House damp thoughts

We back in last October – March has the external mortar replaced for proper lime mortar to be sympathetic to the house.

However over the course of a few months we have managed to see what looks like damp coming through to the inside.

Very baffled as the outside has been done, you can see that the other side of the wall is under a carport too. We did have to take a bit of it out to get the scaffold through the carport when the building work was being done.

We’ve been here 3 years now and this is only very recent… They’re solid walls too so no cavities, I guess there must be some water ingress somewhere but literally don’t know where it’s coming in!

Any thoughts at all?

So looking at this again (it’s actually less hard to tell in person but the top left mortar does look decidedly darker. That is where the weather hits, however the house is brick wall and nowhere else suffers! Bizarre how if it is that, it’s not drying…

Damp works in mysterious ways…just a few thoughts, note it is a damp time of year and RH is high atm.

Can’t just work out the relationship of the two photos…is the damp stain getting worse or growing steady or not growing at all? One aspect to remember is that old salts can cause staining with damp moist air, so see if some heating and change in weather helps or not.

Good effort with lime repairs but moisture can be persistent. No doubt others will be along in a moment with other thoughts.

Hello,

could you add more pics. Looks damp at the ceiling line ( pealing paint ).
if that’s a live chimney above the boiler/ aga they can sweat.
Have you checked for pipe leaks above the damp patch, in the ceiling,water can slowly run down a wall and come out lower than you would expect.

Lime mortar is more porous than cement mortar, perhaps the previous cement mortar was successfully preventing water ingress which swapping to lime has now exposed as an issue?

Damp that high on the exterior wall is coming from above. Looks like theres eaves just out of shot?

From the bond that looks like a half brick skin, so 100mm (ish) thick? I wouldn’t be surprised to see moisture penetration from outside 🤔

Have you checked the outside wall for cracks , missing mortar, etc? Also could there be anything above causing an issue? For instance could  blocked rainwater gutters overflowing or a missing connection allowing water to run down the face of the brickwork?

Sorry folks it’s been very busy with the little un and illness so just got around to replying. A pic of the side of the house, so the door is the bottom white bit and it’s just left of that as you look at it, inside where the damp is.
when we had the mortar done we did see the bricks above on the corner weren’t in amazing condition but could this be the cause?
Also the end of the tiles on the corner may be a cause too as I know the end dropped off and instead of re-fitting we just concreted it flat.

I’ll try to get some better photos closer up when I can

Hard to be certain from the pic but it looks like you are missing a skew put on the left hand side. It’s the bottom stone at the end of the skews. You can see it clearly on the right.

Without one it’s not clear where rainwater that runs down the skews will end up as there appears to be no drip to direct into the gutter. Even with a skew put they can be problematic and require some modification to shed water. The poor brick condition at the top of the wall on the corner may be the result of water run off from the skews and wetting the bricks repeatedly

From experience I’d say your damp patch is probably caused by a point leak ie a localised problem ie skew issue, leaking gutter etc

Were the top joints of the skews pointed when the work was done? They are also classic points of water entry when the mortar has failed as they point at the sky and water runs down the skew and straight in. Very very common.

Also how is the car port attached to the gable, how are the flashings if there are any? Presumably there is some sort of fixing penetrating the brickwork at the interface

These are relatively easy fixes but as always access is the issue

With damp problems, always start at the top and eliminate all possibilities as you work down.

So I think you’re likely on the money to be honest, you get so used to these things when you see them say to say, but yes I reckon if it’s a skew it’s called then it could be that, as you say causing the water to run down the wall off the roof there rather than onto the ground from height as such.

It was in place before the building work but was loose so we took it off and didn’t re-cement it back in as didn’t realise how beneficial it likely is.

I will add too, so before we had the sandblasting done and mortar removed there was paint on those bricks so the paint I wonder was possibly actually masking a problem that we now only know about now it’s all been taken off and water can now ingress where it couldn’t before….

carport is steel and fitted to the wall but has sealant above the metal as such to stop water ingress.  Got a few mins now, so I’m wondering if this green patch shows where the water is in excess possibly running down the wall that didn’t before? 

mobile pic upload

I suppose the only thing there is that’s a good metre from where the door is. That’d mean the water ingress has essentially damped that whole wall area and is gradually getting worse.

Ever wish you just left things as they were 🤣

last pic of the front skew

So now I look at this it could be bad gutter location as it’s clear to see that the front skew runs off onto the gutter, the rear can’t as there’s no gutter there due to the Downpipe being at the back and not the side of the house…

good image hosting

Yes, that’s not looking anything close to good at the back.
The brickwork looks to have eroded because of the water running off the roof/scew.
The paint was there to try and stop some ingress.  The sandblasting has removed this and potentially exposed the soft brick – this was mentioned when you were asking about sandblasting prior to having the work done.
It certainly looks like a problem area but I see no reason why the gutter cannot be extended and probably also taken around the corner.
It’s definitely what I’d do…. Along with refitting the missing scew – it was there for a reason (and loose because of previous water damage). I hope you’ve still got it 😬

There really needs to be a proper drip and I suspect there’s not been one on that corner for quite a long time looking at the brickwork.

Even with the scew in place it might still need gutter underneath it otherwise would drip down and potentially splash back onto the wall whenmit landed on the carport roof.

Edit: I bet the downpipe was originally on the side of the house but they moved it when the carport was fitted.

If that’s the case, they could have actually left the down pipe where it was and discharged it onto the carport roof.

Yes no skew put would concern me greatly, you really need to address that. The rear gutter is simply a case of extending it so it is beneath the skew ie just beyond the gable end by an inch. Water will then drip into the gutter. Many properties I have inserted a slim slate drip under the skew put to assist this, again it’s simple work but access is the issu

Do you still have the skew put? If not it is not terribly hard to make a replacement from stone. You really do want rain water off your building though

You are absolutely doing the right thing for the building so don’t despair. The paint that you had removed woul have been holding moisture within the brickwork, as once it’s got in it won’t dry out. This would accelerate decay further.

Looking closer at your skew put, that is very easy to replicate. Some are quite complex but yours is essentially a flat piece of stone, simple to cut to size and fit.

Thank you, my worst fears…. Being that high up the ladder is very scary!

We prioritised getting the scaffold down ASAP as it was up 6 months and we were heamorraging money from it. Hadn’t realised its significance not being a roofer myself, only now do I see that the water will have literally eaten away at the brick over many years and likely why they rendered the lot!

Also got to re-fit the car port plastic too when I get around to it!!

If you do go up on a ladder get yourself an easy reach ladder stay. It’ll make things far more comfortable and stable while you work, plus it puts you in a much better working position

Could you hire a pasma tower? I’ve held my pasma ticket in the past and they’re really pretty simple to erect and a lot more stable / less fear inducing than a ladder if you’re not happy at height.

Oh those ladder stays look like a fantastic idea! As you say, if I’m stable I’m fine with that to be honest! Last time I was nearly up that high I was literally jackhammering off render! This looks like it’s only 30 min job by the looks.
Just need to find a dry few days and borrow some tall enough ladders locally as ours only go 3/4 of the way up. I’ll weigh off against the pasma tower too thank you