Damp in bays - driving me mental

My house is approx 100 years old. To the front I have two bays made out of York stone but painted by previous owner.

Both bays have recently been soaking and the water appears to start at the sill and radiate down and outwards.

So I had the bays and side and bay joints repointed with lime mortar as it was in poor nick. It seems to have helped but it's still happening. I've tried revealing the Windows but still it persists.

Driving me bananas. Any ideas to try, I'll get some photos up asap

Phone a damp expert?

Hedge said:

Phone a damp expert?

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Thank you. Also if everyone else on here could just ring a pc expert instead of posting up for advice and suggestions...

I was hoping there may be some members who might be able to make some suggestions for me to have a look at?

Bays are renowned for leaking, most people get rid of them. Have you got cavity wall insulation? Could be water getting in from the roof. Bit hard to tell unless you start taking it apart.
The bay in our house was taken out, but we are going to get a new one put in.

bushmins said:

Bays are renowned for leaking, most people get rid of them.

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Really? Most people remove bays and put straight walls/windows in instead?

Is the perimeter seal of the windows in good condition?

The paint wont be helping as the stone is saturated with water and it cant get out.

I'm wondering about the window seals. They look ok but I might get the local glaziers round to see if anything is untoward.

Theres no cavity in any of my walls.

I did suggest to the wife I might rip the sills off to have a better look. Did not go down well. I'll wait till she goes out....

Do you have suspended floors or solid concrete? If suspended get in the crawl space and make sure the air bricks are clear. I had a similar issue (1940's house with bay) and cleaning them out/adding new ones meant the air could flow and reduce the potential for damp. Also if you have a flat bay roof, make sure the water is running off the front and not down the wall of the house, again had that issue too

Do you have any photos?

My single glazed window on my landing is condensating a lot in current climate, there is often water on the window sill when I wake up in the morning. Maybe you are getting a lot of moisture in a similar way?

If they are old stone sills they are supposed to have a grooves (sorry don't know what the real name is? driprails?) cut longitudinally underneath that sill. This helps stop water running down the sill, then clinging on to the underside and running back into the brickwork, especially if they have been painted numerous time over the years. Worth a look, won't cost you owt

DampDog said:

If they are old stone sills they are supposed to have a grooves (sorry don't know what the real name is? driprails?) cut longitudinally underneath that sill. This helps stop water running down the sill, then clinging on to the underside and running back into the brickwork, especially if they have been painted numerous time over the years. Worth a look, won't cost you owt

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They're called capillary grooves iirc

Sorry for the late replies guys. They are old stone sills, york stone I think.

Here's the upstairs bay inside:



Outside after the repointing (downstairs bay)



Upstairs bay bad joints repointed also.

What paint is on the stonework? Could it be a case of water ingress through cracks in the impermeable paint coating which then permeates through the rock and out of the other side which doesn't have a coating. It also looks like the walls are dry lined, it could be a case that the wall was always damp but breathable and the dry lining is trapping the moisture or has created an interstitial condensation issue.

Is drylining using plasterboard on the walls? If so they are not dry lined.

I have been wondering about the paint and it something I discussed with the stone mason ( I believe the paint is bog standard weathershield stuff and likely preventing my bay breathing). Any cracks/bulges in paint have been scrapped away but I am thinking along the lines of a full restoration of the frontage now.