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Plastering & Rendering

Can wall be plastered if bricks are wet after leak?

Anonymous user 28/02/2024 - 3.48 PM

We had a continuous leak into the outer wall in my son's bedroom since we moved into our Victorian house 2.5 years ago, due to a poor renovation by the previous owners. We have since had the chimney removed, the roof replaced and the outside of the wall repointed. We have also painted the wall with Smart Seal so (hopefully) the leak has now stopped. Due to the leak, the plaster on the wall has blown in several places, there is efflorescence in various patches and water damage from the top to halfway down the wall. My partner scraped some paint off the wall the other day and a large chunk of plaster came away, exposing the brick which is still very wet. We have also had issues in our bedroom with the same wall with mould (we have wardrobes all along the same wall which we now realise was a bad idea!) and also had a leak before we had the roof and wall repaired as water got into a socket behind the wardrobes and blew the electrics. We have had the same issue today with plaster coming away. We spoke to a plasterer who advised he can plaster the wall in the current state as the wall will need to be wet anyway, and he will put a waterproof membrane under the plaster to stop water getting through. Is this the case or will the wall need to be dried out before it can be replastered? Any help greatly appreciated!

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4 Answers

IPS Construction Ltd

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tonbridge

Hi flickfrancesco It's great living in Victorian houses, well worth the effort of maintenance. As for your problem, glad that you have stopped water entering, that's the main thing. FYI, a wall that has suffered a major wet spell takes a long time to dry out, rule of thumb is about one month for one inch of brick. So if you have a nine inch wall then I am afraid its a four and a half month wait assuming both sides of the wall are open to the air. There are ways of speeding this up, you could use a dehumidifier (commercial grade from a tool hire shop). These are great and will suck moisture out of the air and draw the water out of the wall, hard to say how long for without seeing the extent of the area affected and how wet. Please do not tank the wall so you can plaster over it. Water has to go somewhere, it will evaporate but if to tank the area and seal it in it will head somewhere else. It needs to dry out. Best of luck IPS

Answered15 May 2020

David Thomas plastering

Rating: 5 out of 5

Woking

Personally I would hack the effected walls off of all plaster, back to bear brick. Run a dehumidifier for a few days, or to at least it stops collecting large amounts of water. Seeing as you've rectified the problem from outside, it should only be the water held in the masonry. That needs to disperse. Good luck.

Answered15 May 2020

Abco Commerce Ltd T/A Abco Building Services

Rating: 4.7 out of 5

Leyton, London

As this is a room from the house, not a basement, where you can use plastic to insulate the walls if constant damp is expected. In your case after taking care of the problem - no more leaking, need to dry the walls by heaters or humidifier and replaster normal to achieve normal breathable walls which can be painted.

Answered7 May 2020

Anonymous user

First i would check if there is still a problem with water comeing thru the wall from outside. Use a dehumidifier for few days to see is the problem goes and there was just the moinsture from wall.

Answered7 May 2020