£20,000 damp survey? Damp can be a major issue in the home. Find answers to questions or post your own here.

[Dan Stewart]

Hi folks,

We have just had a survey carried out on an old stone cottage in Scotland and it has come back with very high damp level readings in most walls. The house has not been inhabited for over 12 months so I presume there will be an element of condensation? I have had a read of the projects and it seems a possible solution may be to incorporate a plastic membrane to prevent the damp prior to batenning and adding plaster board.

The roof on the property looks reasonably sound but a lot of the sandstone faces are flaking. I presume this will lead to porosity? The silicone spraying from what I have read is a no no as the wall needs to breathe. It seems the best way to deal with the damp is to tankle it from the inside? I can't beleive it will cost £20,000!! any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Dan

[smallclough]

No... dont tank - its the worst thing you could do...
The damp meter readings are probably false anyway if they are done with a conductivity meter which everyone uses.. salts can cause high readings without water..
flaking sandstone faces is probably due to impervious pointing - cement between the mortar beds... replacing original lime.
Rake everything out and repoint in lime, and dont even think about tanking - it will destroy the house. google a bunch of guys at heritage-house.org if you want more information - they helped us with damp and restoration of a stone house in shropshire. I'm not sure if we are allowed to post links on the forum - I put one on earlier to the same folks and it told me the moderator had to approve..!

Hope this helps!