Rising damp - 3 metres high!

[desbury]

Hi, greetings from Ireland!
See photo attached of my large kitchen.  No ventilation issues.
House is redbrick build in 1904 and renovated 25 years ago.
See the "green circle number 1"... This is clearly rising damp.
However, see also green circle 4 and 2.    These are giving damp readings of 20% and 30%.

That whole internal wall is about 10 metres long with multiple damp patches.   See also that the photo shows the external of the kitchen (yellow). 
Note that the flat roof is not perfect but is 5 metres away from some of the damp.

QUESTION: Have I both rising damp AND another form of damp?   Is it possible that there is a "pool" of water hidden in the wall??

[ProDave]

Can we see a better picture of outside including more detail of what the ground surface is and how it relates to internal floor level please?

 

Are any other external walls, e.g. at the front of the house showing damp or are they okay?

[Roger440]

Unless your walls are made of sponge, moisture wont rise 3m. Around about 1m is normal.

 

Id suggest you have some issue from above as well as below.

 

Im going to guess no DPC given the age. And gypsum plastrer inside, and cement render outside?

 

[Nickfromwales]

6 hours ago, desbury said:

House is redbrick build in 1904 and renovated 25 years ago

So is this 9" wall brick with no cavity? I expect so.

 

What you have here, sir, is "penetrating" damp. Find the epicentre of each problem area and get the drill out. This will get messy and worse, before it gets better.

 

This isn't a rising damp problem, for sure, just rainwater finding its way down through the old mortar perps and into the interior surface of the wall, or, is the same thing you see with older walls that have knackered, corroded cavity wall ties that are then bridging the damp across them; you can almost find the fault to the nearest 100mm.

[desbury]

Thanks all for responding.  I have a theory...
See photo and notice the green arrow pointing on the top left... point "A"... this is drain from a 5 year old bathroom.

Would a leak from the drain in the bathroom have caused damp in point "B".   Point C has some damp too.

 

Edited January 25 by desbury

[Nickfromwales]

Is the pipe sealed well with a good external grade mastic? 
 

Also, note the brick vent set into the wall, another possible cause or point where rainwater may be getting driven in. 
 

Water / damp does very mysterious things, unfortunately, but could you confirm if this is a solid brick wall without cavity? The air brick makes me wonder, or is that from an extractor fan / other?

[twice round the block]

You may want to pull the planters away from the wall to give some air circulation 

[ETC]

Vent is a larder or what was a larder.

Damp getting in at either the door jamb or lintel.

[desbury]

On 25/01/2025 at 16:24, Nickfromwales said:

Is the pipe sealed well with a good external grade mastic? 
 

Also, note the brick vent set into the wall, another possible cause or point where rainwater may be getting driven in. 
 

Water / damp does very mysterious things, unfortunately, but could you confirm if this is a solid brick wall without cavity? The air brick makes me wonder, or is that from an extractor fan / other?

Thanks,
1. This is close-up of the shower drain.  It does not appear to be sealed ?? *** Should I seal it?
2. I can block the air brick - it's just a legacy thing ..There is no extractor.. The kitchen is large and well vented (probably too well vented!)
3. Cavity wall?  I'm not a builder and am not sure of the answer.  However, it's a red brick house built in 1904.  What's the likely situation?

Two other possible complications:
4. May not be relevant but we installed underfloor heating (water) in the entire house (all floors) - 25 years ago.  No known leakage.
5. The hot water cylinder/immersion burst about 15 years ago ...there was too much pressure in it and the metal casing split ... flooded the kitchen .... a fair bit of water but probably only for 20 minutes ... as we turned off water supply.

 

[Nickfromwales]

50 minutes ago, desbury said:

Thanks,
1. This is close-up of the shower drain.  It does not appear to be sealed ?? *** Should I seal it?
2. I can block the air brick - it's just a legacy thing ..There is no extractor.. The kitchen is large and well vented (probably too well vented!)
3. Cavity wall?  I'm not a builder and am not sure of the answer.  However, it's a red brick house built in 1904.  What's the likely situation?

Two other possible complications:
4. May not be relevant but we installed underfloor heating (water) in the entire house (all floors) - 25 years ago.  No known leakage.
5. The hot water cylinder/immersion burst about 15 years ago ...there was too much pressure in it and the metal casing split ... flooded the kitchen .... a fair bit of water but probably only for 20 minutes ... as we turned off water supply.

 

Defo seal around that pipe! Clear CT1 will do a great job. Leave the tip cut at it’s narrowest and inject into the void until you see it come flush to the render, then cut to an 8mm nozzle and do a 360 around. Use cheap baby wipes to clean up the goop, and the gun, and your hands, as CT1 is sticky as feck.

 

Where does the vent appear inside the house? May have been there to compliment a solid fuel

or gas appliance. If you e a modern, room sealed boiler now then the likelihood is that the vent is now just a nuisance and is adding a lot to your heating demand. So, yes, consider getting rid.

Can you measure the thickness of the wall, and if it’s the length of a brick plus mortar / plaster etc then a cavity can be ruled out. 
 

I went to a similar call-out in an immaculate £(x)m+ house with a burst cylinder. Indoor water feature……😵‍💫 but I doubt your internal plumbing is relevant here. If the UFH was leaking you’d be topping up the boiler ever couple of days. 

[desbury]

40 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

Defo seal around that pipe! Clear CT1 will do a great job. Leave the tip cut at it’s narrowest and inject into the void until you see it come flush to the render, then cut to an 8mm nozzle and do a 360 around. Use cheap baby wipes to clean up the goop, and the gun, and your hands, as CT1 is sticky as feck.

 

Where does the vent appear inside the house? May have been there to compliment a solid fuel

or gas appliance. If you e a modern, room sealed boiler now then the likelihood is that the vent is now just a nuisance and is adding a lot to your heating demand. So, yes, consider getting rid.

Can you measure the thickness of the wall, and if it’s the length of a brick plus mortar / plaster etc then a cavity can be ruled out. 
 

I went to a similar call-out in an immaculate £(x)m+ house with a burst cylinder. Indoor water feature……😵‍💫 but I doubt your internal plumbing is relevant here. If the UFH was leaking you’d be topping up the boiler ever couple of days. 

Thanks again Nick,
You are very helpful.
(Incidentally, I was amazed when the cylinder split open ... "Indoor water feature" ... nice!)
The wall does seem thick .. more that a brick plus mortar.

Separate issue in same room.
See photo of kitchen sink - same bloody kitchen!
There is clear damp here.  I wonder is it straightforward??
Is it just because water got under the tiles at point "A" - near the coke can??
Is it rising damp from that??
 

[Nickfromwales]

5 minutes ago, desbury said:

The wall does seem thick .. more that a brick plus mortar.

More than the length (not width) of a common brick you say? 

[Nickfromwales]

6 minutes ago, desbury said:

Is it just because water got under the tiles at point "A" - near the coke can??
Is it rising damp from that??

I’d say probably, yes, so clean that junction (between worktop and tiles) thoroughly and leave to dry. 
 

Then try using some chamfered tile spacers to wedge the gap apart a little, and use the rest of the clear CT1 to seal there too. 
 

Inject it into the open gap, smooth it all back with baby wipes, (use LOTS of them vs keep using the same one), up close to the spacers, then immediately pull the spacers out to let the gap close. Wipe again with baby wipes, forcing the excess into the voids left by the spacers. 
 

Wipe it all back until you can’t see much of the CT1, and leave to cure for 48hrs. 
 

Then use a bead of quality Microban type clear silicone to give a finished cosmetic / water seal.

 

Then go to pub. 

[desbury]

The thickness of the wall that the sliding door is fitted to = 16.5 inches.

[Nickfromwales]

24 minutes ago, desbury said:

The thickness of the wall that the sliding door is fitted to = 16.5 inches.

Ok, so a bit over 400mm. Appears to be a cavity wall, so I now would put money that your damp is from ancient rotting metal cavity wall ties, which are tracking moisture / damp. 

[desbury]

Wow - the plot thickens!
In case of doubt - I am showing the way I measured the 400mm.
See the other image with the orange circles.  Where are the "cavity wall ties" ?  What do they look like? What should I google to see examples?

We put the sliding door in 25 years ago ... builder that did job may not have been meticulous.


 

[Nickfromwales]

Random Internet pic. 
 

 

These are dotted all throughout the cavity. A ferrous metal band (tie) usually with a twist in the middle to create a drip off. These rust and then track damp across, which is why the problem from the interior is so pinpoint to specific locations. It’s like someone poking a wet finger in your internal leaf of brickwork. 

[desbury]

This is fascinating!  Have a look at these old photos.  They are from another part of the kitchen.
Do these photos help confirm your theory about the "ties"??

 

[desbury]

Actually, my photos could be mis-leading.  The "right" side of the photos are the end wall of the original house.   The "left" side relates to an extension - a very old extension.  There is a RSJ just about visible at the top of my photos.

Edited January 29 by desbury

[desbury]

Nick ... what do you think of my 2 photos.   (The right side of the photos are the original end wall of house).  Is it "cavity" that might have cable tie issues causing damp??