Buying a house with bad damp?

[Grimspoon]

I am keen to hear from people who have either had a bad damp problem in their homes, or people who know something about treating damp and if it is successful.

So I am looking at buying a new house but it has a serious damp problem pretty much all around the house, inside and out. It is a flat roof house so I suspect that is the cause of most of it. I would be getting the house for a seriously good price and will be able to afford getting professional damp proffers / repair guys in. It is going to cost in the region of a R100 000 to sort out which I am happy to pay if it solves the problem.

Apparently they put these things into the wall to dry up the damp and then seal it with special paint or whatever.

How well does this work? If treated professionally can you resolve the damp issue or is it a case of writing the house off? Also to prevent this from happening again I think I need to get gutters put in or something, currently it just has a drop off type of system.

Please only reply if you have some knowledge or experience on this topic

 

[Shayd]

Yes you can stop the damp coming in but what you really need is to stop the water entering in the first place.

Would love to meet the moron who developed flat roofs

Eating gingerbread off my Galaxy S, baked by Darky.

 

[ITCynic]

It might not be the roof, can be a damaged or missing damp course, could be blocked cavities, high water table, no waterproofing around the windows etc. The possible causes could be more severe than you suspect.

Rather get a specialist waterproofing company to quote on the damp, it could be a serious problem that could cost plenty to fix.

Maybe get a few specialists to quote. Use the big boys and not the smaller operations to quote.

Also, if you are gonna get a bond, what is the banks policy on these kind of defects? After all they are taking the risk in financing the property.

 

[phoneJunky]

I had some problems with one room that is on the opposite side of the shower and the water leaked. I know it is not the same problem, but to dry the wall, damp-sealling it and repaint it cost me about R500. Don't know how much it will cost if you have someone professionally doing it.

 

[Windpomp]

Do some more research on the house first when was it build etc, earlier houses double wall where build with a bigger gap between them than today’s houses the water may then in between the walls from the roof.
Where is the damp on the bottom or top of the wall ?
Dig a trench few meters away from the house to see where the ground water level is, that may the problem too.

 

[Borrels]

The flat roof is most probably the cause of the problem. To fix it, you want to keep the water out of the house. Once this is done, a new paint job is fairly cheap. As it is a flat roof, I assume it is not tiled but corrugated steel, which mean the problem is most likely at the roof bolts or somewhere at the corners where the water pools. Check if there are spots on the ceiling as this will indicate where the problem on the roof is. Checking the gutters, especially the connections, is also important. Best move is to get a specialist to do a detailed inspection and quote - you probably won't have to fix everything in one go but do the most urgent work now and the rest later.

 

[AstroTurf]

Check the houses around it for water damage as well if you can.

 

[Grimspoon]

Thanks for the replies guys.

The water does seen to be rising, but not sure if it is actually rising damp or If it is a result of the water dropping off the roof and splashing up against the walls.There are no gutters. It's a flat roof with spouts where the water drops off onto the the ground below. Some parts with bad damp have bay windows where I think the water may be collecting on the top. The area is known for high water table so it's to be expected.

I just need to make a judgment call on wether it is worth fixing professionally and wether it will be a long term solution. I don't want to mask the problem up but rather fix it once properly.

By the way it's a flat concrete roof with flashing.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Juice]

We bought a house last year that had some damp issues here and there. After moving in, we discovered that the damp in one of the rooms in the house is caused by rain leaking through the roof. When we had insurance come out to look at it, they said it was because the roof was pitched incorrectly and rain was leaking in through the tiles. We then had to lift the roof tiles and lay corrugated sheets before replacing the tiles. No more leaking and no additional damp.

Elsewhere in the house we had a very serious rising damp problem. We also noticed water pooling on the laundry floor when we let the bath out. We then discovered that the water from the bath wasn't draining outside at all. The plumber came to have a look and we discovered that rats had chewed through the bath's p-trap outlet and ALL the water from every bath we'd had was draining straight into the foundations, causing damp in all of the neighbouring rooms for quite some distance. We had the pipe fixed and then also got Rent-o-kill in to place rat poison stations around the house to stop the problem from reoccurring.

In short, once you properly identify the source of the damp, fix that and only then take preventative measures. There's a good chance that once you fix the underlying problem, all you'll need to do is repair the damage.

Juice

 

[prox]

Get a professional opinion (plus a guarantee). Try www.dampking.co.za

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

I had some problems with one room that is on the opposite side of the shower and the water leaked. I know it is not the same problem, but to dry the wall, damp-sealling it and repaint it cost me about R500. Don't know how much it will cost if you have someone professionally doing it.

My ex-girlfriend had the problem with damp walls (also flat roof) during the first winter of her new house. A builder friend identified the cause after some rain and gave us the same advice. She did this and never a problem again.

 

[Grimspoon]

I am going to get the pros in to identify what the cause is. I know the area is very well know for damp.

I think though that the roof is mostly to blame due to the crappy "gutter" system they have used.

 

[Cleric_ZA]

So what exactly is the cause of the damp?

 

[luxe]

Grim - We are busy having work done correcting damp. This supplier is doing it the proper way, drilling, injecticting, sealing, painting, and he is doing it for basically half the price of everyone else. He is in JHB, pm me if you want his details.

 

[biena]

If you are considering buying a house with know damp problems then I have the Golden Gate bridge for sale, a real bargain.

Damp is a problem that you throw a ton of money at and hope it goes away, do not even consider buying this property.

 

[ISP cash cow]

Just want to ask if the damp problem is all around the house or only in areas where the outlet pipes from the flat roof are (this will give you an indication if the damp problem is caused from the water coming off the roof and splashing onto the wall) or if it is rising damp.

The typical scenario to correct damp proofing is to take off the paint and the plaster inject two holes into each brick around the house and the inject siliconseal into the bricks to allow the bricks to absorb it. Then they will usually either paint over the bricks with a waterpoof based cement pain and plaster over that or alternatively just us a plaster using a water proof based cement and then paint again.

Also how high does the damp proof go up the wall. If it is any higher than 1.5 metres it may be a problem with water coming down from the roof through the walls rather than a damp problem from the bottom. Flat roofs are known to have bad waterproofing problems on the parapets.

 

[SparksWel]

Rising Damp

Grim - We are busy having work done correcting damp. This supplier is doing it the proper way, drilling, injecticting, sealing, painting, and he is doing it for basically half the price of everyone else. He is in JHB, pm me if you want his details.

Hi there

You had this post in one of the discussions a view years ago. How did the work that was done hold out in the years gone past so far. Did you have any further problems? What was approximate cost of the work done back then?

Just bought a house and neither the seller nor the agent disclosed the rising damp on all wall of the house.

Regards

Francois

 

[Frankie_Yale]

Just bought a house and neither the seller nor the agent disclosed the rising damp on all wall of the house.

bloody hell... damp on all the walls??

expensive it's going to be

 

[Mila]

Hi there

You had this post in one of the discussions a view years ago. How did the work that was done hold out in the years gone past so far. Did you have any further problems? What was approximate cost of the work done back then?

Just bought a house and neither the seller nor the agent disclosed the rising damp on all wall of the house.

Regards

Francois

If you can show that they knew about it you have a case against the agent and the homeowner.

 

[BobsLawnService]

If you are considering buying a house with know damp problems then I have the Golden Gate bridge for sale, a real bargain.

Damp is a problem that you throw a ton of money at and hope it goes away, do not even consider buying this property.

This. 100% this.

If the whole house has mould and a damp problem then it is poisonous, rotten and not fit for humans.

There is nothing more miserable than throwing good money after bad at a damp problem that never really goes away.