Back again after sorting out the dry rot!
At the back of my house I have an "add on" - we think it was used as a bomb shelter - the neighbours have a similar structure - however it attaches to my kitchen and shares a porch with the back door. There is no natural light in there and no heating. We have used it as a store for garden furnture etc etc. The structure is at a lower ground level that the rest of the house
Noted last week that all the way around the room about 4-5 bricks high the paint is crumbling and there is efflorescence - the paint just seems to be ordinary mortar paint straight onto the brick work. The room smells damp but to be honest it always has since we moved in.
There is nothing evident on the walls in the kitchen that are shared with this add on - perhaps beacuse the kitchen is at a higher level?
Taking into consideration that the area was flooded in 2006 could this be the reason for the efflorescence? Are the salts an indication that the bricks are drying out? Our house was not flooded but two doors away were and our house is built over a natural spring. I had an independent damp survey done recently who said I didn't have damp in the main house but I didn't think to have the back checked out.
I would prefer to leave it to dry out even more - would brushing off the efflorescence cause any more damage to the brick or is it advisable to leave well alone for a few more months?
Thanks
At the back of my house I have an "add on" - we think it was used as a bomb shelter - the neighbours have a similar structure - however it attaches to my kitchen and shares a porch with the back door. There is no natural light in there and no heating. We have used it as a store for garden furnture etc etc. The structure is at a lower ground level that the rest of the house
Noted last week that all the way around the room about 4-5 bricks high the paint is crumbling and there is efflorescence - the paint just seems to be ordinary mortar paint straight onto the brick work. The room smells damp but to be honest it always has since we moved in.
There is nothing evident on the walls in the kitchen that are shared with this add on - perhaps beacuse the kitchen is at a higher level?
Taking into consideration that the area was flooded in 2006 could this be the reason for the efflorescence? Are the salts an indication that the bricks are drying out? Our house was not flooded but two doors away were and our house is built over a natural spring. I had an independent damp survey done recently who said I didn't have damp in the main house but I didn't think to have the back checked out.
I would prefer to leave it to dry out even more - would brushing off the efflorescence cause any more damage to the brick or is it advisable to leave well alone for a few more months?
Thanks