help!

    I'm looking for advice on a temporary fix for an old property which is in need of DPC. The DPC will happen as soon as we get enough money for it, but in the meanwhile, we have to try to ready the walls on the ground floor for rent (in order to be able to afford the DPC!).

    Its not ideal, but we are looking for a fix that might tie us over for a couple of years. Some of the walls are papered, and some are painted, and we are unfortunately cost sensitive enough that we want to try to utilise rather than strip the paper.

    I have been advised to blast the place with a dehumidifier, to try to extract as much humidity as possible from the plaster and wall (although in an ideal world, the plaster would be removed and replaced), to utilise some form of anti mould paint, and then to paint over that with regular emulsion. We were told this might tie us over for long enough to be able to do something more permanent somewhere down the line.

    The property is suffering from a lot of mould in the upper rooms behind furniture and curtains, and we are advised this is definitely due to condensation. It seems the issues on the ground floor might have been exacerbated by previous tenants being frugal with the heating and ventilating of the property.

    My questions are (1) does this proposed solution make sense? (2) if it does, which products would be recommended as an anti mould paint, as a mould remover and killer to prepare prior to paint, (3) can anti mould paint be painted over? and finally (4) although i understand for paper ideally you would want to peel back and treat the plaster underneath it, if thats not possible because of cost, is it worth trying the method above that ive described for painted walls - or is it very unlikely to work with wallpaper? the intention would be to paint the wall paper after a mould/moisture blocker has been applied.

    any help very much appreciated and many thanks in advance.
     
  2. sospan

    sospan Screwfix Select

    Honestly looking at your post, you are not investing in the property sufficiently to protect and ensure the long term health of your tenants and not sure whether you deserve assistance

    statements like "exacerbated by previous tenants being frugal with the heating" don't show you in a good light
     
    longboat likes this.
  3. aak

    aak Member

    thanks for your reply. that statement was meant to suggest that the problem on the ground floor might not all be due to rising damp - which there is an intention to remedy as soon as possible - but also due to poor upkeep, and because of that, it might lend itself to a bridging remedy: i don't know, which is why i have asked here.

    without going into further detail, extremely poor upkeep was fact, not opinion.

    in any case, i appreciate your taking the time to have read the post.
     
  4. koolpc

    koolpc Super Member

    Dehumidifier will help massively but you need to sort out the DPC etc asap. DPC is not that expensive. Ventilation needs looking at too.
     
    aak likes this.
  5. KIAB

    KIAB Super Member

    Damp can be caused many things, lack of dpc, leaking pipe,gutters, roof, flashings, outside ground level above dpc, shoddy render allowing water to get in behind it.
    Need to eliminate any possible causes first, then you can solve the cause.
     
    aak likes this.
  6. sospan

    sospan Screwfix Select

    Damp and mold are serious issues and a significant health risk.

    If you can't even afford to remove the wall paper to solve the problem, what are you going to do if you have a tenant in and the mold reappears? Leave it, rehouse them ......
     
  7. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select

    Without ripping you apart mate, and irrelevant of your circumstances you can't just 'make do' for a couple of years with tenants living in a below par, substandard, damp riddled abode. They has a right to live in a decent place provided they're paying you for it. It's not fair on them you cheating and shortchanging them, and when they phone you saying the walls are turning black you'll have a worse problem on your hands as you'll be trying to rectify it whilst they're living there, which any selfrespecting person would up sticks and move out so you're not gaining anything .

    If you don't have a couple of thousand spare to undertake the damp proofing task (provided it's rising damp), then I suggest you get your hands dirty by removing all wallpaper, hacking off the plaster 1m up from the floor somewhat neat, bite the bullet and pay to get the dpc done, learn how to dot and dab plasterboard onto the bare wall to flush up with the old plaster (provided its sound) or pay to get undercoat plastering done, pay to get skimmed, either pay a carpenter or have a go yourself at fitting skirting boards, then yourself paint when dry. You will save yourself a considerable sum by doing the prep and finish work yourself.

    There is no magic solution to rectifying damp, you have to put the effort in I'm afraid.
     
  8. koolpc

    koolpc Super Member

    Excellent post
     
  9. longboat

    longboat Screwfix Select

    Couldn't agree more with the above posts.
    It's your property at the end of the day, you need to maintain it to a good standard. If you don't have cash available to carry out essential repairs, get a loan or put it on the plastic, remember 'it's your property'.
    A **** tip will only attract unscrupulous tenants.
    What would you do if the boiler went kaput, and needed replacing at a conservative £1500 price tag?
     
  10. aak

    aak Member

    have read all posts and taken on board, plans have changed and we have taken on all advice and will remedy all the damp issues fully and properly as per the advice here and elsewhere. its probably no defence but im a layperson and asked only because it was somethign i was advised from a couple of people.

    anyway, thanks for all your replies.
     
  11. aak

    aak Member

    Thanks very much Jord 86, this has been particularly helpful.
     
  12. aak

    aak Member

    it seems my lack of understanding of damp issues caused some offence in this thread. on the off chance there still might be some audience, we've got two quotes for a DPC, and have another couple pending. have someone to look at the place for a possible installation of a PIV too next week, so hopefully the issues will be addressed properly.

    I hope there might be someone around to answer some more no doubt stupid questions from a novice, but the DPC quotes so far are vastly different. i was told too that for chemical DPC, the chemical manufacturers only offer a five year guarantee.

    my question is - are there different qualities of chemicals that can be used which might account for one quote being half the other, assuming the two builders in question are both of good repute? and how long is a chemical DPC expected to last?

    thanks in advance.
     
  13. koolpc

    koolpc Super Member

  14. SWBUILDERS

    SWBUILDERS Active Member

    Think carefully and do you research on injecred DPC's, it is not a quick fix as the chemicals have to penitrate through and can take weeks or not even work at all, also the internal plasterwork has to be hacked off up to 1m up the wall and re rendered and tanked. All this and some leading surveyors believe rising damp is a myth and there have been some study's that agree with this make sure u rule out other possible things that could be causing your damp issues raised external floors levels and others mentioned by KAIB, before you spend a fortune for nothing
     
  15. aak

    aak Member

    its all quite confusing. theres definite damp patches at the bottom of some of the ground floor walls, and down some of a chimney stack. The second floor since airing and destroying all the mould seems fine, and in the loft there are a couple of corners where the paint/wallpaper has come away. We've had the roof inspected there are about four tiles that are a bit loose, the flashing is all fine, and theres a little bit of pointing that needs redressing. and finally there was some wallpaper peeling below a few windows which we were advised was a combination of condensation and sealing on the cill needing to be reapplied.

    I was told (1) the roof/cill work would resolve the loft and chimney stack dampness; (2) if deemed necessary a PIV unit would deal with condensation, although we have yet to see whether this is endemic to the property or was exacerbated by the previous residents - apparently they use the house as a warehouse for market stall clothing - which i am told probably added significantly to condensation and that (3) a DPC would resolve the rising damp. although I've noticed some small but poor areas of pointing outside the property which may have been adding to the 'rising damp', the worst affected wall is an internal wall oddly enough.

    its difficult to get damp specialist in to quote, with some asking for quite a fee to just look and give quotes - but its very difficult to identify exactly what the precise sources might be. and as this thread has shown, these issues do need to resolved properly before letting out!
     
  16. KIAB

    KIAB Super Member

    What's on the other side of these ground floor walls,are they brick or stone any drainage runs,etc.
     
  17. aak

    aak Member

    they are brick, the ground level is not elevated, and as far as i can see the normal course of drains. ill check again when i go back to the house - the one wall which is worst affected is an internal one which i dont believe is near any of the bathrooms or kitchen, and is not one the chimney walls either.
     
  18. KIAB

    KIAB Super Member

    Possible you could have a cracked sewerage pipe caused by tree roots or ground setlement causing damp.

    Dry Rods are a good treatment.

    http://www.dryrods.com/
     
  19. aak

    aak Member

    this looks too good to be true and dangerously like something i could do myself! although with something this serious i wouldnt want to take any risks. how would i be able to check for a cracked sewerage pipe?
     
  20. SWBUILDERS

    SWBUILDERS Active Member

    That's because its big business as mortgage providers regularly insist on this treatment for houses built without DPC's (often unnecessarily) so these company's are not short of work, I really think you need to investigate the worst effected walls and forget trying to save your wallpaper strip it back!! Post photos on here
     

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