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HOUSE DAMP NEEDS ERADICATING

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2019 2:42pm
11 replies2688 views7 members subscribed
jonfis

Posts: 103

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Location: Torrevieja

Joined: 27 Jan 2017

HELLO, HAS ANYONE HAD ANY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF ANY BUILDERS WHO CAN ERADICATE DAMPNESS FROM  HOUSES?

THANKS

JON

Basil brush

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2019 9:01am

Basil brush

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Location: Almoradí

Joined: 9 Apr 2018

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2019 9:01am

Hi Jon,

The Spainish just don’t do damp proof courses or put provisions in to keep buildings dry and damp proof! Even on new builds it’s at a minimum and lacking!

Depends what you may have and the type of walls, thicknesses, is the damp low level or high level or both? On just external walls or also internal ones?  

The plaster they use here is just like a sponge for damp so part of the remedy is to replace the internal plaster once the wall has been treated and allowed to dry out with a waterproof sand and cement render and then a multi finish top coat plaster, otherwise you can use a limelight plaster such as they do in Uk but I haven’t seen it here.

A physical damp proof course needs inserting into the thickness of the wall as this is the only true way to eliminate damp as the drilling and injection of a silicone product is hit and miss at best!

Some people get muddled up with condensation and damp and think it’s the same problem but they occur for different reasons and need treating separately.

Also the major lack of guttering to most houses is a big factor/ contribution to damp walls....even thou it dosnt rain that much it still does a lot of damage!

I do not really know who to recommend to do the work locally but hopefully I have given you some ideas as to what should be getting done to cure it and to see what the builders are telling you? Good luck with it !

jonfis

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2019 10:42am

jonfis

Original Poster

Posts: 103

7 helpful points

Location: Torrevieja

Joined: 27 Jan 2017

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2019 10:42am

Hello, Thanks very much for the advice. The main problem is that I have invited a few people to come and give me an estimate, but all the advice I receive is contradictory. I never seem to find any 2 people who agree, the advice and costs vary so much. I was hoping that cementing and re plastering was the best option, but then I was told the plaster would not remain on my walls for very long. I was told rising damp will not go much higher than about 4 feet, which seems quite true in my house if I do have rising damp? Then I am getting Black mould which you can see very clearly when it rains, but then becomes more of a shadow as it dries. I have been told this mould is very bad for children, and can cause respiratory problems? I have damp on some inside walls, one person has told me the water under my shower is not draining down to the sewer, but draining just under the shower itself causing damp. So now I need a plumber too? I shall keep on seeking help and advice, and hopefully one day I can eradicate the damp in its entirety?

Basil brush

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2019 11:48am

Basil brush

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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2019 11:48am

Hi,

Yep it will be a case of trial and error to a certain degree to get rid of it!

The shower is a good starting point!

Also check for guttering?

Like I say a physical damp roof coarse needs to be inserted into the wall at low level and this is a rolls Royce job and quite expensive but will be the end of rising damp!

Also this time of year when it’s colder can create the black spores which are bad for anyone especially kids and elderly people and constant heating can help aleavite this along with correct ventilation. A big cause also with this is the bottled gas heaters some people use without ventilation!

Your correct that rising damp will only ever raise approx a meter so it sounds like this what needs addressing!

I think best advice I could say is get several estimates from builders and see what you can pick out of that!

The sand and cement render will work perfectly fine as long as you seal the wall prior with a liquid bituimn paint!

Again good luck and I know many people suffer this problem out here!!

jonfis

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2019 12:07pm

jonfis

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Posts: 103

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Location: Torrevieja

Joined: 27 Jan 2017

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2019 12:07pm

Hello, one workman told me that there is no point injecting anything into these Spanish walls. He said that the bricks were hollow, and should not be injected?

He also told me not to paint my roof with the thick red brick coloured waterproof paint, he told me that the rain can run backwards uphill along the tiles and into my house? He also said my small balcony roof was not slanted enough, to allow rain to drain away properly?

Can this be true, seems unlikely to the uninitiated

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Basil brush

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2019 12:23pm

Basil brush

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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2019 12:23pm

To be honest everything he has said seems sound advice!

Water can creep up under tiles if they  are not pitched correctly or overlapped enough. Also depends on the age of construction as it should have a felt underlay on newer ones but definitely not on older buildings.

Also the balcony could be a problem   But sometimes a quick fix such as “ Thompson’s” clear water sealer can be applied externally to adjacent walls.

If red bricks have been used then injection is a waste of time... like I said a physical DPC is the only true solution!

Again good luck with solving it!

jonfis

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2019 12:41pm

jonfis

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Posts: 103

7 helpful points

Location: Torrevieja

Joined: 27 Jan 2017

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2019 12:41pm

Hello, Do you think it is better to wait until it is a bit warmer to address these issues? Would you not bother painting the roof with the Red waterproof paint? I am unsure what sort of bricks have been used on my house, we are covered in that rough type of cement that seems to be so popular here in Spain. The damp parts have been scraped away, and it then becomes very dusty/chalky.

Roughly speaking how much do you think a Physical Damp Proof Coarse will cost?

I don't want the cheapest estimate, but the most expensive is not always the best either.

Perhaps it might be better to get each room treated one at a time, then if the dampness persists I can halt the work in progress without losing copious quantities of money. Would this be possible, or must it all be done in one go?

jimtaylor

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2019 5:11am

jimtaylor

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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2019 5:11am

A couple of times I've seen Spanish workmen using a core drill on exterior walls. It looked like 110 mm or so diameter each time, and afterwards they fitted an open cap to tidy up the appearance. That would give rising damp an easy way out to the exterior and prevent it from rising any further.

Just before we bought our house, the previous owner tiled halfway up the walls in our utility room (in the old part of the house) to cover up rising damp. That worked OK, but the damp kept rising until it was a good two metres up the walls. I then tiled out the rest of the walls up to the ceiling and, so far, that has worked OK. If I'd used ordinary tile adhesive, the rising damp would have forced the tiles off the walls, but I used flexible adhesive (cola flexible) and none of the tiles has moved.

jonfis

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2019 10:49am

jonfis

Original Poster

Posts: 103

7 helpful points

Location: Torrevieja

Joined: 27 Jan 2017

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2019 10:49am

Hello Jim, thanks for the advice. One of my worst affected walls, is between me and my next door neighbour. She seems to only live there, for a couple of weeks twice a year. I have some wall tiles in my kitchen which seem to be coming off the wall, someone told me it was from dampness. But another person said during the heat that everything expands, and a more flexible grout should have been used? I never seem to get 2 similar opinions, but perhaps it is not a one size fits all situation?

jimtaylor

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2019 11:21am

jimtaylor

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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2019 11:21am

I very much doubt that it's anything to do with the heat. There are several possible reasons, with one being rising damp weakening the bond of the tile adhesive to the wall.

The other reasons really boil down to poor workmanship, examples: sticking tiles to a surface that hasn't been prepared or sealed properly, not putting enough water in the tile adhesive, putting tiles on a painted surface, etc.

I really don't envy you trying to get a physical damp course in an internal wall. This needs an angle grinder with a large blade to cut a slit in the wall, into which can be inserted pieces of slate or DPC. It's time-consuming but not particularly difficult, but the dust created gets everywhere and is a right bar steward to clean up.

Just looking back at what Basil brush said, Spanish sand is so coarse that even with the inclusion of waterproofing agent in a render mix, this might still be porous. If I were doing it, I'd use a specialist product like Weberdry or Lampocem.

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