Rising damp 1650’s thatched cottage

[Paul Dempsey]

Hi, I have recently bought a 1650 thatched cottage. I had an extensive survey done before I bought it and it flagged up a lot of issues but nothing to put me off buying it. The main issue was damp. I have had a specialist damp company come to survey and quote for the work which they are saying will be between £30-50k. My problem is I don’t see any damp anywhere. All the walls look fine, no musty damp smells, nothing. Has anyone here had similar experiences

 

[stuart45]

What was the remedial action they recommended? Was it chemical injection, or works like removal of cement render/plaster and replacement with lime?

 

[Paul Dempsey]

Hi Stuart
Removel of plaster, put a treatment on the wall then re-plaster. No chemical injection

 

[malcolm]

If it doesn't look damp, doesn't feel damp and doesn't smell damp there is a strong possibility that it isn't damp at all.

A damp proofing salesman might suggest it needs £30k of damp proofing but that is not an unbiased opinion. The surveyor may have used wood moisture content meter on plaster which won't give useful results.

The important thing if you find damp is never waterproof. Always use breathable materials and finishes so the walls can dry out and stop being damp.

 

[Cubist]

Were the guys that gave you that quote wearing masks? Did they leave their vans engine running while they visited?

Seriously, before you do anything else send us some pictures of the exterior, and in particular some ground level views from around the perimeter together with some understanding of the topology of the land the house stands on. Also, what is the nature of the house structure? Brick, stone, timber?

 

[Itchinfilth]

Hi Stuart
Removel of plaster, put a treatment on the wall then re-plaster. No chemical injection

Treatment product is likely something that will do more harm than good. Do you know what the current plaster is and did they spec what they would re-plaster. My experience of level 3 rics surveyors is that they are largely clueless with historic houses.

 

[Mulder]

Need more information on what the suspected damp remediation works were. A good fix should involve removing any modern non-breathable materials, like gypsum plaster, and replacing with lime.
Their solution sounds like a bad idea. You can't "treat" damp by simply applying a product. You have to address the cause.
What they may end up doing is blocking moisture from entering inside, which simply traps it inside the walls. This is terrible if you have any timbers in there. Also not good for heat as a wet wall is a cold wall and very quickly becomes a moldy wall.

Share some pics if you can

 

[Zebra]

Agree with the responses above, having addressed a severe damp problem in a c. 17th C brick house.
Tradespeople tend not to get to really grips with the specific situation that you have in an old house (and old houses are all different); tradespeople tend to recommend whatever it is that they know how to do. In order to really understand what is going on in your house in terms of damp, moisture, ventilation, breathability etc. you would have to live in it for a while and observe what happens as the seasons change, as the weather changes, as the water table rises. Of course tradespeople aren't able to do this. Even surveyors aren't able to do this, they're only able to make a guess about what might be going on.
I would suggest that you do nothing for now. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, as you may make things worse. Live in it for a while, see if mould accumulates, see if you get damp patches, see what happens, and then come back here and post about it!

 

[stuart45]

Really good advice to live in a property for a while first. Sometimes just a change of ownership, the way the house is heated and simple maintenance issues like cleaning out the gutters can make a lot of difference.
Unfortunately a lot of people, especially when buying an older house, prefer to try and get most of the disruptive jobs done as soon as, or even before they move in. Damp proofing is a common one, especially when the price has been reduced to cover the cost. I can understand people wanting to take this route if they're not clued up in construction problems.