Damp Floors In Old Houses

Damp can sometimes soak through old solid walls particularly if the pointing is inadequate leaving brown patchy stains on the plaster or wallpaper.

Damp floors in old houses. It may lead to the deterioration of plaster and masonry promote timber decay and create unhealthy conditions for occupants. Walls floors roofs and their finishes in old houses are meant to be breathable. A brown stain on a ceiling on the inside of an exterior wall or on a chimney breast is most likely to be penetrating damp which is caused by broken or loose tiles or slates blocked or leaky gutters damaged flashing and chimneybreasts and dodgy rendering or mortar on outer walls. Old houses often have floors that are less than perfect.

Most houses in the uk suffer from damp problems. Brown stains on ceilings or walls likely cause. A pre 1877 house that is experiencing damp problems has most likely had that moisture management system upset and installing a retrospective dpc is not going to restore that system. Unfortunately inappropriate treatments for damp commonly cause greater harm to old buildings than centuries of degradation.

This is a costly and time consuming exercise. For this reason houses built in exposed locations such as coastal towns would often have additional protection with the walls rendered or clad with tiles. If signs of damp in houses are visible it is advised to thoroughly investigate the source of the problem. Often the source of dampness is not obvious for the homeowner but visible signs of damp in house walls can be found in the form of mould growth on walls efflorescence and the peeling blistering of wallpaper and paintwork.

Even historic houses have saggy sloping floors. Problems with damp floors can be tricky to deal with whether in old buildings or new ones. The worst enemy of old houses is we humans it s what we do to them or fail to understand about them that causes problems and makes you think you have to damp proof. Damp problems in a house can be due to a number of causes such as rain getting through the walls or roof moisture being absorbed from the ground condensation settling on cold surfaces or a.

How some twentieth century finishes proved incompatible with this and how remedial measures attempted to solve the problem. Knowing how to treat damp is essential. 3 how old houses dealt with damp in walls and floors this section looks at the way that rising damp was accommodated in old construction. Damp can damage much more than a building s appearance.

Almost 100 of damp issues in buildings are caused by condensation and lack of adequate ventilation. Few floor specialists deal only with this type of problem. The best route is to contact.