Help needed from the plastering / dampproofing massive

[Ste]

As we have a variety of people on here all wanting help people in need, I have a question about plastering etc.

A close friend of mine is in the process of buying a house and has commissioned an inspection of a wall approx 3m wide due to signs of dampness. The wall is solid and is between 230 and 300 mm thick, material unknown by me.

The report recommended the following actions on this wall.

1) Installation of a Trigel water based DPC system to the wall (outlined on our sketch plan to BS6576/1985)

2) PLASTER WORK – To be carried out by our company. Remove contaminated plaster up to approximately 1 metre (Unless otherwise denoted on sketch plan), clean the surface salts from the brickwork and replaster using Tilcon limelight renovating cement backing plaster and limelight high impact finishing plaster; to walls as shown per sketch plan


Any one know what this is on about, how easy would it be to do for a DIY (competent person), how much materials would be for this, and how much it would cost for a pro to do it.

Anyone got any idea? York area.


TIA

[Ste]

Title should say PLASTERING, not platering.

S in my keyboard a bit stiff

[Ridgerider]

Sounds like a pretty standard repair to a wall with damp.

Basically the dpc will stop the wall getting damp from the soil, and they recommend replastering as damp plaster, over time, becomes hydroscopic and will always remain damp as it will absorb moisture from the air. Hence why they suggest replacing it.

As for cost or diy, 3m is not a very long run to do, so may not cost too much. It may be prudent to get the specialists in as you would get a warranty for the work for when you came to sell.

[lofty]

The plastering side of things will be fairly cheap, not sure about the DPC side though as it may need an injection of a chemical based solution.

http://www.renovationexpert.co.uk/DampProofing.html

[Gr4eme]

if its only about 3m he could remove the plaster up to 1m high then remove the bricks at dampcourse level maybe only abou 5-6 bricks at a time, clean out the cavity fit a new lenth of dampcoarse then fit new bricks back in. repeat this until the area is complete, when re-plastering put a scratch coat on mixed with double washed brown sand and cement, then finish with multi-finish plaster. If he cant do the final coat of plaster himself, maybe get someone in to do this for him, It may be time consuming doing it this way but it will save him money and is does work, the main reason why dampcoarse fails is because the cavity will be full of cr4p, hth

[Ste]

No cavity though (solid wall)

[simac]

Sounds like a pretty standard repair to a wall with damp.

Basically the dpc will stop the wall getting damp from the soil, and they recommend replastering as damp plaster, over time, becomes hydroscopic and will always remain damp as it will absorb moisture from the air. Hence why they suggest replacing it.

As for cost or diy, 3m is not a very long run to do, so may not cost too much. It may be prudent to get the specialists in as you would get a warranty for the work for when you came to sell.

Good answer

Salts from the ground contaminate the plasterwork causing it to become hydroscopic. The plaster is always taken off up to 1m high because that's the highest the moisture can travel due to the nature of the capillery action taking place.

TBH using a specialist to do this work is a no-brainer, and that length of wall would not be too expensive.

[simac]

the main reason why dampcoarse fails is because the cavity will be full of cr4p, hth

All most right when the cavity is bridged by a foreign body (normally something dropped into the cavity by the bricky before the roof goes on LMAO) it can give the impression that the damp proof course has failed. Actually, once the bridge is cleared it will be fine but might need the plaster replacing depending on the severity of it.