Quickest way to redecorate a wet area in a dry wall? Could one wall be lime and the other gypsum plaster?

[Pari]

The lower ground floor rooms in my house has damp - walls are wet in the bottom 10 cm in base, dry from there up (external ground higher, can't be lowered in some + condensation in others), and some patches around shelving higher in the wall (condensation - waterproof render on the lower half). I have stripped all plaster back to bricks 1M from base, and intend to cover with wainscoting to be able to use the rooms. Haven't removed plaster in the upper patch yet. Some brick damage from removal. A few questions on redecorating:
1. Is it worth repointing the dry part of the bricks in lime plaster before covering with wainscoting, or ok to leave and do it all together in a year's time?
2. The ceiling and non-impacted walls are gypsum. Will there be any issue where lime plastered walls meet adjacent gypsum plastered walls and ceiling?
3. The wet patch area in the upper wall Is due to condensation. Paint is flaking off. I am improving ventilation. As the gypsum walls around it are dry, what is the quickest solution to redecorate that wall?

 

[claraclattermole]

If you use wood for the wainscotting it will get wet and slowly rot unless you isolate it from the wall. Is there a reason that you are not just getting the wall plastered in lime and then painting in permiable paint?

 

[a twig]

@claraclattermole - to save @Pari re-typing everything from previous threads:

P

Thread 'Lime re-render in lower ground external wall, keeping cement mortar for upper floors'

Mar 25, 2026

I bought a 3 storey Victorian house. Externally, top two floors painted (under cement mortar), lower ground floor cement render. All in good condition. As in photo. Lower ground floor has damp inside. The damp survey recommended removing external cement render from the lower ground and re-render with lime to reduce condensation and for breathability. The upper two floors have no damp. Upon contacting one of the lime render tradesman to remove and re-render the lower ground external wall, he said unless the entire front elevation was redone, apparently the damp will creep up to the upper...

• Pari
• Replies: 4
• Forum: Period Property Discussion Forum

P

Thread 'Damp lower ground floor - How much plaster to strip? What to do after stripping?'

Mar 24, 2026

Some context: The lower ground floor of the house I bought has damp throughout the 2 bedrooms. I got an independent damp survey done which said most of it is condensation, but there damp rising from ground up in one internal wall & front external wall. External ground level is higher than internal, but from trial pit, can't be lowered due to shallow foundations in clay. The report stated stripping both internal and external - all walls - back to bricks and re-render with lime render and plaster. This of course is a very disruptive, costly and expensive task. A lot of what he wrote was...

• Pari
• Replies: 5
• Forum: Period Property Discussion Forum