Rising Damp

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 by: Alastair Taylor

It doesn’t sound like a particularly interesting topic,
however a quick search on the worlds favourite internet search engine
will show that in some circles rising damp is a very hot topic indeed.
The trouble is that it appears that it could indeed be some type of
religion or god; does it exist, or doesn’t it? The truth of the matter
is that rising damp does indeed exist in one form or another, but it is
often misdiagnosed, or you can often pay for expensive treatment that
really isn’t necessary.

Rising damp in buildings may be defined as the vertical
flow of water up through a permeable wall structure, the water being
derived from ground water. The water rises through the pores
(capillaries) in the masonary by a process loosely termed
"capillarity." In other words the masonry acts like a wick The common
causes are deterioration due to age and bridging of a damp course with
internal concrete floors, renders or external paths and earth levels (a
damp course is specifically designed to avoid the possibility of rising
damp- it is built of a matter of course in all new buildings).

If your house does have a problem (something we will discuss later) then it can cause the following symptons:

For inside walls

• Paint does not adhere to the wall.
  

• Wall paper lifts and stains appear on the walls.
  

• Plaster flakes away, feels soft and spongy, bubbles and white powder or crystals appear.
  

• Skirting boards and floor boards rot.
  

For outside walls

• Mortar frets and falls out between bricks and stonework.
  

• Stains or white powder appear on walls.
  

These problems are mainly aesthetic problems only, however it
is conceivable that structural damage could result from extensive
rising damp, and of course a damp mouldy environment could pose a
health risk to people.

Obviously if you have any of the above symptoms then it
is possible that your home is suffering from rising damp, and it would
be advisable to get an ‘expert’ in to look at your home. However this
is where you will face a major problem; who is an expert , and who is
just a ‘cowboy’ out to diagnose you with the "worst case of rising damp
that he has ever seen, which can only be solved with the most expensive
treatment on the market"? Unfortunately there are a lot of companies
out there who have targets to meet and profits to make, and the way
they do this is by over zealous diagnosing, and charge you hefty fees
for carrying out work that may, or may not, fix the problem.

The major problem is that any damp-proofing salesman
that you employ to look at your home will use a ‘rising damp meter’.
These meters are supposed to measure the moisture in materials, however
what they actually do is measure the electrical conductance. The idea
being that the better the conductance (the ease at which electricity
flows) the higher the water content. However these meters can only be
calibrated for one material, and that is usually timber. So they will
give reasonable results for wood and possibly some plasters, but for
bricks, wallpaper and concrete they will give readings that are way too
high. Thus they can be used (by unscrupulous salespeople) to indicate
that you have rising damp “because the meters says so” when in fact you
have a perfectly normal wall.

In summary if you can visibly see a problem with your
wall, with obvious signs of damage due to water or salty tide marks
then you may have a problem with rising damp, and you will need to try
to find a reliable expert to come in and look at your problem. However
be very, very wary of any ‘expert’ who has been employed to do a
general survey of your house, or indeed comes around offering a free
check up of your building. If they pull out one of these moisture
meters, jab it into the wall a few times and declare that you have a
major problem, then it is entirely possible that they are a commission
based salesperson trying to extract money from you.

Generally, if the wall looks okay, it is okay. If it
looks like it is damp, mouldy or has tide marks on it, then you have a
problem with moisture, condensation, or rising damp in your home, and
you need to investigate things further.

About the Author

Alastair Taylor runs a DIY website that tries to give the consumer the truth about home improvement jobs. Visit http://www.whatprice.co.uk to saves yourself time and money

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