We're redecorating our living room, and having moved all the units along the walls, we discover the source of the smell of damp...
The damp is in an external corner where we've had previous problems with seasonal movement, now resolved, and either side of a very large chimney breast, one side of which is an external wall, and the other internal. The damp is restricted to floor level & skirting board level, with damp carpet & mould growing on the skirting boards. And zillions of dead woodlice under the plinths of the units.
Is there any easy way to distinguish condensation from penetrating from rising damp?
One way to to take a glass must be glass not plastic tumbler and seal it to the wall with putty bluetack whatever normally done with floors so with walls will need a bit more support gaffer tape? the important thing is the seal then if condensation forms inside the glass then its damp on the outside its condensation doubt its a 100% proof test but the theory behind it sounds good
Assume this is ground floor? Solid floor? Is the outside wall rendered/painted? No obvious sources of excess water, like downpipes, leaking gutters etc? I'd rule out condensation in a living room, especially given the woodlice, and the remedies are likely to be pretty much the same whatever the source.
On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 10:09:28 +0100, "stuart noble" >the walls, we discover the source of the smell of damp...
My bet also is on damp.
The glass test is 100% reliable IME, but easier than using a tumbler is to get a glazier to give/sell you a 2" square or so of thin glass and seal this to the wall with a bead of plasticine or blutak around the edge. If it is condensation from the room you will see it condense on the room side, and if damp from the wall, condense on the inner side. It does work, I have tried this myself recently (it was damp).
In addition to the above list, check where the damp proof course (DPC) is on the outside (or easier on the inside if you can lift a board). Make sure the DPC is not bridged by earth etc. Officially the DPC should be some 6" above ground but ours seems to work being only 1/2" in places. Make sure rain water is not bouncing up from a patio or whatever and landing on the wall above the DPC.
I would lift a floorboard and check if the damp (if it is that) is getting into the joists or the wallplate that they rest on. Stick a screwdriver into the wood to make sure it is solid and not starting to rot. Ditto mouldy bits of skirting. Ideally the wallplate* should lie on a strip of DPC (thick black plastic strip) but in older properties is probably absent. Check the ends of joists are not quite touching a damp wall - shove a piece of DPC between those that are close to the wall.
Consider screwing the floorboard back rather than nailing for future easy access (so long as you don't anticipate stripping to a polished wood floor).
*The wallplate it the timber that the joists sit on.
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