cost of damp house fixing

Soldato
Joined
6 Sep 2016
Posts
9,438
My 1890 semi has a lot of damp, using damp tester it's pretty much all in the red downstairs. Physically damp walls, wallpaper bubbling, black and white furru mould.

He's coming back with a quote and work needed doing but just want idea upfront.

Hallway
Living/ dining
Kitchen
New floor for outhouse
Plastering and treatment of walls
New skirting
Possibly need repointing brickwork
And chimney as wet spot in cornice in bedroom where chimney is
I spent roofing flashing and soffits
Outhouse wall opposite kitchen is soaking wet
Ant soil areas touching house dug up new damp proof membrane
Damp course in cavity
Inspect carpet in living and hallway if getting mould and damp underneath

Fab :(
 
Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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25,289
Location
Lake District
This sucks, I feel for you, I've been having issues with a wall getting wet in extreme weather about a year after I moved into my house. I can't imagine how I would deal with your issue
 
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
90,805
Lived in an 1885 end terrace for awhile - was quite young at the time but from what I recall damp issues were mostly resolved/managed by having the chimney looked at and running a couple of cheapy fan heaters at the worst times for it on a low setting (~500-600watt) in strategic positions around the former outhouse that was made into an extension and seemed bad for damp.

It is an absolutely pain though - I had issues with it in a flat I lived in and the simplest option was to just move unfortunately.
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Jun 2007
Posts
9,273
1st job. Find out whats cuusing it. It could be something easy as a leaking gutter or collapsed drain. A proper damp course rather than injecting. You cant stop water!! Mountains try but fail. You can only divert it to where you can then dispose or move it to where it doesn't matter.
 
Joined
4 Aug 2007
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21,386
Location
Wilds of suffolk
A short term fix could be worth getting a dehum in

Water comes from 2 places in a house, the contact with the outside water (in air, rain, ground etc) and human habitation (cooking, breathing, showers, washing etc)
The more you can reduce the air bourne the more you will probably supress the mould spores internally which should help stop them spreading

1890s highly doubt there is a cavity, probably solid walls, so mattyg comments even more valid as if there is an issue with a gutter or something, it will clearly spread directly through the walls

i am surprised this is so bad now. Have you got double glazing?
 
Associate
Joined
9 Aug 2004
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2,061
Location
Sea of Dirac
Yes double glazed. It has a cavity it has vent slots can peer through it

Are the vents all clear of obstruction and above possible water entry? a 1890s house should have several all below the damp course and I think two bricks above ground level before the damp course.

Are the walls stone or brick? have you checked for broken pipes or leaking drains?

As others have said, a damp course can be overwhelmed

Old houses need to breath both below the floorboard and inside.
 
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Soldato
Joined
2 Nov 2002
Posts
2,807
Assuming you have a suspended wood floor I'd get lifting some floorboards and check for any standing water under the house. I've just had some walls treated (plaster hacked off, damp proof render) I think it was about £50 per linear metre.
However, this just masks the source of the damp. I lifted floorboards to find standing water under certain areas of the house = root cause. I spent my weekends last December digging a sump pit which has controlled the subfloor water ingress.
Damp proofers seem more concerned with slapping their render on and injecting DPC than addressing the root cause.
 
Soldato
Joined
3 Oct 2009
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19,892
Location
Wales
Check there isn't another problem. My damp "specialist" survey came back and said most of my walls would need to be hacked back, dpc injected and replastered amongst other things downstairs because of high damp meter readings..the upstairs rooms had been affected by condensation etc.

When I started ripping the place apart downstairs I found that the carpet underlay was basically rotten across the entire living room and dining room. It was worst by the chimney. Opened up the chimney vent and it was absolutely jam packed with dog hair/dust/debris etc. No air flow whatsoever.

Stripped the vinyl wallpaper off the wall and chimney and the plaster underneath was soaking wet to the touch.

My best guess is water was getting in the chimney (the survey did suggest it needed some repointing) but had no ventilation and nowhere to go but down into the floor and track across the carpet. To the extent the moisture was getting into walls across the ground floor of the house!

After clearing out the chimney vent fully and just painting the chimney (no watertight wallpaper :rolleyes: I haven't had a single problem and there is no evidence of damp anywhere on the ground floor.

Also no condensation issues upstairs as I just have window vents open. Previous owner had them all shut.
 
Associate
Joined
6 Apr 2006
Posts
1,383
Firstly, how did he measure the damp?

I assume with a damp meter but did he use the probe (pins) or have it flat to wall?

It would be worth uploading a video to YouTube for us walking around the affected areas, move outside and film around begin these areas, move outside and look at the height of the path/paving/drive. If you have suspended floors look for air bricks and there relitive height.

A video panning up and down, left to right slowly whilst walking all over the interior and the exterior will likely solve the issue.
 
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