Articles By Syndicated Columnist
Dan Thomas
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Improvement Inside And Out
What
Is Rising Damp
Rising damp is a very hot topic. Check out the search engines and you will
see how hot a topic it is. There is a lot of controversy as to whether it
truly exists or not.
Rising damp can be defined as the water that flows up through a permeable
wall structure. The water will come from the ground (know as ground water).
The water rises up through the pores in the masonry or brick. Some call this
capillarity. The brick or masonry acts as a wick and soaks the water up.
Some common causes are deterioration because of age and bridging of a damp
course with internal concrete floors, renders or external paths and earth
levels.
Following are a list of symptoms that would indicate rising damp in your
house.
For inside walls Skirting boards and floor boards rot.
Wall paper lifts and stains appear on the walls.
Paint will not adhere to the wall.
Plaster flakes away, feels soft and spongy, bubbles and white powder or
crystals appear.
For outside walls
You may have white powder or stains appear on your outside walls
Mortar will start to fall out between the bricks and stonework
None of the problems listed above are too serious. Severe rising damp could
cause structural damage and a damp environment will become moldy and that is a
health risk.
If you see any of the above symptoms then it is best to have an expert come
in to your home and check for rising damp. Finding an export will not be easy.
there are a lot of people out there who will tell you that what you have is
the worst case of rising damp they have ever seen. Then they will proceed to
talk you into an expense treatment and charge you a big fee for carrying out
the work that may or may not correct your problem.
These damp-proofing sales people will show at your house using a rising
damp meter. These meters are only good for wood or calibrated material. The
measure the electrical conductance. It is thought that the better the electric
conductance the higher your rising damp. As we said they work reasonably well
on wood but what about plaster or wallpaper or brick and concrete. These
people will then proceeded to tell you that you have a very high rising damp.
Be careful that if they tell you it is major problem that they are not making
a living on commissions and trying to suck you in.
The rule of thumb is if the wall looks okay then it is okay. If it is
showing the signs of rising damp as listed above then you probably do have a
problem with moisture, condensation, or rising damp. Look for an expert,
just
make sure they are not commission based salesmen.
