DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi guys.. i've just registered so a quick hi to all of you.

I really am struggling. I have a house which i know had an old single brick outhouse(?) on the back which past owners have had knocked through to increase the size of the kitchen. When we moved in this part of the kitchen (the back) was cladded with the old '80s wooden cladding. Thinking i was doing the right thing i ripped out the cladding along with their batons, and had a friend plaster the whole area.... it looked brilliant, like a new build - then the problems started. Damp.

There is black mold all over the wall behind the floor units which has rendered the insides of some unusable for safety reasons. I've had enough. The missus is whinging about it but i'm the one who ultimately has to put it right somehow and i don't know what to do to make sure that i don't cock it up again.

My thoughts are as follows:

* Remove all the plaster and subsurface back down to bare brick
* Baton and frame the area with Timber
* Face with 10mm thick ply
* Install new units, tile over the ply

Now some people have suggested that i put a layer of plastic sheet over the brick to stop any damp coming through, however others have said to leave it to 'breath'.

Also, i've been told that the damp can simply come out of the bottom of whatever surface that i install and therefore the damp problem will still exist.

For information, the flooring at the rear of the kitchen is concrete, whereas it then switches back to wood.

I'm really desperate here guys and i'd normally just pay someone but dont know which information is correct.. i just want to do this task once and not have to worry about it until i'm no longer on planet earth to be honest.

Thanks so much for any help or guidance

Barry

there are 2 ways to do this, if you want to take all the plaster off back to the bare brick, then replaster, use limelight plaster and then a high impact finish plaster.
If you want to insulate the walls, then you must seal the brickwork with something like aquaprufe then batten the room out ,insulate then vapour barrier then plasterboard

welsh brickie wrote:there are 2 ways to do this, if you want to take all the plaster off back to the bare brick, then replaster, use limelight plaster and then a high impact finish plaster.
If you want to insulate the walls, then you must seal the brickwork with something like aquaprufe then batten the room out ,insulate then vapour barrier then plasterboard

Thanks for the advice. Can i ask if you can elaborate on the 'insulate then vapour barrier' part? I've seen the insulation blocks around 1" thick.

Also, how do i leave the bottom of the wall, to prevent the damp coming underneath?

thanks
barry

if you insulate the walls, then staple the plastic sheet (membrane) on top, then plasterboard.
The aquaprufe will stop the damp from entering the room, leave a 20mm gap between the floor and the plasterboard and fix skirting to the base of the wall

So to clarify, I Batten the damp wall with pressure treated timber, add insulation foam boards in between, then staple/nail the sheet over the top before facing with ply? I'll be putting base units against these walls so don't want them to get damp like the current ones have (and subsequently destroyed the contents).

thanks

I would suggest that you start by looking for a damp proof course, is there one? Is there rising damp? Is the water coming through the wall as rain, or the roof or a leaking pipe?
Is there a damp proof membrane under the concrete floor? Lay a rubber mat on the floor for a few days to see if water collects under it.