dampness in upstairs bedroom!!!

Hi was wondering if anyone could advise me, I live in a end terrace and the upstairs bedroom was damp and smelly we got a guy out from the local housing authority who told us it was wet outside walls and condensation he suggested plenty of ventilation a dehumidifier and to re- render the outside of the house which we did!! I also washed the inside walls with fungicidal solution and painted them with damp proof paint!!!

That was 2 years ago then last month i noticed that the skirting boards where swelling and when i pulled at them they came away in my hand the weren't wet but really dry the walls where growing "mushrooms" and when i pulled up the carpet and underlay the floor boards in the corner where soaking!!! That was after a night of heavy rain so i guess what i'm wanting to find out is where the water\damp is coming from the top of the wall isn't wet so i don't think it's the roof and obviously the gable wall has been re-rendered so it shouldn't be coming from it!! Any idea's/suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated.

josie

Call in a professional to investigate your house, but I'll offer a few comments off the cuff to get you started.

Damp under the carpet in an upper room with a timber floor suggests a room with a perimeter that may be uninsulated and that get gets cold during the day.

This may also suggest the house may not be being adequately ventilated after showers have been taken, etc.

If you're getting this now in the warm weather we've been having what will it be like later in the year?

ONQ.

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All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.

There has been interesting debates on Construct Ireland forums which I am watching. From what I can gather all pre 60s houses that were built with either mass concrete or stone needs to breath and therefore should be lime plastered. All plasters will allow moisture in but the lime plaster releases the moisture as vapor where by the cement plaster traps the moisture and drives it into the building. Also if the plaster is cracked the rain will flow in these cracks. I hope to visit a straw bale house that was lime plastered soon

Have you checked your guttering and the pipes that run off this? If they are damaged or blocked with leaves birds nests etc you'll probably find that there's water running down your walls when it rains. Re-rendering the house probably wouldn't protect you if this is the problem.

Not sure if you would have access to this, but channel 4 in the uk has been showing a very interesting program Help!! My House is Falling Down. If you're able to see it most of the houses featured have had damp problems, and there's been some pretty helpful advice on how to sort that and multitudes of other problems out.