Hi all,
Can anyone explain what kind of damp this is and what might be causing it? There is nothing amiss or damaged on the outside of the building that could account for it so I'm at a complete loss as to what the underlying problem could be. Here's a pic:
Somehow managing to get around the door frame ?
I can't see any defects with the sealant around the outside, though.
Getting in at the top of the frame (side or top surface) and dripping down the voids in the frame. Building up at the bottom. Look for pinholes in the sealant around the top.
Bill
It could be water getting through bad pointing or cement rendering as well as the above. It could be many feet above the door and dripping on to the cavity tray above the door & running off the end of it.
Perhaps, or common or garden rising damp but held back by an impervious plaster, or plaster over tanked brickwork?
Might only be apparent if the person actually takes off the interior finishes etc.. Brian
Could be condensation, but also the ground level outside could be close to the DPC. You may also get splashback from the hard surface.
(I had a similar problem here, which in the end I tracked down to a down pipe from the gutter. It went straight into the ground, but did actuall appear to be connected to the waste water pipe - stick a hose in the gutter and it ended up arriving at the septic tank.
In the end I had a dig to investigate, and found the builders had effected a transition from square downpipe, to 110mm soil pipe by stopping the downpipe a bit above the soil pipe and "sealing" the gap with a carrier bag! So a proportion of the water soaked straight into the ground right next to the wall. So I figged a proper gully with trap, and let the pipe empty into that. Replaced the rotten floor timbers, and made sure they were not pressed right up against the wall this time. Been fine since.
Has rising damp not been debunked?
Everything credible that I read suggests that 'damp' comes from above somehow.
Daughter had this in a rented place before she bought their own place. The landlord got a damp survey and I was there when the surveyor did it as daughter was at work.
He explained it was condensation. I was dubious and asked how he could tell. The explanation was that, if the moisture came through the brickwork, the minerals inhibited the black mould. The landlord installed one of those heat exchange extractors- they warm the incoming air with the outgoing (warm) air. It solved the problem.
You may not need to go as far as the extractor, just look at ventilation and possibly a dehumidifier.
I don't see how it can possibly be condensation. The opposite side you cannot see in this picture is as clean as a whistle yet it is as fully exposed to the elements as the pictured one is.
Not true.
the original timber door had a vertical dpc which would have been nailed to the vertical section of the frame and built into the two leaves of the wall around the cavity closer.
When that UPVC door was fitted, the oik who removed the old wooden frame may have pulled out this dpc and now any water getting past the outer mastic seal is making the outer leaf of the wall (hidden by the frame) damp and this is tranferring into the inner leaf and causing the problem that is now apparent.
The only solution now is to make sure the mastic or low modulus sealant is effective and free from holes.
Yup, or a lump of mortar is bridging the cavity somewhere just above where the damp is starting.
Clears that up then.
It cpould be condenastion. but my gues iss as follows, having had fairly similar issues.
Somewhere way up in yer cavity wall there is a leak, farily swmall - say
4mm diameter in some nastic etc..or an old TV aeial pulled out - and water is running down in the cavity until it gets to that window, or te door, which bridges the cavity ., stops it, and then its running off the edge and down inisde the cavity by the door frame and pooling at the bottom.So look higher - much higher for where the leak is.
I used to get water dripping from my window frame tops onto the cills from rotten bargeboards a storey above.
>
No. rsing damp exists and I had it badly. But it doesnt rise that far - in general if you get a foot above the water table you are unfortunate. My house when I demiolished it has softe red brick fireplaces and chinsys sitting in what was a pool of aater after it rained under the house.
Damp would appear and blow the plaster up to about 8" from the floor - 1 foot from the water. A previous cottage on the fens with a crap DPC and a SOLID 4" brick wall was damp to a similar height in the kitchen until I hard rendered it with cement
I agree. You have a leak a LONG way from where that is. Above the door or the window. Could be right up at eaves level
Assuming a cavity wall.
But it is NOT as prevalent as people think it is
Worth hosing it on the outside to see if it leaks.
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