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Advice Rising Damp in one-Bedroom Basement Flat

Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 2:51 pm
by DIYNovice4
Hi

I’d be very grateful for advice on this. I live in a one-bedroom basement flat. It’s been badly affected by water escaping from a leaking wastepipe in the bathroom. It wasn’t until August 2018 that rising damp became visible, and not until the second half of September 2018 that the cause was found. My best guess is that water was escaping for at least a year, so much of the water used in at least 300 different showers has found its way into the floors and walls of the flat. It’s about 30 foot in length, with the bathroom at one end. The loss adjustor came in April, when water damage was already apparent at different spots along the entire length of the flat. However, new water damage only became visible in one of my cupboards, at least 20 feet from the bathroom, at some stage between April and August, when I first noticed it.

The insurers are going to pay for the repairs and redecoration, including stripping the bathroom and drying it out. However, I really don’t feel I can have the redecoration of the other rooms done until all the water now logged in those rooms has evaporated or caused any damage it’s going to cause. Would anyone have a rough idea how long that might take in a situation like this?

Very many thanks

Re: Advice Rising Damp in one-Bedroom Basement Flat

Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2019 4:16 pm
by DIYQueen
Sorry, we can't - it depends on how much airing you can do, how much sun the flat gets and whether you use a dehumidifier and if so how much. By the sounds of it, the damp is very bad so I would think a month or two. It's worth a chat with the insurers to see if they can provide a commercial dehumidifying service or similar to get the flat properly dry before they start any work.

Re: Advice Rising Damp in one-Bedroom Basement Flat

Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 3:14 pm
by DIYNovice4
THis is very helpful. Many thanks for responding .

Best wishes