Part of my flat always feels colder and damper than the rest. It has no cavity in the walls and they always feel cold. I don't have any rising damp, but there was some penetrating damp last year until I discovered where it came from, and the walls pretty much dried out. But it still feels sort of clammy in there. I was wondering about hiring the kit and injecting the walls with that fluid (whatever it is). Would it likely help, or should I forget the idea?
Thanks
John
Forget the idea. The injection damp course will not insulate the wall. Because there is no cavity, the wall is leaking heat out and allowing cold in, so your best idea would be to dry line the interior and install some foam insulation. This should increase the heat retaining properties of the wall and stop it feeling so clammy.
There is always that danger that you can trap damp IN with such a treatment. That's what always slightly concerns me about these waterproofers you can apply to external brickwork - how is the moisture in the brickwork supposed to get out (unless the waterproofer is permeable). What is your external wall surface? If its painted render it may be that a modern non-breathable paint has been used which is preventing the wall from drying out thoroughly. Also you should remember that walls that have been subjected to considerable penetrating damp can take a long time to dry out.
With solid wall construction there were basically two ways of controlling damp internally - firstly the walls were lined and hence the internal surface was kept away from the damp external wall, and secondly there was also plenty of ventilation (via chimneys and the windows) to keep the internal moisture content low.
Paul
Do you mean that all in one thick insulating board with foil on the back. Scary, never done anything like that!
J
If you're scared by insulation board, damp proof injections must terrify you!
Seriously, it's much easier to dry line. While I'm here, I'll second BigWallop's advice - injecting won't achieve anything. Don't bother.
Was it like that when you moved in?
Is your flat on the ground floor?
Do you have adequate ventilation in the part of the flat that you refer to as: "But it still feels sort of clammy in there."
Quite often people bring damp problems on themselves by changing the way a room or the home was intended to be used. Failing to keep water channels free, both on the roof and on the ground near walls etc is the obvious way but quite often in a bid to cut heating bills the vents in a room are blocked. Or perhaps a kitchen is installed in a different part of the house, a chimney blocked but the flue left open. All sorts of reasons that get overlooked by all sorts of people -including experts.
Foam backed plasterboard. Never used it, but it is widely available.
I can drill, but I can't plaster!
Just looked into it - a layer of Celotex insulation is 45mm, they specify a
25mm gap, then plasterboar at 12.5mm so you lose 82.5mm from the size of the room, which was not big in the first place. Any idea if there's a more compact solution?JK
It's a small addition to the rear of the house. It has a flat roof and a concrete floor and no cavity in the walls. Originally it was a (chilly) bathroom and a utility area off the kitchen. I think it was done on the cheap by the GLC. I think it was never designed with warmth in mind, so you're right, in a way, except I'm trying to bring warmth to an area that is naturally cold!
Found it. Kingspam Thermawall, very cheap, variety of thicknesses. Cheers. Still scary though, all that stuff about window and door reveals, no idea what the terminology means!
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