aparry93
Member
- Messages
- 43
- Location
- Higher Kinnerton, Chester
Hello all, we have moved into our new home which is a traditional house built in the early 1900s which used to be a mid terrace and an end terraced properties now merged into one to form a semi detached with a rear extension too!
Damp seems to be at its worst in the living room (gable end). The internal face brickwork at the back of the chimney has been painted which seems to suggest they have tried to cover up or perhaps prevent damp. And to the internal LHS of the chimney the internal plaster has blown as it sounds hollow at the bottom when you knock it. There are also salt like crystals on the blown internal plaster. The house has been rendered in cement and has various hairlines cracks throughout.
My opinion is that the cement render is preventing the house from breathing and the rainwater is also finding its way in via the hairline crack ms which is a double whammy. And the gable is most likely the worst due to getting hit with the rain the most. Another observation of mine is that they have also painted the bottom bricks on the gable side with bitumen paint which again is probably adding to all the issues. We have had an internal dehumidifier in the living room for 2 weeks and has already started to fill with water.
My intention was to hack off the render to get the house to breath and dry out. However as we are doing this house up on a budget we intend on just doing the gable for now. And wait and see if the front becomes an issue. However my concern is the state of the bricks behind and how costly it’s going to be to repair/make it aesthetically pleasing. I have also attached a photo showing how the house used to look when it was a mid and end terraced which you can see they have obviously bricked up the old door to the end terrace and modified the size of the windows. Would be good to see what other people suggest doing (like I said please consider we are trying to do this on a budget).










Damp seems to be at its worst in the living room (gable end). The internal face brickwork at the back of the chimney has been painted which seems to suggest they have tried to cover up or perhaps prevent damp. And to the internal LHS of the chimney the internal plaster has blown as it sounds hollow at the bottom when you knock it. There are also salt like crystals on the blown internal plaster. The house has been rendered in cement and has various hairlines cracks throughout.
My opinion is that the cement render is preventing the house from breathing and the rainwater is also finding its way in via the hairline crack ms which is a double whammy. And the gable is most likely the worst due to getting hit with the rain the most. Another observation of mine is that they have also painted the bottom bricks on the gable side with bitumen paint which again is probably adding to all the issues. We have had an internal dehumidifier in the living room for 2 weeks and has already started to fill with water.
My intention was to hack off the render to get the house to breath and dry out. However as we are doing this house up on a budget we intend on just doing the gable for now. And wait and see if the front becomes an issue. However my concern is the state of the bricks behind and how costly it’s going to be to repair/make it aesthetically pleasing. I have also attached a photo showing how the house used to look when it was a mid and end terraced which you can see they have obviously bricked up the old door to the end terrace and modified the size of the windows. Would be good to see what other people suggest doing (like I said please consider we are trying to do this on a budget).









