We have just had a survey to confirm that the internal walls at the front of our house have penetrating damp, which we thought. The problem we had was ice cold walls, dampness and mould growing. The house was built in the 1930's and is rendered at the front, like pebble dash which has some cracks. The Company said the problem may be coming from the cracks in the rendering, but we also think we have a problem with our guttering and roof, so the water could be coming through from either of these.
They advised us to either render the front or try and patch up what we have.
We have also been given a quote for damp proofing, where they will strip the walls down to the brick and put a membrane and insulation I think in between.
I don't really want to go ahead with this yet until I can also sort out the rendering as I am scared that the issue will not be resolved until the rendering is done.
My question is, if we get the house rendered again, do we still have to get the walls stripped back and a membrane put in? If so, are we best waiting until we do the rendering?
I don't know what to do for the best.
Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?
I would make sure the guttering and downpipes are fully functional before rendering, when there up to working standard remove the old render and apply new. If the problem is persistent, then we would remove internal plaster, newton lath membrane 1.5 m,, apply insulation plasterboard..
Answered20 January 2021
2
Anonymous user
Damp is a tricky one you need to contact somebody with a good history of dealing with damp get a proper inspection from a honest tradesman what can explain to you what is going wrong and how to fix taking off render or replacing it will not cure damp problems
You might even have a combination of Rising Damp and penetrating damp you need to establish which one it is or whether it is both of them if you've got a cavity or 9-inch solid wall will make a difference you still need to take off the wet affected plaster and leave the bricks exposed to dry out do not get plastering straightaway. . In severe cases it can take up to a year for it to dry out in most cases 4 to 6-month Only plaster when you are completely confident you have solved the problem and the bricks are dry you will waste a lot of time and money if you don't get somebody what understands what they're dealing with I am 3rd generation and over 30 years experience . I'm forever going behind general builders and roofers plasterers and putting their work right they promised the customer it is fixed and they know what they're doing nine times out of ten they've got it wrong so please don't spend any money until you know what is wrong and how to fix it
By the way I do not believe in tanking because you are just covering up the problem . And not fixing it. personally I think the advice you have had is wrong
It’s probably a combination of both although the main problem will be the guttering and roof get this repaired first then get the cracks repaired a decent patch up job will do then even go and buy or hire yourself self a decent dehumidifier place in the room that has the worse damp first if more than one room seal the room up basically keep the windows and door or doors shut in layman’s terms this will eventually draw the moisture out from the walls it won’t happen overnight so be prepared to be patient if the internal plaster is already blown I suggest you remove this first back to brick then use the dehumidifier , once the walls are dry if you have to remove the plaster only and I stress only use sand and cement render with a quality water proofing additive or a lime plaster which I would recommend as it allows the brick work to breathe as the backing coat although lime plastering is considerably more expensive than sand and cement make you use a high impact finish on the sand and cement do not use a gypsum product this will not be necessary if you go the lime plastering route however
find the source of the water ingress solve that dampness, covering it up will not solve the problem. your building needs to breathe not be smothered
good luck alex
