There have been a few posts about damp patches recently so I thought I would post the following of a damp spot and the cause.
This wall is an approx 1970s solid block wall rendered in cement on both sides. It had a layer of woodchip wallpaper on it which I have just removed with a wall paper stripper. I worked from left to right with the whole wall getting a good soaking. Shortly after completion, the wall had dried out apart from the patch in the bottom left that you can see which stayed damp for a long while afterwards. Apart from the staining, there was also signs of salting (efflorescence) at this point. The wall had obviously been damp for some time and the blue paint you can see on the left hand side was what was used to restick the wallpaper back on...
Fortunately, this damp patch has a very obvious cause.
The following picture was taken by hanging out the window above and corresponds with the damp patch inside. Basically any rain running down the wall (or the outside of the downpipe) will enter through the damaged render / paintwork.
Another problem to sort out but at least this one was obvious.
This wall is an approx 1970s solid block wall rendered in cement on both sides. It had a layer of woodchip wallpaper on it which I have just removed with a wall paper stripper. I worked from left to right with the whole wall getting a good soaking. Shortly after completion, the wall had dried out apart from the patch in the bottom left that you can see which stayed damp for a long while afterwards. Apart from the staining, there was also signs of salting (efflorescence) at this point. The wall had obviously been damp for some time and the blue paint you can see on the left hand side was what was used to restick the wallpaper back on...
Fortunately, this damp patch has a very obvious cause.
The following picture was taken by hanging out the window above and corresponds with the damp patch inside. Basically any rain running down the wall (or the outside of the downpipe) will enter through the damaged render / paintwork.
Another problem to sort out but at least this one was obvious.