minimatt
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hyper mediocrity
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Post by minimatt on Oct 29, 2021 2:25:04 GMT
Sooo. Painting ground floor spare room last night and can now see lower ~30cm of paint on one wall - the exterior facing wall - is bubbling. And sure enough the skirting board feels just a little bit damp. There was evidence of a bit of mould in this location when we moved in but had hoped that bleaching, sanding back, and painting over the problem would make it magically go away...
So weekend job will be removing skirting, then possibly carpet (which feels dry, no evidence of damp, but is fairly hideous), then possibly cutting & lifting some floorboards to see what's going on.
Was hoping it might be condensation or historic damp caused by leaking roof we fixed when we moved in & room hadn't quite dried out yet. But would condensation limit itself to lower ~30cm?
~1950s cavity wall, DPC either bitumen or plastic looks ok and external wall looks fine, no evidence of any damp from the outside. It's possible surface drainage goes under this room. Air brick looks clear enough, if more cramped than I would have expected and does whiff a bit musty (and yes, I'm out with a torch at 3am sniffing bricks, got to give the neighbours something to talk about)
Rising damp or condensation? Any tips for minimising damage when lifting boards? Guessing going to have to cut the tongue & groove out before crowbar. I *think* boards are likely to run perpendicular to the affected wall so probably want to cut the board too. Please be condensation. Just realised it's 50/50 chance mains electricity is delivered underneath this room and along this wall too, just to add a frisson of danger to investigations.
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Post by elstoof on Oct 29, 2021 6:22:17 GMT
What’s in the room above? I rented a flat in uni with a damp bedroom, landlord put a dpc in before I moved in, turned to be a leaking shower tray dripping inside the wall and pooling up
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Post by Dougs on Oct 29, 2021 6:33:46 GMT
That does sound like condensation and black spot mold to me (assuming it's in the bottom corner). Probably just needs to dry out properly. Damp treatment specialist recommended painting over with gloss once all dry.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2021 6:45:09 GMT
It might be that the previous occupants applied something over the lower 30cm of the wall to deal with the damp and your repaint is reacting to that.
If that's the case, then scraping back and applying a primer (you don't mention having done that) should fix it.
Otherwise its damp I think, but I find it odd that it is in a 30cm line, which makes me think its something put on the wall.
[edit] Couple of minutes of reading and there are possible other reasons. They may have had to replaster the bottom of the wall. That plaster will be different to the rest of the wall and probably unprimed.
You might have debris in your air gap (the bottom 30cm) and this might be causing damp to transfer from outside. You might have damage to your external wall (cracks in mortar or bricks, screw holes left unfilled).
It may also be condensation that you are feeling on the skirting board as that wall will be the coldest and if you have a humid house then it could be the cause. The coldest part of the external facing wall is the bottom apparently.
As its only the external facing wall with the issue, I can't see it being rising damp as that would impact other walls I think (I'm no an expert by any stretch). My guess is an historical issue (possibly the condensation) which has caused a repair and new plaster / paint at the bottom which you're not bonding with.
I could be talking bollocks though
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minimatt
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hyper mediocrity
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Post by minimatt on Oct 29, 2021 9:38:41 GMT
thanks folks, just stuck a hygrometer in there and it is quite humid, 76% rh at 19c
didn't prime the plaster beyond a mist coat so may have bollocksed up there? apparent there have been odd repairs over the years, some fairly large sections of filler etc, but nothing that correlates particularly clearly with the damp.
I guess best case scenario is I didn't let it dry out enough after the mist coat.
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nexus6
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Post by nexus6 on Oct 29, 2021 11:38:48 GMT
How long ago did you plaster?
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minimatt
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Post by minimatt on Oct 29, 2021 12:01:00 GMT
it's on its original plaster (or 20/30+ years at a guess) - we just bleached the mould, gave it a day, sanded back to plaster the lovely magnolia paint that'd been damaged by mould, fillered the usual bumps and scrapes, mist coat, & a day later crack on with painting rest of house was similarly bad when we bought it last year due to leaky roof we fixed as soon as we moved in. rest of house got similar treatment to above with no problem, this being a spare room has been left till last & probably got a bit worse as a result
edit: should probably note this is a bungalow, I'm 100% confident there is no longer any leaks coming from the roof on account of the amount of time I've spent in the attic this last year, the amount of time roofers have spent on the roof this last year, and the amount of new swear words I've invented in the process. Interesting fact: 1950s builders had yet to discover the spirit level. And the one bloke who bought a tape measure got bullied.
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Post by khanivor on Oct 29, 2021 12:51:23 GMT
I’d gone to replace runners on bi-fold door in closet in the attic bedroom if house I lived in. Whole attic was a home-gamer renovation job. The closet these doors were on stuck out into the room
After the new runners didn’t improve the situation I had a good look at the closet
Not one single axis was true. No plumb line, no spirit level and no tape measures were harmed (from their slumber on the store shelf) in the making of that closet.
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nexus6
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Post by nexus6 on Oct 29, 2021 13:53:30 GMT
it's on its original plaster (or 20/30+ years at a guess) - we just bleached the mould, gave it a day, sanded back to plaster the lovely magnolia paint that'd been damaged by mould, fillered the usual bumps and scrapes, mist coat, & a day later crack on with painting rest of house was similarly bad when we bought it last year due to leaky roof we fixed as soon as we moved in. rest of house got similar treatment to above with no problem, this being a spare room has been left till last & probably got a bit worse as a result
edit: should probably note this is a bungalow, I'm 100% confident there is no longer any leaks coming from the roof on account of the amount of time I've spent in the attic this last year, the amount of time roofers have spent on the roof this last year, and the amount of new swear words I've invented in the process. Interesting fact: 1950s builders had yet to discover the spirit level. And the one bloke who bought a tape measure got bullied.
I see. Must have picked up what you were saying wrong. Get yourself an inspection camera and a hammer drill with masonry bits - get right in to the cavity and see whats going on |
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minimatt
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hyper mediocrity
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Post by minimatt on Oct 31, 2021 22:09:38 GMT
Aficionados of damp discourse will be moist in anticipation of updates, I'm sure. Good news! Removed skirting board, and whilst the front is wet, the back is bone dry. Not a euphemism. Ergo, think damp is not coming from the walls, it's condensation
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cubby
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Post by cubby on Oct 31, 2021 22:52:15 GMT
I'm damp just thinking about your condensation
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cubby
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Post by cubby on Nov 4, 2021 10:48:36 GMT
Our kitchen tap is now leaking at the base. The annoying thing is that we're due to have our whole kitchen done up, and have had it delayed from a couple of weeks ago to Feb next year, so we would have been okay if there wasn't a delay.
I don't want to get a plumber in just for that, but doing it myself would need so many tools we don't have.
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Post by elstoof on Nov 4, 2021 11:01:02 GMT
If it’s a slow leak and you plan to replace it soon anyway, just smear a liberal amount of silicone sealant around the whole area. Cut the supply off first until it cures
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Post by smoothpete on Nov 4, 2021 11:05:20 GMT
We get condensation like an absolute motherfucker. We have a dehumidifier upstairs and it pulls litres of water out of the air over the course of a day
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Post by Dougs on Nov 4, 2021 11:11:39 GMT
Yeah, same here. Old houses innit.
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スコットランド
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Post by スコットランド on Nov 4, 2021 11:16:55 GMT
Yeah, same here. Old houses innit. Our rented flat is 15 years old and has constant ventilation running, I was initially unsure about it but one benefit is never getting any condensation despite shitloads of glass everywhere. I have the opposite problem with not enough humidity. I was thinking of getting a humidifier for winter as my skin gets so dry, are they worth it? |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2021 11:29:02 GMT
Hi Ecosse, I'm not sure on humidifiers (as I've not had one aside from little ones for colds), however I do get dry skin in the winter from the central heating. What I finds helps a lot is a bath with baby oil added (a doctor recommended it ages back). It really sorts my skin out for a week or two. I've never tried a humidifier for my skin though. I'd be worried about it leading to fungal growth somewhere out of sight that my lungs discovered.
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Post by Dougs on Nov 4, 2021 11:30:53 GMT
Best cream for dry skin ime is a simple aqueous cream. Apparently I smell like a hospital but it's cheap and fantastic imo.
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Post by elstoof on Nov 4, 2021 11:52:58 GMT
Body shop hemp cream is a beauty
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スコットランド
Junior Member
Delicious gruel
Posts: 3,934
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Post by スコットランド on Nov 4, 2021 11:58:59 GMT
Hi Ecosse, I'm not sure on humidifiers (as I've not had one aside from little ones for colds), however I do get dry skin in the winter from the central heating. What I finds helps a lot is a bath with baby oil added (a doctor recommended it ages back). It really sorts my skin out for a week or two. I've never tried a humidifier for my skin though. I'd be worried about it leading to fungal growth somewhere out of sight that my lungs discovered. Cheers, we have underfloor heating, not sure if that's better or worse than normal radiators, I usually use plenty of body cream but have wondered about humidifiers. I like the sexy baby oil talk though, I'll give it a try... |
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Post by dominalien on Nov 4, 2021 12:19:03 GMT
It's definitely worth having a bunch of tools if you own a house, lots of the small repairs are really easy and it makes no sense to call someone in, especially as you never know if they're going to do a better job than you.
I used to be scared of hydraulics, I got flooded a couple of times, but I've fitted some things and done some repairs over the years and I sort of got the hang of it.
I fitted drainage pipes under the terrace and into the ground away from the house recently after I got the roof replaced (now that I didn't do by myself), was a lot of work but I'm very happy with the result. I'm fitting an underwater rainwater tank next year and that was in preparation for that and I'm sure I'll do it myself, maybe with some help from a friend.
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Post by smoothpete on Nov 4, 2021 12:25:54 GMT
DIY and skincare advice, perfect combo
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2021 12:40:07 GMT
Hi Ecosse, I'm not sure on humidifiers (as I've not had one aside from little ones for colds), however I do get dry skin in the winter from the central heating. What I finds helps a lot is a bath with baby oil added (a doctor recommended it ages back). It really sorts my skin out for a week or two. I've never tried a humidifier for my skin though. I'd be worried about it leading to fungal growth somewhere out of sight that my lungs discovered. Cheers, we have underfloor heating, not sure if that's better or worse than normal radiators, I usually use plenty of body cream but have wondered about humidifiers. I like the sexy baby oil talk though, I'll give it a try...  If you do it, don't towel it off, just pat yourself dry as much as you need to and it will soak in better. Works wonders for me anyway. |
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Post by Dougs on Nov 4, 2021 13:15:50 GMT
Body shop hemp cream is a beauty Yep, for hands, that is ace. |
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Post by Zomoniac on Nov 4, 2021 13:19:51 GMT
Thirded on the Body Shop hemp cream for hands. In cold winters my hands go bright blue, then split and bleed everywhere. If you get it really bad like me then a thick covering of hemp cream on the hands then going to bed with some cotton gloves on will sort it right out.
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Post by Dougs on Nov 4, 2021 13:22:31 GMT
Mine are similar. As were my dad's. He used to have to superglue the splits on his hands quite regularly.
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cubby
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Post by cubby on Nov 4, 2021 13:27:28 GMT
If it’s a slow leak and you plan to replace it soon anyway, just smear a liberal amount of silicone sealant around the whole area. Cut the supply off first until it cures Tempting to try. Annoying as we have the replacement tap already, but it won't fit the fixture. |
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nexus6
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Post by nexus6 on Nov 4, 2021 13:35:36 GMT
Mine are similar. As were my dad's. He used to have to superglue the splits on his hands quite regularly. That's damn manly that. |
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Post by Dougs on Nov 4, 2021 13:54:15 GMT
S'what it was invented for after all.
He was also a plumber so could have sorted out the tap
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Post by khanivor on Nov 4, 2021 18:23:56 GMT
If it’s a slow leak and you plan to replace it soon anyway, just smear a liberal amount of silicone sealant around the whole area. Cut the supply off first until it cures If you can’t/won’t fix it, caulk it |
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If you do it, don't towel it off, just pat yourself dry as much as you need to and it will soak in better. Works wonders for me anyway. 