Getting rid of damp from an old building

[Fisheruk]

Be very wary of using injection damp proofing or tanking if the house is terraced or semi-detached. Neither process stops damp ingress, they mask it or move the symptoms somewhere else. You have a legal duty of care to your neighbours and you must notify them of any damp-proofing work you intend to carry out on a party wall. If you undertake the work without their knowledge and they suffer damp problems or increased problems themselves as a result, they can sue you.

 

All basic maintenance requirements of an old solid wall building should be addressed first as a matter of course before anything else is done. Which is minimising damp ingress by maintaining drainage, guttering, pointing, vegetation, french drains, outside ground levels and surface run-off; and ventilation: windows, chimney flues (should be open with vent cowls fitted), and roof sarking. If the roof has been recovered with non-breathable felt tile vents need to be fitted.

All these things should be in text book condition before you start injecting chemicals or sealing masonry. If the building is listed either treatments can be classed as structural and require permission.

Do the basics first.

Good sound advice.

[-Mongrel-]

Well need to be careful giving specific advice without knowing details. I am very sceptical about this advice, it could cause further major problems.

As soon as you remove plaster from old walls in domestic properties you are required to upgrade the thermal integrity of the walls as required by Part L of Building Regulations 2010, even if it is an old building.

 

First thing to remember, All of Part L regs are recommendations and considered good practice. None of it is law as I've recently found out to my cost in a conflict with a developer. Basically I told them that they couldn't do something as it contravened Part L, the said so what, I said, it's the Law, they said no it's not and then went through the rest of our works with a fine toothed comb! Every little niggle they could find then became an issue!

[Paul T]

First thing to remember, All of Part L regs are recommendations and considered good practice. None of it is law as I've recently found out to my cost in a conflict with a developer. Basically I told them that they couldn't do something as it contravened Part L, the said so what, I said, it's the Law, they said no it's not and then went through the rest of our works with a fine toothed comb! Every little niggle they could find then became an issue!

Yes and no.

I don't have the regs to hand at home, but from memory it goes something like this: the methods described in ADL demonstrate some ways of complying with the regulations, but other alternatives may be acceptable. In other words, there are written standards to achieve, but it is up to you how you do it and prove that method complies with the Approved Documents. For Part L1B it would also have to be reasonably practicable in the case of an existing building. This could be in either terms of payback time or even having an affect on the use of the space. Ultimately it will be down to the individual Approved Inspector to sign of that element of the works, but in my experience for a old property they are pretty easy going. Any improvement is generally considered better than nothing - hence my suggestion for insulated plasterboard on the external walls.

[artschool]

First thing to remember, All of Part L regs are recommendations and considered good practice. None of it is law as I've recently found out to my cost in a conflict with a developer. Basically I told them that they couldn't do something as it contravened Part L, the said so what, I said, it's the Law, they said no it's not and then went through the rest of our works with a fine toothed comb! Every little niggle they could find then became an issue!

that sounds interesting M. have you got an example of what was done and what was acceptable. genuine interest.

[hillmouse]

I have lived in old houses for most of my life. This one is quite modern at about 170 years old and my former home was over 400 years old. Cob walls and thatched with cruck frame.

 

Old houses are damp. If you try to seal them up and make them draught free then the dampness tends to get worse with condensation being a major issue.

 

Poke up with a bit of cold and open all the doors and windows for an hour a day.

 

Stone and rubble walls will never be dry especially with the recent climate and attempts to seal them simply encourage more condensation inside.

[-Mongrel-]

that sounds interesting M. have you got an example of what was done and what was acceptable. genuine interest.

 

In this particular case it revolved around heating of sleeping as opposed to living areas when both were on the same heating zone. It is recommended that you place the thermostat in the living area as this is the area requiring a higher temperature (generally) ie 20 deg C over the 18 degs in a sleeping area, and use a TRV in the sleeping areas to then 'throttle' that area. The developer wanted the 'stat in the bedrom fror aesthetic reasons, hence the argument.

 

However, once we had capitulated and fitted to their requirements it then turns out that the lounge (on the same floor/zone as a bedroom) won't heat adequately. 'stat is on 18, entire floor only achieves 18. The developer argued that if the rad was adequately sized then the lounge would be heated to 20 in the same time as the bedroom would be heated to 18, however, it's not that simple. Heating is a district heating system, rads are only running at 56 C and heat losses etc all had to be factored in.

 

Resolution was, the 'stat is now in the lounge, TRV on the bedroom rad and it all works...but we had to bear the cost of the labour to resolve it, developer swallowed the cost of wireless room 'stats.

 

Brutally, the original position for the room 'stat was in the lounge, but because we eventually capitulated and agreed to the new position, we then got held to ransom on the labour!

Edited January 10, 2013 by -Mongrel-

[Chris Bb]

Sell it to a moneyed visitor as a holiday home. They'll think the mould patches are part of its "rustic charm".

 

You, meanwhile, can move to somewhere fit for modern dwelling.

 

 

p.s. I have lived in 400 year old houses with none of these problems.