Weird damp spot next to radiator Damp can be a major issue in the home. Find answers to questions or post your own here.

[LennyHRMNS]

Hi everyone - first post here!

We moved into our 1911 terraced home about a year ago, and have noticed a weird damp spot forming on an internal wall. The wall separates the hallway and the lounge, and is within ~50cm of the front door.

The spot started on the lounge side of the wall, but in recent months two spots have appeared on the hall side as well. It has steadily grown over time. It doesn't look like water to me, but no idea what it could be instead? Are the radiator pipes leaking and is this what's causing it? Might it be coming from outside?

I've tried to dry it out using a hairdryer, and while it faded a little bit, it definitely didn't go away.

Does anyone have any remedies, or could you determine what is causing it? Is there anything but water it could be?

Many thanks
Lenny

[stoneyboy]

Hi lennyhrmns,
The presence of the radiator adjacent to the problem area would be the first thing to investigate. Are there any leaks which are dripping onto the floor? Leaks are most likely when the CH is off.
Regards S

[LennyHRMNS]

OK that makes sense. The radiator pipes go into the wall through a hole behind the radiator. Should we take the radiator off the wall and somehow try to investigate further like that? Or do we need to chip away the wall to access the pipes?

There's no visible leak from the radiator, it appears to form 'within' the wall.

Thanks for the reply!

[stoneyboy]

Hi lennyhrmns,
It’s most probable that you have masonry walls so the pipe will be buried just below the surface, it may even go under the floor. However, you appear to have laminate flooring so if there is a leak it could be from any pipe local to the stain, this would travel under the underlay and soak up into the wall - it looks like have a water mark around the socket.
Do the easiest thing first - this may be lift the laminate floor or carefully hack off plaster where the pipe disappears into the wall.
Regards S