Damp issues

[aparry93]

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).

 

[Lacan07]

Just a quick reply to your post as I have to leave for work soon so haven't read it properly yet, but is that bitumen strip on the last photo just painted or is it a 'raised' plinth? And where is the DPC? If they've painted up to the DPC they haven't done that much damage.

Others here will have more experience of this but I would imagine if you manage to remove the cement render at the gable end and damage the bricks then you could re-render in lime, that way its protected and breathable.

 

[Zebra]

What are your DIY skills like? Does the idea of rolling up your sleeves, buying yourself a SDS drill with a chisel bit, a plastering trowel, and learning the relevant skills fill you with horror? Or are you up for that? Because you mentioned budget, but of course the vast majority of the cost of any building work is labour, so it can make a huge difference to the cost if you're willing to give things a go yourself. I didn't know how to point brickwork or lime plaster before I got my place, but was willing to learn, and though my plastering isn't great, it's good enough and saved a heap of money.

 

[Cubist]

I would strongly recommend that you take a long step back and think very carefully about this one. Not from the point of view of whether your preferred technical approach is vaible and sensible but rather - are you about to bite off more than you chew financially and do you have the aptitudes, tools and time to minimise the costs by doing the work yourself.

I would also urge you to get a few labour and materials quotes from competent builders for the job. These at least may give you some indication of the magnitude of the potential costs and some indication of what you might save by doing it yourself.

 

[aparry93]

What are your DIY skills like? Does the idea of rolling up your sleeves, buying yourself a SDS drill with a chisel bit, a plastering trowel, and learning the relevant skills fill you with horror? Or are you up for that? Because you mentioned budget, but of course the vast majority of the cost of any building work is labour, so it can make a huge difference to the cost if you're willing to give things a go yourself. I didn't know how to point brickwork or lime plaster before I got my place, but was willing to learn, and though my plastering isn't great, it's good enough and saved a heap of money.

Hello, yes I’m pretty good and being able to turn my hand to anything. I think what concerns me the most with this is the lime and the constraints I.e weather and temperature and don’t want to be doing the job twice. I’ve had a stone mason give me a budget price just for the gable which is approx £4.5k. 3.2k being the lime repointing

 

[malcolm]

Water is always going to get in so the the concrete render with plastic paint on top will only be stopping it from getting out again. After a while the wall gets soaking wet and the water finds imaginative ways to get out. Getting rid of the concrete render and replacing with something breathable will contribute the most to getting rid of the damp.

It's likely the finish of the bricks will be damaged when the concrete is removed, and you'll have residue left on the bricks. Probably the wall will need to be rendered in lime.

It's not all that tricky. Concrete will come off with an SDS drill with a chisel on hammer setting. Lime render you can buy or we can share our favourite recipes. You'll need a cement mixer for the quantity. It's easy to apply (much more forgiving than modern materials) but time consuming.

You wouldn't want to be rendering when there's a chance of frost over the following month, so mid November to mid April are best avoided.

 

[aparry93]

Thank you all for your much needed support . Render removal has gone well. I am
Now looking to retain the character of this old brick by repointing with lime. Also the brick mortar was moist as anything behind the render just as I had thought which must be the damp source.

 

[stuart45]

Is the brickwork in good condition after the render removal?

 

[aparry93]

Is the brickwork in good condition after the render removal?

Hi Stuart, yes I’ve been quite lucky. Going to need to replace about 20 I reckon. Also found 2 voids which one had been filled with bricks and the other with cement mortar and unsure what these were for

 

[Cubist]

Some of that black staining looks like sooty deposits. Are these cavities anywhere near the chimney stack?

 

[stuart45]

They look to me like they were corbelled out as they are headers, and have been chipped off flush later, possibly when rendered. Sometimes built into a wall to hold something. Look they could have been part of the original build.

 

[malcolm]

That's a good result. The bricks will be able to dry out now the waterproof stuff has gone.

It makes sense repointing in lime and leaving it in a brick finish. That way people are less likely to paint waterproof stuff on in the future. Evaporation is mostly through the mortar so it's worth getting any last bits of cement pointing out.

 

[aparry93]

Some of that black staining looks like sooty deposits. Are these cavities anywhere near the chimney stack?

 

[Zebra]

That's remarkably good condition for after the removal of cement render. Well done

 

[mccostas_83]

Thank you all for your much needed support . Render removal has gone well. I am
Now looking to retain the character of this old brick by repointing with lime. Also the brick mortar was moist as anything behind the render just as I had thought which must be the damp source

View attachment 9277

Wow well done. This looks so good.

I have just purchased a 1904 edwardian semi and there is the dreaded cement render / high outside ground level / slabbed up to the wall combination of problems happening here. I am just wondering what you used to remove your render? I think ours is cement based roughcast with years of plastic paint on it. I'm pretty desperate to remove at least a bit, to inspect the bricks behind. (wondeirng if ~1.5 meter from the ground is a suitable compromise to removing the whole damn thing) to allow the bricks to breathe and dry out. I'm a novice but competent DIYer... (having never owned a period house before) So, naturally i'm a little hesitant to go knocking off render just in case I end up exacerbating the problems or worse, damage the house. All tuppence worths greatly accepted (within reason)

Thanks!

 

[stuart45]

It's a bit of a lottery whether or not you can get the render off without too much damage to the brickwork. Roughcast is probably the worst to get off.

 

[Feltwell]

There was a firm someone used on here a few years back that specialised in removing render, and then repairing the brick. The results were impressive if I remember rightly. If I can find it.......

Edit - No, I can't. There do seem to be a few firms though that specialise is render removal, brickwork repair and lime repointing. They do all seem to be London based though.

 

[mccostas_83]

Thanks for your replies. Yeah, we're up in Scotland and i'm struggling to find anyone who knows what I'm talking about. On to the next challenge...the cement patio / drainage / splashing issues.

 

[aparry93]

Wow well done. This looks so good.

I have just purchased a 1904 edwardian semi and there is the dreaded cement render / high outside ground level / slabbed up to the wall combination of problems happening here. I am just wondering what you used to remove your render? I think ours is cement based roughcast with years of plastic paint on it. I'm pretty desperate to remove at least a bit, to inspect the bricks behind. (wondeirng if ~1.5 meter from the ground is a suitable compromise to removing the whole damn thing) to allow the bricks to breathe and dry out. I'm a novice but competent DIYer... (having never owned a period house before) So, naturally i'm a little hesitant to go knocking off render just in case I end up exacerbating the problems or worse, damage the house. All tuppence worths greatly accepted (within reason)

Thanks!

Sorry for the late reply. How did you get on? We got very lucky on the gable as the render was so hollow due to being so weathered it was falling off in big chunks using a hammer and chisel. However in the hard spots it was an SDS drill with chisel attachment. I got a stone mason in around 1/2 way, as I was scared to damage the brick behind. Following removal they repointed the whole gable in lime. Here was the end result attached. as like you I’m compromising and have attacked the gable only (due to budget).I am now looking at addressing the drainage/higher ground level at the front to see if this will alleviate the issue (which I have just posted) on here today for advice.

 

[Feltwell]

That looks great, well done - I honestly never thought you'd be able to get the render off so cleanly. Give that a few years to weather down a bit and it'll be spot on. Have you noticed any improvement in the damp inside? It can take a long time for a wall to dry out, a month for every inch of thickness is a very rough guide.