gday mate bit more info wheres the damp in the house mate ? ie wet areas ( bathroom  laundry  kitchen or wc ) or is it on an internal cavity wall (internal side of outer perimetre of the house)  

My bad nackers.  More info might be handy hey?

Unfortunately I've only had a quick look but if I had to have a guess, I'd say that the moisture is being sucked up from the outside at ground level and being drawn up the wall.  I'm pretty sure it's only on the external walls and not the internal walls.  The house was rendered about 7 or 8 years back I think and after a bit of googling, it appears that's what might be part if not all of the problem?  

Like I said in the first post though, I'm pretty sure it's a single skinned external wall.  I know that's very unusual and probably not very legal but I'm guessing it was built to a real tight budget and somehow made it pass the council back in the day (built in 1970) or maybe they didn't even check?  Who knows?  It is more than likely seeping through to the inside of brick work and causing the plaster to delaminate on the inside and the paint to bubble/peel.  But again, I have only had a brief look.  I'm hoping to have another look later this week or early next week.  Settlement is around the 20th Dec.

I 'm wondering if maybe I cut back the render up to 500mm above the ground level and put some kind of wetherproof hardiplanks in or something along the bottom?  Not sure how it will look though?

We are looking at the cheapest option though as long as it works because we plan on maybe bringing in the bulldozer in 5 or 10 years and building a nice little holiday house if we can afford it?  For now, we just need a neat and tidy and moisture free place so we can get some good tennants in place.

PS - If anyone is looking for a nicely renovated 4 x 2 in the Dawesville area about 400m walk to the beach available hopefully by late Jan, let me know?

I'd be looking at the problem and asking myself these ?? before spending $$$ on hardie board.  

Is the damp isolated to one area of the house? Check the ground level adjacent the damp area relative to the internal level, is it higher, what is the surface finish on the external floor, does water run away from the house o back to it, where is the location of any downpipes, location of any windows and there exposure to rain and wind,  do the dowpipes run back from the gutter to the external wall and concealed by enclosed eaves? Are the downpipes blocked?

i hope its a easy fix and something covered in my list.

Good luck

PG

Hey mate,

It would be pretty surprising, (but i have seen it before), but if that's single leaf anything (brick, stud, veneer), you will have always had, and always will have a moisture problem.

You have to be careful buying these places, as if they don't meet code, you can be up for big costs to rectify, especially if you're goin to rent it out.

Cheers PG.  From what I have found out so far, it can be a very expensive fix up.  The gutters might be blocked.  The downpipes do run back to the walls and the eaves are filled but it does look like the moisture is rising from the bottom.  You could be right, maybe I just need to dig back a bit of dirt around the external brickwork and possibly remover just 100mm of render or nothing at all?  I think where the worst damp is, the fall of the ground does run back to the house?  I am going to organise at least one guy to go and have a look but only thought tonight to ask the knowledgeable folk on Fishwrecked!

Again - It's pretty hard to provide info when I've only had a brief look, which I know is a bit silly as I've kind of rushed into it but I really didn't expect the owners to accept our offer because it was only on the market for 2 weeks and we offered 50k less than the asking price.  I was expecting them to at least come back with a counter offer of some sort which would give us more time to think about it?  Maybe they new what was involved???

what are the internal walls?

float and set plaster or gyp rock? you can check by knocking on the walls

rising damp could be many things cavities could be full of debris ?

no weep holes a hole in brick perp joins every 1200 as per bca

if i was unsure i would get the services of a reputable  building inspector and get a report

your about to outlay some serios money and you need to be informed of what the issues are

unless you got flooded lately      is it widespread or isolated?        try clearing the ground back to the footing level and check for weep holes on the first course of brickwork as the cavity needs to be vented to allow moisture to seep out  (they get rendered over alot) new weepholes can be easily drilled out and you can try sweeping the join between footing and wall and painting both the base of the wall (from just below ground level) to an inch or so of the footing with bitucote (real fun stuff to use) a great waterproofer     is the render painted?                                                

 unless you have a leaking pipe it is odd to have the moisture reach the inside wall unless the cavity has been bridged by mortar or brick (this is the purpose of the cavity)    

  sometimes bad (so called) tradesman only render to the existing ground level instead of right down to the footing

also if your down pipes run in above your eaves these can rust out and cause water to run into the eave and down the inside of the external wall

hope this helps

Definately cement render finish to the inside walls but I don't think it has white set.  I think it is sand finish.  Again, I know it's a bit strange but it was built to a budget and they probably (like most back in 1970 did) used whatever they could get there hands on cheap at the time.  I was told by some ex neighbours that the house was built by two sisters and they did a lot of the work themselves?  the place is actually two titles on the one block (strata survey).   They are mirror image units with a common dividing wall seperating the two effectively making it a 4 x 2.

Its hard to fix with two leaves of brickwork, pretty much give up for one.

should of refreshed the page first

You guys aren't filling me with much confidence.  I'm starting to stress out a bit now.  Some people I have spoken with think that it can be fixed and isn't the end of the world and others are saying it's a waste of time - try and get out of the contract?  It's only a lazy $300k I'm forking out .  I keep thinking to myself - there was good long term tennant in there before and he only left because the owners wanted to hike the rents up on him so it can't be all bad right?     I was going to spend a little bit on the inside of the house to tidy it up a bit and try and get a little bit more rent.  Help me out here before I poop my pants!!!

You have classic capillary action rising damp issues. Until there's a picture its pretty hard to diagnose 'exactly' what the issue is.

I doubt very much the walls are single leaf across the entire house as it would be deemed inhabitable by the health department.

It could be brick veneer. You wouldn't really install Gyprock until the issue has been addressed as the damp will ruin the Gyprock quick smart.

Do you have a couple of images to ascertain the cross section detail etc?

They are mirror image units with a common dividing wall seperating the two effectively making it a 4 x 2.

Is the problem mirrored also at the opposite building wall? Take a meter reading in case a water pipe is damaged.

and see if you can get the contract subject to a building inspection (or do it independly) and ask the questions   at worst it may cost you a few hundred bucks not a few hundred grand

Sound advice Nackers. He should send you a carton for potentially saving him bucket loads of cash.

I have had a building inspection done and he didn't notice any damage due to rising damp but unfortunately he has gone in at the wrong time of the year.  I really need to get someone down there who specialises in rising damp which I am hoping to do in the next day or two.

You can view at least one picture of the property online on realestate.com.au.  Search for 29 Sutherland St Dawesville.

It is subject to a building inspection but only for being structurally OK.  If the walls are going to crumble from being wet than I guess that makes it structurally unstable.

Have a building report done. Damp can be complex to resolve, more so than structural Wazzbat. It can also be accompanied with white ants.

If the walls are going to crumble from being wet than I guess that makes it structurally unstable.

Structural integrity is defined that the structure will potentially collapse. A couple of minor cracks and some crumbling render comes under maintenance. Have a report done to ascertain how much the building may cost to make it habitable. Then ascertain the sort of time the net pay back will be on those improvement costs? You are in the business of making money with an investment.

Probably not the cheapest option but if worse comes to worse, couldn't I just frame out another wall (in timber) inside the house inside the internal walls and create a waterproofing dampcourse as I do it?  The units are quite small and at a guess (again with no measurements made yet) there would be approximately 40 metres of cladding to be done?  I know this would reduce the internal living areas a bit but it might be the best way to fix it up.  I don't think it would matter quite so much if the moisture can't penetrate through to the internal walls?

I would also have to replace the windows/frames and doors but I was planning on doing that anyway bacause they are fairly old and rusty now?

If the moisture is making it to the slab, capillary action will suck moisture under the floor. The underlying matter is, what is the source of the moisture and where is the ingress actually occurring? Capillary action breaks al the rules of gravity and some. Its like water ventriloquism; you thinks its there but its actually coming from over there.

New windows alone for a 4x2 will set you back maybe $6000-$8000 plus labour. I just replaced mine.

Only four windows will need doing and I know a good chippy who will do a good job at a good rate but I realise it still wont be  acheap job.

if that was a option i would put a tray flashing from external wall to the studd wall could do a few metrers at a time so it could be done

A through cavity flashing will prevent moisture to the new internal wall from the base. Post ASCON installation wont make it a holiday though.

Sorry saltatrix, not quite follow "Post ASCON installation wont make it a holiday though".

You saying that it's a bit of a mission to put the flashing in if I framed the inside?

Trying to install a cavity through flashing is a slow and tedious task. You really need a building report by someone with a solution to the problem as the moisture ingress can end up everywhere. Without a slab section detail its really hard to tell what exactly is happening.

It maybe a really simple fix such as water proofing of the slab edge.

Cheers saltatrix.  I'm going to have a good look at it on Friday and hopefully come up with a solution then?  I hope it does end up being a simple fix.

wazz,

you made the mistake of posting the internet link, then all the too hard and too expensive comments came

for the money your paying, for the type of accomodation (2 titles) and your 5 year plan I think its a great buy even with the water.

if you want to pull out let me know who i can call to buy it from, though my feeling is it could be an easy fix. 

cheers

PG

Where is the water coming from? Could be your drainage from the roof , garden etc needs directing away from the foundations to cut off the souce and stop it going up the brickwork.

You could try this stuff. Have been selling it a bit and appears to work.

You MUST follow the directions re distance between holes etc.

It is something that you could do yourself and is not that expensive ( about $270 for 20 litres plus the tubes just over $1 each)

http://www.constructionchemicals.com.au/PDF/Damp%20Cure.pdf

OK - had a bit of a check yesterday and from what I could work out, it looks like some kind of frame that has been cladded with some sort of concrete slabs???  The best way to describe it, well, it looked like council conctrete slab pavers.  I could see it a bit behind a downpipe (which was a bit loose) where it hadn't been plastered.

Looks like I will have to wait until settlement and then might have to go and drill a hole or two.  Because it is rendered inside and out, it is very hard to tell what it is exactly.  I have googled a bit but can't find anything that resembles what I saw?   Has anyone heard of this type of wall being used before?   I wouldn't be surprised if they did use some kind of slabs but have no idea how they would have fixed them?  This makes it even more interesting as to how I am going to stop the rising damp - which didn't look all that bad to me.  No visible effects/damage could be seen inside.

G'day Bat hows the knee going?

I reckon its not rising damp, but the neighbors pissin it up and givin your new joint a squirt.hahaha

Sort them out first i reckon.hahah 

Lol!