I recently had damp injections in my house and the guy that did it told me not to wall paper for 6months. Just wondering why this would be as its been over a month now and the plaster seems dry to my amateur eye?
Because damp injections don't work, and 6 months puts you firmly in the middle of summer when you're very unlikely to have any damp problems.
Presumably you had the plaster stripped off and the wall re-plastered at the level of the skirting board and a few inches above, in the area affected by rising damp, in which case I assume the advice not to wall paper was because new plaster is best not papered for 6 months. It needs to dry out properly.
Regarding whether this treatment works or not, if there is no significant difference in damp meter readings in 6 month's time compared with the pre-treatment readings then you may have grounds to claim under the guarantee. See Rising Damp at
If done properly then they are very effective.
dg
Its probably due to drying - damp walls will take months to dry out. Its not just a case of the plaster appearing to be dry.
It may not be 6 months though, try 3-4.
dg
No, they aren't.
If you have had the plaster stripped off and replaced (I hope you have as it's the plaster that has the problem) the new plaster will take all the colour out of any new wall paper- after 6 months or so the nasties in the plaster that do this will have disappeared. You can paint it until then, though the professional damp proofers will recommend that you do not use vinyl paints as they tend to form a vapour proof barrier (not a good idea with damp problems!)- old fashioned distemper paints are better though not easy to find. Francis
Not quite. They are in fact, as has already been said, almost completely ineffective. However, the process of installing them usually cures the problem as it involves clearing rubbish and plant growth from around the external walls to gain access to the injection points.
If the walls are cleared completely then damp problems generally disappear by themselves as the cause is removed. Contrary to the publicity of the dampfmeisters "rising" damp doesn't.
As I have mentioned before some years ago around here a damp company got into rather severe financial difficulty and for the last year (or possibly more) of its existence was injecting walls not with silicone fluid but with tap water. When this was discovered (when the company was in administration) past customers were contacted. Not one had a problem with damp.
Damp meter readings are completely meaningless and can be manipulated by the operator to produce anything they wish. It's only a resistance meter - it doesn't measure damp at all.
I've seen one of the numptys who generally use these announce a perfectly dry piece of foil backed plasterboard (the foil of course shorted the meter prongs quite effectively) was so water sodden the house was about to collapse. The total absence of any indication of damp whatsoever was irrelevant to him - his magic meter had spoke.
It all depends on where the damp actually comes from.
Injecting a wall that has a DPC and is suffering from a problem other than rising damp is of course a complete con.
However when there is a genuine problem with rising damp it is incredibly effective as a means to stall it.
IME it's replacing the plaster that cures the symptoms on the inside. They normally replace it with a cement render, but whether the injection fluid does anything I'm not so sure. OTOH there's no point in pretending that damp goes away on its own if you deal with the obvious causes. Most instances I've come across in older houses are simply a case of rain penetrating porous masonry. I've no doubt the original structure was fine but materials degrade over time.
Err, the standard replastering after having a chemical DPC involves rendering the inside of the wall with a waterproof mortar mix then skimming with plaster. ;-)
Distemper is the last thing I'd put on it, too. I can't see any good reason to do that.
do you have any more info on this? It would be interesting.
The problem is that only a tiny percentage of damp problems are rising, despite the enthusiastic conclusions of the damp-proofing sellers.
Most cases are condensation, some are penetrating damp. Both can be cured at a fraction the cost of a dpm.
And of course of the many damp problem diagnoses, many arent damp at all.
NT
Just had the same as you. Guy who did the injections said 6 months. Guy who did plastering said that it should be ok in 3-4 weeks.
Rob
I'll see if I can find anything from the local paper. The business was run by two brothers who managed to get into debt but struggled on for a long time. At some stage in the process their silicone liquid supplier stopped supplying them. They then had the idea of using water to stave off collapse to give them time to try to recover the business.
Apparently they had no specific intention of defrauding people by doing this - their plan was to go back later with the real liquid when customers complained. However, no one complained. There was some doubt over how long this went on for but it was at least 12 months. When the company finally sank it was to general regret. They were actually good workmen renowned for their tidy work and well liked by their clients. They were however, no use at running a business. It seems they took rather long to realise that VAT, Tax and NI are not optional payments.
The Receiver contacted their customers who had no complaints :-) Apparently their meticulous clearing of the sides of houses was more effective than the glop.
A placebo cure for damp!
MBQ
OK I know I shouldn't reply to my own post, but maybe it was actually an advanced form of homeopathy. The water contained a very minute trace of the damp proofing chemicals from previous use of the equipment. After all, homeopaths and damp proofers are about equally trustworthy!
MBQ
Hardly, since they are just as evident in a hot summer and appear, oddly enough, to coincide with rainfall, but perhaps this is too simple an explanation for you. Also, it may have escaped your attention that most homes are centrally heated these days, making condensation on walls unlikely, even in winter.
Penetrating damp can occur at any height so the damp course has nothing to do with it. Still, details of your low cost cure would be interesting.
So these walls that look and feel damp don't have a damp problem?
They did use the old treatment chemical containers to carry the water so you might be on to something here :-).
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