Property Care Association madness - Extreme Damp Wallies!

[@MarkHarveyArt]

We own an old Welsh Stone cottage that larder was horribly damp.. Removed the inch thick cement render back to the stone and many months later problem virtually gone. Seemed bananas to take the cement off, but have to admit it worked a treat. Property can breath again. Now gradually removing the gypsum plaster from other rooms and this too is having a positive effect. House feels warmer and certainly seems less damp.

[@WarmDryHome]

Fantastic! The Ty Mawr lads are good if you need help - sure you know about them. The last link in the chain for you will be to keep the place heated right - ideally limecrete floors with underfloor heating - but the main thing is constant, always on, but very low temp - so you keep the walls at the same temp year round - use their thermal mass. That stops any possibility that you get interstitial condensation - and keeps the walls dry. Make sure ground levels are well below internal floor levels, and check all your drains too - a few leaks can wreak havoc - and they are always out of sight, out of mind...

[@MarkHarveyArt]

Yes have used them a few times. Alas the neighbour who revamped the property here in the 70's put a thick bed of concrete down in the kitchen and living room and caused a lot of the issues that we are gradually correcting. In it for the long haul tho so things are gradually improving.

[@MarkHarveyArt]

Should add I have also addressed most of the gutters as soon as we moved in as these were simply dumping water straight onto the bottoms of the walls. Surveyor was useless! Some simple changes can make a huge difference and people shouldn't just rush for wally damp man but actually take time to look at the problem, sometimes the answer is staring you straight in the face.

[@WarmDryHome]

Exactly - great case history from a person in the street who takes the time to learn - and now you have a dry house. 'Surveyor was useless' - you NEED to publicise these people though - I do them for negligence all the time, and hammer the RICS - they need to be hammered, or surveyors will never learn. We get them young and train them properly - takes 2 years minimum, then they understand all this stuff and know how to work with old houses. Old house / New construction - two COMPLETELY different skill sets. You should not be allowed to survey an old house unless you are fully trained in old house physics - which is a lot more complex...

[@akovac35]

The cavity and walls seem to be well made in this house, from what was recorded. So those holes drilled for damp proofing look like a lot of damage.

[@WarmDryHome]

The walls are fine. Yes - the holes do a lot of damage - the hammer drills used shatter brickwork, making it more vulnerable to weathering externally - it can crumble much more easily. Injection chemicals then block breathability, causing more shattering from moisture entrapment. Bad all round.

[@captain_the_puggy8486]

Do they fill the holes with anything or do they just drill holes for ventilation purposes?

[@GeorgeMcKnight]

Gulp!! I honestly can't believe any specialist would carry out this sort of treatment...shocking!...any idea who they were?

[@richardcoles2432]

Hello Peter...I love all your Videos...please could you offer me a little advise? I own a house whicj is way over 300yrs old & currently being renovated...all the dry wood beetle issues have been resolved by drying out the wood & replacing any timbers which are shot...the thing I'm unsure of is all the thick solid brick walls..I have taken all the walls back to tje brickwork & racked all tje lime mortar joints out as they was really bad..question once I've replaced any damaged or decayed bricks how should I proceed with the walls as they all need rendering to strengthen them up...I'm guessing you will scream if I say cement render? I'm thinking of using batten & insulating the exterior walls upstairs & downstairs...I'm guessing the walls I don't batten I can dot & dab? any help would be appreciated.

[@vinm300]

Wally-damp-man surpassed himself with the holes above the arch. He must have done those for an encore.

[@gooeybongos]

I don't know much about cellars, but was wondering if there is dead space between the brick and the dirt wall surrounding it? with the ventilation on the bottom of the brick wall, is it just flush against dirt or is there dead space? Is the brick right up against the dirt when they built these way back then? Forgive my ignorance, but I find these things fascinating.

[@WarmDryHome]

its an early form of cavity - dirt against outside of the wall, cavity in the middle, with vents top and bottom to keep it dry - and it works, until the idiots at the PCA get in there and damp proof it.