Hi
I have two house problems and am looking for some advice. I would be very grateful for any help.
1. I have a loft conversion. One area of the exterior facing wall has a number of circular wet patches (each around 9 inches across). The dampness comes and goes with wet weather and hasn't produced much in the way of staining, mould etc, but can get very wet at times. Because these patches coincide with the more solid feeling parts of the wall (most of it has a hollower knocking sound) I imagine there is a problem with the wall ties or somesuch. Are there any solutions?
2. I also have a problematic cellar. Despite there being a concrete floor over a plastic sheeting, we get substantial water ingress through the floor during periods of heavy rain. The puddles then stay around, draining/drying very slowly. Without the expense of waterproofing the cellar, are there any drainage solutions that might make this less of a probelm?
Cheers!
Wet cellar and loft
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ultimatehandyman
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Hi aloysius,
Welcome to the forum.
My building knowledge is very limited and as of yet no known builders have joined the forum, that can answer your post better than I can!
It sounds like perhaps the damp patches in the loft are being caused by the wall being drylined with plasterboard using the direct bond method, where the sheets are stuck to the wall using dry wall adhesive, I would guess that the brick wall behind is getting wet somehow and the moisture is being sucked through the dry wall adhesive and the plasterboard, hence the round wet patches! This is the only possible thing that I can think of that would cause round patches of damp. This is why when you tap the wall it seems hollow apart from where the dabs of adhesive are?
Here is how a wall is drylined using the direct bond method, you can clearly see the dabs of adhesive here-
http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/PLAST ... T_BOND.htm
Where the water is coming from is another problem, perhaps the roof is damaged, which is allowing water to get into the cavity, that is assuming it has a cavity or perhaps rendering on the outside of the property is damaged and is allowing water in.
As for the cellar- I am no expert but I know that totally eliminating water costs big bucks, stopping the water in the first place is very difficult. Perhaps if you could increase the ventilation somehow, it would dry out faster after becoming wet.
The only thing I can suggest is to do a search on google for "damp cellar" and see if there are any cheap remedies to your problem.
Hope this helps a little, as I have said I am no expert in building!
Good luck
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Welcome to the forum.
My building knowledge is very limited and as of yet no known builders have joined the forum, that can answer your post better than I can!
It sounds like perhaps the damp patches in the loft are being caused by the wall being drylined with plasterboard using the direct bond method, where the sheets are stuck to the wall using dry wall adhesive, I would guess that the brick wall behind is getting wet somehow and the moisture is being sucked through the dry wall adhesive and the plasterboard, hence the round wet patches! This is the only possible thing that I can think of that would cause round patches of damp. This is why when you tap the wall it seems hollow apart from where the dabs of adhesive are?
Here is how a wall is drylined using the direct bond method, you can clearly see the dabs of adhesive here-
http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/PLAST ... T_BOND.htm
Where the water is coming from is another problem, perhaps the roof is damaged, which is allowing water to get into the cavity, that is assuming it has a cavity or perhaps rendering on the outside of the property is damaged and is allowing water in.
As for the cellar- I am no expert but I know that totally eliminating water costs big bucks, stopping the water in the first place is very difficult. Perhaps if you could increase the ventilation somehow, it would dry out faster after becoming wet.
The only thing I can suggest is to do a search on google for "damp cellar" and see if there are any cheap remedies to your problem.
Hope this helps a little, as I have said I am no expert in building!
Good luck
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aloysius
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Thanks for the reply.
I fear there will be no cheap solution to my cellar problem. The most effective thing might be to put a sump pump in a chamber at one corner and create a slope on the floor so that the water drains into the chamber.
That's a good idea about the loft, although I would have expected the same mix of hollow and solid to be found across the whole wall if it was a simple matter of adhesion method. Instead the solid damp sections are found in one area only. Interestingly, this area is pretty much below the apex of the roof. As the damp is something that is very evident in wet weather but can dry completely just a few dry hours later, this probably suggests the best solution is to resolve the exterior ingress. But, on the other hand, it also gets damp in dewey or humid conditions, thus implying that its not straightforwardly a matter of water getting in. Hmm...
I fear there will be no cheap solution to my cellar problem. The most effective thing might be to put a sump pump in a chamber at one corner and create a slope on the floor so that the water drains into the chamber.
That's a good idea about the loft, although I would have expected the same mix of hollow and solid to be found across the whole wall if it was a simple matter of adhesion method. Instead the solid damp sections are found in one area only. Interestingly, this area is pretty much below the apex of the roof. As the damp is something that is very evident in wet weather but can dry completely just a few dry hours later, this probably suggests the best solution is to resolve the exterior ingress. But, on the other hand, it also gets damp in dewey or humid conditions, thus implying that its not straightforwardly a matter of water getting in. Hmm...