kreb Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Hi, I'm wondering if anyone has any advice for me. I live in an old stone house. We have just removed cupboards from in front of a wall as we are changing the use of the room. Behind the wall we have found damp. This wall sits right at a road, but is under ground level. It's impossible to do anything from the external side for this reason. Can anything else be done to help get rid/stop the damp? Would a DPC injection be effective here? TIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 I used to own a 50% stake in a large damp proofing company and we only used electro Osmosis on stone walls We never found the silicon injection or creams to be totally be effective Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Welcome 37 minutes ago, kreb said: We have just removed cupboards from in front Was it a kitchen. or an unheated room? It may be worth leaving it a while to see if it dries out naturally. 12 minutes ago, nod said: only used electro Osmosis on stone walls Did it really work. The physics says it should, but I have always been dubious. Too many other variables for my liking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpd Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 I expect it’s because it’s the coldest, most unventilated area you probably have and is damp through a mixture of interior condensation and moisture coming in from the outside, a quick option is to clean it with a bleach / anti mould solution and then paint with a bathroom anti mould paint. Then leave it open so that it’s well ventilated and warm. If this fails then I would consider levelling back the surface and fully bonding on some ridged insulation…. This may just move the problem to another section of the room but heat and ventilation will really help. I have lived in numerous houses with this problem…. Total interior insulation has always resolved the problem for me , But I don’t know your situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 29 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: Welcome Was it a kitchen. or an unheated room? It may be worth leaving it a while to see if it dries out naturally. Did it really work. The physics says it should, but I have always been dubious. Too many other variables for my liking. We where doing around 70 damp courses a month Perhaps around 10 of those where Osmo Whilst they where more expensive We never had any call backs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ETC Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 50 minutes ago, nod said: I used to own a 50% stake in a large damp proofing company and we only used electro Osmosis on stone walls We never found the silicon injection or creams to be totally be effective It’s all a load of balls. The only solution to damp in an old stone wall is for the wall to be able to breath, removing sources of water from the walls and the use of prosper breathable construction materials. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger440 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 3 minutes ago, ETC said: It’s all a load of balls. The only solution to damp in an old stone wall is for the wall to be able to breath, removing sources of water from the walls and the use of prosper breathable construction materials. Inclined to agree. Ive had 2 houses that have had chemical injections. Completely (ineffecive) joke. If its below ground level and a road is the other side though, thats going to be a problem. Whatever you do in that circustance, the wall will remain damp. Its just how you live with it, disguise it etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 5 minutes ago, ETC said: removing sources of water from the walls That is probably the most important bit and the part of the solution that is probably not done properly, if at all. Too many people want to treat damp as a decoration problem, not a physics problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Just now, Roger440 said: Inclined to agree. Ive had 2 houses that have had chemical injections. Completely (ineffecive) joke. If its below ground level and a road is the other side though, thats going to be a problem. Whatever you do in that circustance, the wall will remain damp. Its just how you live with it, disguise it etc. As I say The Ossy is far better than the chemical The chemical works fine The free paper adds killed our business overnight With so called pros undercutting us by 70% Virtually what we were paying for the materials Over a six month period we had seven gangs covering three new jobs per week A typical dpc would be done over four days With a product guarantee of 25 year and our no quibble guarantee of one year Then all these adds appeared Typical home £200 NO vat Cash fully damp proofed 25 year guarantee certificate of course they didn’t cure the damp But the homeowner had got there mortgage and saved 500 quid A real shame as it was a great business Even the banks and building societies dropped as we had suddenly become to expensive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger440 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 2 minutes ago, nod said: As I say The Ossy is far better than the chemical The chemical works fine The free paper adds killed our business overnight With so called pros undercutting us by 70% Virtually what we were paying for the materials Over a six month period we had seven gangs covering three new jobs per week A typical dpc would be done over four days With a product guarantee of 25 year and our no quibble guarantee of one year Then all these adds appeared Typical home £200 NO vat Cash fully damp proofed 25 year guarantee certificate of course they didn’t cure the damp But the homeowner had got there mortgage and saved 500 quid A real shame as it was a great business Even the banks and building societies dropped as we had suddenly become to expensive Im afraid you will not convince me that its anything other than a good wheeze to make cash. Appreciate you may think/believe otherwise. Ive seen enough of it to know it doesnt work. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 3 minutes ago, Roger440 said: Im afraid you will not convince me that its anything other than a good wheeze to make cash. Appreciate you may think/believe otherwise. Ive seen enough of it to know it doesnt work. Bad experience with cowboys 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger440 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 1 minute ago, nod said: Bad experience with cowboys 😂 I didnt have it done. Both my houses had had it done previously. Both were damp well above floor level. Ive also seen a fair few others. My current house is the best. Holes drilled in what i believe is whinstone. Completely impervious to water, but the chemical will somehow infiltrate the wall, (nearly 2 ft thick) and create a moisture impermeable layer. Sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ETC Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 When’s the last time anyone saw a completely sodden canal side wall - I’ll bet my hat that it’s never seen a chemical or electrical DPC. Physics guys - just physics! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ETC Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 25 minutes ago, Roger440 said: Im afraid you will not convince me that its anything other than a good wheeze to make cash. Appreciate you may think/believe otherwise. Ive seen enough of it to know it doesnt work. Absolutely - a complete waste of money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger440 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 7 minutes ago, ETC said: When’s the last time anyone saw a completely sodden canal side wall - I’ll bet my hat that it’s never seen a chemical or electrical DPC. Physics guys - just physics! Yep. But the rule is, never mention canal walls or buildings built in rivers and canals. Because then you start questioning things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceverge Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 There's no rocket science with damp. It just needs to be able to dry faster than it can get wet. In this case you can't prevent it getting wet. An external french drain would be ideal but alas, not possible. You need to let it dry faster that it's getting wet. Heat and ventilate internally, remove any internal paint and or plaster of low vapour permeability. Cement based plaster or emulsion based paints etc. Assuming the floor is also of low vapour permeability the moisture will be all drying via the wall as it has nowhere else to go. If you were to dig out the floor and install an internal perimeter drain to a sump/pump it would relieve much of the moisture pressure from the wall too and it wouldn't be evident above floor level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 21 minutes ago, Iceverge said: There's no rocket science with damp. It just needs to be able to dry faster than it can get wet. Very true. Stopping it getting properly wet in the first place should be the main objective. 23 minutes ago, Iceverge said: Cement based plaster Cement based can be just as porous as any other bases. Really down to the mix being suitable for the job. Trouble is, there are too many ill informed tossers working in the building trade. 26 minutes ago, Iceverge said: If you were to dig out the floor and install an internal perimeter drain to a sump/pump Check the ground level outside first, it pay be easier to remove a spades width of build up soil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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