MF Property Maintenance

Symptoms of Rising Damp:

Flaking plaster, spongy soft feel to wall, white powder or crystals appearing on wall, lifting and stained wallpaper, skirting and floor boards rotting. These are all signs of rising damp, if your property is suffering from any of these symptoms then it is likely that you have a rising damp issue.

Cause of Rising Damp:

Rising damp can arise for various reasons, the failure of an existing damp proof course (DPC), bridging due to the raising of external or internal ground levels or in older buildings the complete absence of a damp proof course.

Treatment of Rising Damp:

Chemical injection damp proof-courses and re-plastering:

Injection damp-proof courses basically consist of the injection of a water repellent material into the base of a wall where it will form a diffuse band to 'control' the rising dampness. Unlike a physical damp proof course which provides an impervious and immediate cut in rising water, the chemical systems will generally only control the rising water -- not stop it. There are a number of physical factors related to the substrate and injection processes which govern why this is.

Therefore, to provide a non-spoiling decorative surface re-plastering is required. First removal of the old plasterwork at a minimum of 1 meter high removes potentially heavy contamination with
hygroscopic/deliquescent salts which have accumulated over many years of rising damp and which, if left, may spoil new decorations. However, the new plasterwork has a very important function -- it must be capable of preventing hygroscopic/deliquescent salts passing to the new surface from contaminated underlying masonry.

This function is extremely important because: -

1. Walls take time to dry down, and
2. The lower part of the walls are always likely to remain damp because of the limitations of the chemical injection systems.