Damp issues

[Tk242]

Hi all

I'm new to the forum & would appreciate any advice please. I have an old cottage (circa. 1860) brick construction with render applied at some point when an extension was added to the rear, lots of external cracks so ample opportunity for water ingress & its been applied with an awful Sandtex paint approx. 4-5 years ago (according to the neighbour) and it's peeling away on the side that takes the hit from the harshest weather. I had worried it may be a concrete render (still may be in parts) but after carrying out a vinegar test found we have lime, possibly a lime mix though I'm not an expert and would be interested to get it tested properly.

The issue I have is damp in the lounge, the internal walls were covered with an awful plastic paint which I've removed & didn't think we had too much of an issue until I applied a clay paint. Most of the walls dried aside from two areas, one I think is being caused by an issue with the window (need to explore that further) but the other is the external wall that's taking the hit from the harsh weather and has the paint peeling off externally. The ground on the exterior wall is also higher, suspect it has been for many years, nothing I can do about that as it's the neighbours drive & mains drains located there (need to check there's no leaks). The floor is concrete, not ideal but I can't take it up right now it's too much work when you live in the house with kids & my budget doesn't permit. I have however removed the awful thick Bitumen layer that was covering it. Ideally I'd remove the gypsum plaster & apply lime but I'm not in a position to do that at the moment. My question is regarding removal of the exterior paint, I've heard suggestions of the DOFF system but think this may be fairly costly (going to get some quotes) is there anything I can do myself to remove this without damaging the render?

The work on this house is relentless and not at all what I anticipated, none of it came up on the survey and everything has appeared when we've done work & removed wallpaper etc & found issues lurking. We are fairly handy DIYers though, have fitted new bathroom, removed non load bearing stud walls etc. so happy to do whatever we can.

Thanks in advance

 

[malcolm]

The render colour is another good clue. Cement renders tend to be grey and lime renders tend to show the colour of the sand which is rarely grey. Lime render will tend to darken when it gets wet.

I had someone use the DOFF system to remove paint from a brick building. They use paint stripper and a hot water pressure washer. I had tried stripper and a cold water pressure washer previously and it didn't work effectively. The bricks were fine but some of the sandstone window sills were damaged by the pressure washer. A lime render will be even softer so you will probably damage the surface using DOFF. Probably the only way to remove the Sandtex will be to re-render.

The only unusual damp (on random walls upstairs) that I had inside was where the exterior paint was actually peeling off. The walls dried out noticeably everywhere after the paint was removed so they must have been generally damp just not showing issues inside. Scraping off the loose paint where it is peeling and either leaving the wall bare or patching with limewash (Pozilime will stick to Sandtex) should help reduce damp inside as an interim measure.

High external ground levels are annoying especially when the ground belongs to a neighbour. I installed a covered trench on the edge of my driveway which has worked well. https://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/threads/the-zebcolm-trench.17575/ The neighbours might allow you to do something like that.

All of my ground floors are concrete. I've not noticed them cause issues so have never been tempted to try limecrete floors.

 

[Tk242]

Thanks Malcolm really appreciate the feedback. We have found the render does have lime but it's a lime mix so we've started rather painfully and slowly taking it off so far we have managed just over a metre up all the way round the house (not touching the extension as there's no need). It's going to take some time but it's definitely worth it, the moisture between the render and brick was obvious immediately & in parts it just fell away. I can now see why we have damp on the inside! I've also scraped away all excess paint externally that's peeling off, I've had a quote to remove it in parts where we won't remove the render (extension) although he suggested if it's not causing an issue just to paint over it rather than wasting money removing it which is refreshing as most people (not all) seem to jump at the opportunity to make money out of the situation.

I've just started to attack the dining room and have the same issue with the walls in there, although some of the brickwork low down where there is no plaster internally is absolutely sodden. A blocked up chimney breast may need some further exploration but I don't think it helps that 2 different attempts at damp proofing have been used, electro-osmotic system outside and a chemical injection into bricks inside. I've removed all of the copper wire strips externally along with the cement mortar and intend to repair/replace the brick.

We have decided to dig a French drain down the side of the house adjacent to the neighbours drive, they were fine with this and totally understood the need. Your example was fab so thank you for that!

 

[Lacan07]

Hi all

I'm new to the forum & would appreciate any advice please. I have an old cottage (circa. 1860) brick construction with render applied at some point when an extension was added to the rear, lots of external cracks so ample opportunity for water ingress & its been applied with an awful Sandtex paint approx. 4-5 years ago (according to the neighbour) and it's peeling away on the side that takes the hit from the harshest weather. I had worried it may be a concrete render (still may be in parts) but after carrying out a vinegar test found we have lime, possibly a lime mix though I'm not an expert and would be interested to get it tested properly.

The issue I have is damp in the lounge, the internal walls were covered with an awful plastic paint which I've removed & didn't think we had too much of an issue until I applied a clay paint. Most of the walls dried aside from two areas, one I think is being caused by an issue with the window (need to explore that further) but the other is the external wall that's taking the hit from the harsh weather and has the paint peeling off externally. The ground on the exterior wall is also higher, suspect it has been for many years, nothing I can do about that as it's the neighbours drive & mains drains located there (need to check there's no leaks). The floor is concrete, not ideal but I can't take it up right now it's too much work when you live in the house with kids & my budget doesn't permit. I have however removed the awful thick Bitumen layer that was covering it. Ideally I'd remove the gypsum plaster & apply lime but I'm not in a position to do that at the moment. My question is regarding removal of the exterior paint, I've heard suggestions of the DOFF system but think this may be fairly costly (going to get some quotes) is there anything I can do myself to remove this without damaging the render?

The work on this house is relentless and not at all what I anticipated, none of it came up on the survey and everything has appeared when we've done work & removed wallpaper etc & found issues lurking. We are fairly handy DIYers though, have fitted new bathroom, removed non load bearing stud walls etc. so happy to do whatever we can.

Thanks in advance

You could test the exterior paint to see if it's lead. Lead paint is breathable and therefore not so much of a worry, just scrap of any parts that are peeling.

 

[Tk242]

Thanks I didn't realise, I did find the paint that was used when clearing out the garage or at least the top coat that's visible. There seems to be a multitude of poor decisions made by previous owners of the house over the years, I think it's going to be a case of slowly undoing as much of it as possible which isn't always easy when you're living in the house unfortunately. I can sympathise with another poster wondering if it's all worth it, some days it feels overwhelming and utterly exhausting!

 

[Lacan07]

Thanks I didn't realise, I did find the paint that was used when clearing out the garage or at least the top coat that's visible. There seems to be a multitude of poor decisions made by previous owners of the house over the years, I think it's going to be a case of slowly undoing as much of it as possible which isn't always easy when you're living in the house unfortunately. I can sympathise with another poster wondering if it's all worth it, some days it feels overwhelming and utterly exhausting!

Yeah that's the problem with old houses and why they sometimes come with a considerably lower price tag when the damp is clearly evident