 | Home > Off Topic > Any builders or damp experts? |
 
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| GREENI Member Since: 22 Aug 2010 Location: staffs Posts: 10382  
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Pm GregMartha, he knows a thing or two about this!
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2nd Mar 2015 6:59pm |
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| Bows Member Since: 07 May 2012 Location: Wales Posts: 513  
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I am a builder. I would dig the floors up, lay a plastic damp proof membrane , insulation and lay a new floor. Current regs insist on the interior finished floor level being 150mm above the floor level outside, you won't be governed by this rule but it's well worth ensuring that your floor inside is well above exterior floor levels. This is obviously to avoid water trying to find it's way I to your house. With your door heights etc it's often easier to reduce the levels outside, if this isn't feasible, then certainly dig the existing floors up and raise the levels. Allow for the thickness of insulation 70 or 80 odd mm, and 100mm of concrete, the Dpm is just a thin plastic sheet.
You will also need to get up on the roof to sort out the ridge tile. |
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2nd Mar 2015 9:24pm |
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| Joe the Plumber Member Since: 18 Dec 2013 Location: Midlands Posts: 907 
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Have a look here before spending anything on 'damp proofing' (and I don't mean what the previous chap has suggested), if indeed that's something that you end up considering:
http://www.askjeff.co.uk/rising-damp/ |
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2nd Mar 2015 9:37pm |
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| JAY BOY Member Since: 04 May 2010 Location: Not here Posts: 1706
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It sounds like a nice renovation to me.
Sort the roof problems and that should sort high level damp and water ingress. As for the floors and wall damp. All floors up and newly laid floors as previous post. All walls hacked off 1m up off FFL and Re-rendered and plastered. You should then be good for many years to come. One thing to look out for is the age of the property and is it listed as this could cause complications with any renovation. They may insist on lime plaster or what is on the walls now. Good luck.  |
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2nd Mar 2015 9:45pm |
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| Lambley Member Since: 20 Apr 2013 Location: Mid Devon Posts: 1435 
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Thanks for the replies.
Having read your posts and doing a bit of trawling it looks like several problems, the house is set into a hill, the back of the house is dug out and has a retaining wall and stepped access and the external and internal floor heights are the same, where the damp is showing on the interior wall it sounds like rising damp, the plaster is bubbling and popping off, it has that 'salty' feel, also the interior floor has been covered (on both sides of the wall that's damp) with flagstone flooring, I guess that won't let through the moisture so it's coming out by rising up the wall so it's rising? I think they have also used sand/cement as render rather than lime. It's also had good double glazing fitted which won't let the moisture escape. It's not really a renovation, it's being sold as a 'finished house'. I've been told the current owners have lived there a while and had it renovated years ago, it's not listed though. The roof seems easy to fix, but digging up and re-laying the floors would be a flippin nightmare, and costly by the sounds of it. Here's a picture of the front of the house.. 
The back showing where the worst rising damp is...  [/URL][/img] |
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2nd Mar 2015 11:03pm |
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| landy andy Member Since: 15 Feb 2009 Location: Ware, Herts Posts: 5703 
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The photo shows me that the worse damp is where there is no complete guttering run above, the path off to the side allows rain water to wash against the wall, and there is a down pipe near the area.
I think these areas need to be considered, I personally don't think the floors need to come up to resolve the problem. Andy |
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2nd Mar 2015 11:20pm |
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| JWL Member Since: 26 Oct 2011 Location: Hereford Posts: 3443  
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This is more speculation than fact as we're just looking at pictures but it might be that the point that you have arrowed on the photo might be due to water from the bank that the house is built on seeping on the easiest route which over time has shifted to that particular point. You could do with a tame builder who has experience of properties in that situation.
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2nd Mar 2015 11:27pm |
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| alwoodley72 Member Since: 14 Mar 2010 Location: salisbury, wilts Posts: 724 
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^^^^what Andy says... Most damp comes from above and is easy/ not costly to fix, other causes are usually an abnormal run of water towards the house ie impermeable concrete paths abutting old walls.. I'Ve been landscaping 20 odd years and we regularly break out such paths to install gravel French drainage which alleviates the majority of damp cases. Watch out for render that comes down over the external path, see if you can have a 'look' at the area outside with a screwdriver or suchlike!! All 'character' houses have a touch of damp anyway, you should be used to that with your 'character' car!!
Cheers. Alex |
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2nd Mar 2015 11:31pm |
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| leeds Member Since: 28 Dec 2009 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 8581
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The chances are that the wall is a solid wall with dirt/rubble in the middle which can help water leach through.
To the right of your arrow is a downpipe. The guttering to that downpipe is it in good condition, does water spill over the end of the guttering? What condition is the drain in? You need a short section of guttering fixing to that narrow section of roof above the damp patch and feeding into the nearby downpipe. Then look at the ground water level, better drainage? Other things already mention look at rendering etc. You need a good local builder to have a close look as looking at photos is not sufficient. Brendan |
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2nd Mar 2015 11:48pm |
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| defender4 Member Since: 22 Jun 2011 Location: South East London Posts: 411 
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If, as has been said by others, the source of the damp is due to water from above off the roof then the solid wall will be wet through but is perfectly capable of being dried out. I have experienced this with a solid walled house that had been without guttering for some time. All that is required is fixing the source of the problem which budget wise should not be excessive. And it is a smashing looking property.
If, however, the problem is rising damp with the source in the ground outside then I bow to the more knowledgeable advice from others and suspect that the budget to sort it will be considerably more. Answer, pay an expert to determine the source of the damp and estimate the cost of a guaranteed solution. Then make your decision. Good luck Rob |
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3rd Mar 2015 8:38am |
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| Joe the Plumber Member Since: 18 Dec 2013 Location: Midlands Posts: 907
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Before anyone else says 'rising damp', please take a proper look at the link in my previous post, above.
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3rd Mar 2015 8:48am |
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| landy andy Member Since: 15 Feb 2009 Location: Ware, Herts Posts: 5703
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From my experience getting a survey done, tends to equal someone telling you the most exspensive way of going about a small problem. Find your self a good local tradesman, with some lateral thinking. These old houses have stood for many many years and the causes of the damp tend to be more what has been added or altered. Old places will always be slightly damp, but there are easy ways of keeping on top of these.
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3rd Mar 2015 8:49am |
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| defender4 Member Since: 22 Jun 2011 Location: South East London Posts: 411
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Before anyone else says 'rising damp', please take a proper look at the link in my previous post, above.
... then I bow to the more knowledgeable advice from others please take a proper look at my previous post, above |
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3rd Mar 2015 9:51am |
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| landy andy Member Since: 15 Feb 2009 Location: Ware, Herts Posts: 5703
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Must admit that I did not read your link, but that is my thoughts exactly. Many many people like to earn money from others problems. |
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3rd Mar 2015 11:16am |
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