Is damp in a house a big problem?

I

ice

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Currenlty renting a house that seems quite damp.

There were damp on the walls when we first viewed which were painted over and the rooms smell quite musty. We have a crystal thing in one of the bedrooms and it collects a lot of water.
Duvets in the north facing rooms feel damp etc.

We are going to buy a house in the same estate and have been told that a lot of houses in the area suffer from damp.

We will get a survey done before we buy but should there be damp in the house how big a problem is it ?

Should it put us off buying ?

How can it be fixed ? Have heard of dry lining the walls. Is this expensive ?

Thanks
 
Thanks for the reply

Its a semi detached house, around 40 years old.

Its blockwork as far as I know and there are no vents in any of the rooms.

There was damp on the internal walls that were painted over. The damp seemed to be near the floor.

We've only had the rads on a couple of times in the last 6 months.

The rooms upstairs smell quite musty although I do try to air them daily this has no effect.
 
There are no vents at all? Given the age of the house, perhaps there were fireplaces that were blocked up or the vents covered over?

The damp and your comments indicates that there is no proper ventilation. A nightmare if you have gas or open fire - no oxygen getting in.

For anyone prone to asthma or other chest complains, it would be hell.

It is a very big problem.

D8L
 
I rented a house a couple of years back that was riddled with damp.

I was told by my landlord (and the builder -as it was a fairly new build) it was because we didn't leave the windows open all day......not a very practical solution considering no-one was there all day.

We had the crystal things in all the rooms and had to empty them every day!

Aside from the health problems associated with living in a damp environment, everything smelled in the house, clothes in the wardrobes going mouldy. I could even smell the damp off my clothes when I was out of the house.

I was glad I was only renting - I broke my lease and moved out fairly quick but what if you buy a house and its unbearable - its not so easy to move!

I know from my experience in this particular estate, that I would never buy (or even rent) in this estate again. We did view a number of houses in the estate and most of them smelt damp or musty so we wouldn't go there......
 
ice said:
Thanks for the reply

Its a semi detached house, around 40 years old.

Its blockwork as far as I know and there are no vents in any of the rooms.

There was damp on the internal walls that were painted over. The damp seemed to be near the floor.

We've only had the rads on a couple of times in the last 6 months.

The rooms upstairs smell quite musty although I do try to air them daily this has no effect.
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It sounds maybe like rising damp.

If so, annoying, and may pose minor health risks at advanced stages but not generally a serious problem. AFAIK rising damp is not tackled with dry lining but with either fitting of a waterproof membrane or chemical injections.

May be a bit expensive unless you know someone handy. Before any survey (which will probably be too general for this kind of thing), I would contact some damp proofing guys and ask them to look at it and get quotes - you can then also ask all the health/technical questions you need to at the same time.
 
Yes its strange that there are no vents...never noticed that before you asked me.

The windows are double glazed.

We really like this estate and its the only one we can afford in this area.

Someone from a neighbouring estate said all the houses in the area have a problem with damp as they were built on old farm land.

Will the surveyor spot damp/rising damp ??

Are some houses damp and not others in an estate ?

Thanks
 
"......all the houses in the area have a problem with damp as they were built on old farm land."

The house is damp probably because it is badly built. You need to find out what causes the damp; You need to price the remedial work; you need to factor this into your buying decision.

Drylining conceals the damp, but does not solve the problem. Get an engineer and be guided by him.
 
A surveyor should be sufficient to ascertain if there is rising damp - he will use a moisture meter to check. Any sreious structural defects, he may advise an engineer to investigate further. It sounds like this house may have missing DPCs as well as wall insulation. Most houses of this vintage were also built from 9" breeze blocks, increasing the problem. Along with the walls vents (which only came as a Building Regulation in 1992) these would increase condensation internally.
 
Will definitely make sure its looked at in detail before we buy

Thanks for all the replies..... :)
 
Most of you know this but here goes .... when 'material' becomes damp mould starts to grow on it. The musty smell is volatile by-products produced by the mould as it 'consumes' the material it's growing on. People can and do become ill from inhaling these volatile by-products if exposure extends over a long period of time. For your own well-being, be prepared to spend the cash to get rid of the dampness in the house if you choose to purchase it
 
ice said:
The windows are double glazed.
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I rented a house once that had partial replacement with double glazed windows. There were no vents in it. The rooms that had been double glazed were damp and musty. Also the fireplaces had no draw. The rooms with the original single-glazed windows (rotting wood) had no damp, but very very draughty. The concolusion I came to was that the old windows had allowed enough draught into the room to ventilate them, but the double-glazed blocked that up!

I moved.
 
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