I have a very unusual property and am suffering with damp and condensation. The house was built pre-1900 1 foot thick stone farmhouse on an exposed raised site in Northern Ireland, the area is very wet (county 1/5th water + high rainfall + clay soil) with a river accross the road. The house had a brick extension built on one side for a kitchen and extra bedroom with what seems a damp proof course fitted. They then built a second house on the other side with an interconnecting door for their son and his family to live in - neither were built with permission or to b/c standards. The entire outside was rendered and pebbledashed!!! There is concrete all round the house with a huge concrete yard and outhouses (no outhouses are connected) I live in the brick built house and we use the stone side for storage but would like to renovate it and rent it out.... or for my husband to move his office out there. I will list the problems with each house seperatley;
Problem 1 - brick built extension (beleived to be built in 70's) The brick side gets dreadfull condensation, mould patches and has aluminium windows and doors which dont help. We have had an envirovent unit fitted in the loft, weve had exctractor fans fitted in the kitchen and bathroom and run a dehumidifier constantly. We found a leak from the boiler that had been leaking into the floor for 5 years - we found it because an internal partition wall was mouldy and flakey so called out a damp proofer and he said it was being caused by a leak and not rising damp so we ripped up all the kitchen floor and couldnt find it, then ripped up the diner floor and found it was the boiler. we took the boiler out and let it dry out for a few months and have now redecorated, despite all this the condensation is still dreadfull and the air feels very damp. The aluminium windows get mouldy and are drippingwet every morning.
Problem 2 - The stone side has no damp proof course and has damp evident both upstairs and down. We had an electro osmosis course fitted which that made no difference. The original company that fitted it 'dissapeard' and we got a different company out to check. He said it was a cowboy job and should have had the plaster removed before it was fitted - it was just tacked to the wall where the skirting had been removed and pulled of chunks of lower plaster and recomended redoing the osmosis removing 1 meter of plaster and re-plastering. A neighbour has had this done and is still getting damp. We are now considering hiding the problem with 50mm insulated foil backed boards with battoning and plasterboard on the top as we are tired of losing money on the problem. I have looked into the holland system, injection, ceramic pipes and all get very mixed reviews online. Weve spent 500 on an envirovent unit in the loft, 1500 on osmosis, 300 on extractor fans and have a dehumidifier running constantly. I am desperate for a real solution to the problems. My electricity is costing £100 a month
Guttering was unblocked in the summer, I am going to double check for any broken/leaky pipes. I have some raised flower beds outside the front of the house with soil filled to about 1 foot up the house, but they were only made last year but could be above the damp proof course?
the house is very long - 20 meters to include the two of them and about 4 meters deep with an extension at the back.
I would appreciate any advice to treat either house
Problem 1 - brick built extension (beleived to be built in 70's) The brick side gets dreadfull condensation, mould patches and has aluminium windows and doors which dont help. We have had an envirovent unit fitted in the loft, weve had exctractor fans fitted in the kitchen and bathroom and run a dehumidifier constantly. We found a leak from the boiler that had been leaking into the floor for 5 years - we found it because an internal partition wall was mouldy and flakey so called out a damp proofer and he said it was being caused by a leak and not rising damp so we ripped up all the kitchen floor and couldnt find it, then ripped up the diner floor and found it was the boiler. we took the boiler out and let it dry out for a few months and have now redecorated, despite all this the condensation is still dreadfull and the air feels very damp. The aluminium windows get mouldy and are drippingwet every morning.
Problem 2 - The stone side has no damp proof course and has damp evident both upstairs and down. We had an electro osmosis course fitted which that made no difference. The original company that fitted it 'dissapeard' and we got a different company out to check. He said it was a cowboy job and should have had the plaster removed before it was fitted - it was just tacked to the wall where the skirting had been removed and pulled of chunks of lower plaster and recomended redoing the osmosis removing 1 meter of plaster and re-plastering. A neighbour has had this done and is still getting damp. We are now considering hiding the problem with 50mm insulated foil backed boards with battoning and plasterboard on the top as we are tired of losing money on the problem. I have looked into the holland system, injection, ceramic pipes and all get very mixed reviews online. Weve spent 500 on an envirovent unit in the loft, 1500 on osmosis, 300 on extractor fans and have a dehumidifier running constantly. I am desperate for a real solution to the problems. My electricity is costing £100 a month
Guttering was unblocked in the summer, I am going to double check for any broken/leaky pipes. I have some raised flower beds outside the front of the house with soil filled to about 1 foot up the house, but they were only made last year but could be above the damp proof course?
the house is very long - 20 meters to include the two of them and about 4 meters deep with an extension at the back.
I would appreciate any advice to treat either house
