chimney breast removed - damp patches on wall.....!!

Aug 21, 2006 3 Replies

Hi



I wonder if anyone can shed any light on a problem I am having with damp patches on my dining room wall where there used to be a chimney breast.



We bought the house a year ago and there were no signs of any damp on the wall (previous owners must have painted before selling) Anyway, when I got the keys I noticed damp patches on the wall where the breast used to be, from the top of my wall down the wall, but not actually on my ceiling. The damp isnt coloured with soot, its just wet patches and is NOT a problem at all in the bedroom directly above. The breast was removed all the way to the loft conversion and there is a slight problem in this room but strangely the damp IS coloured a light brown colour in this room.......!



I have tried to paint the problem with anti-damp paint but within 4 months the damp has come back. The flashing was done last year so there is no problems with this



any help would be welcome



If youve got water there, the only solutions are: find and fix the source of water find cause of condensation and fix it

Paint isnt going to help any.

I'd check the outside to make sure the pointings ok, check the rainwater system to make sure water isnt being dumped on the wall, and if those are not the problem I'd be thinking either salt contamination, or maybe its the only single skin bit of wall, resulting in condensation.

NT

Is it an exterior wall? If it is, then it's likely to be penetrating damp, have you checked the outside brickwork?

If it's an interior wall then your flashings have failed, why the damp isn't showing on wall in the bedroom between dining room and loft is a mystery, maybe that part was rendered with damproof render, either way, the rain is getting down one way or another, if it backs onto another chimney (next door's maybe) then it could be coming down their chimney and running into your wall.

Is/was this a partie chimney breast wall? possibly the neighbours chimney breast is taking in water and seeping into the brickwork your side?

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