Rising Damp

You’ve noticed the unsightly bubbling, flaking and peeling of your house walls. You’ve painted, repainted and painted some more - but it just keeps on coming back! What could the problem be? You, happy DIYer, are a victim of Rising Damp.

The good news is that it’s quite a common problem for homeowners and can be fixed with a bit of preparation and some elbow-grease.

What is Rising Damp, and what causes it?

Rising Damp is a form of damp that affects the walls of a building when moisture from the ground (or a leaky pipe!) travels up through the wall. In a nutshell, your home’s walls basically suck up water like a thirsty builder on a summer’s day.

What causes it?

The main cause of Rising Damp is a faulty Damp Proof Course (DPC), which allows moisture to penetrate your home’s walls.

Other causes include:

• Inadequate sub-floor ventilation – this causes a build-up of humidity and means that only the minimal evaporation from the soil and base walls occurs. 
• Sub-floor obstructions – any debris in the sub-floor that obstructs the flow of ventilation and may help contribute to dampness by bridging the DPC 
• Poor drainage and/or damaged guttering and pipes – water may be directed underneath your house if you have poor drainage.

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF RISING DAMP?

Commonly the first thing you’d find is a patch of wall with a band of dampness starting from the floor upwards – this often causes the paint to flake or the wallpaper to peel. Other unsightly and smelly signs include:

• Damp smells and a musty odour
• A reduced temperature at lower portions of your wall 
• Rotting of embedded floor timbers 
• Crumbling / blistered plaster due to salt crystallisation

Some tell-tale visual signs of rising damp

Getting down to fixing it

Each case of Rising Damp varies from another, it’s best to visit your nearest BUCO with photos of your problem so our consultants can help you with the perfect solution. To give you an idea how to fix the simplest case – bubbling paint – without needing to chisel any plaster away.

Luckily with just a view items, all available at your nearest BUCO store, you will be able to treat rising damp yourself.

SHOPPING LIST:

LET’S FIX IT!

Step 1:

Start by scraping the peeling / bubbling paint off using your scraper. Make sure to remove every piece of paint from the affected area.

Step 2:

Apply a generous coat of Damp Seal and leave to dry for 24 hours. You can apply a second coat if required, again leave to dry.

Step 3:

Grab your Plaster Primer and paint over the treated area – make sure all cracks and joints are well sealed.

Step 4:

Repaint your wall with your colour-matched paint.

After all is primed and painter, this should be a very simple solve for you damp problem, however, we recommend you get professional advice and materials to help you if your Rising Damp problem is more severe.

Rising damp is a common and very annoying problem for many homeowners in SA. Luckily though, it can be fixed with a little know-how, a bit of preparation, a lot of elbow grease, and some help from your friends at BUCO.

Here are our tips for spotting rising damp and the best ways to tackle rising damp repairs.

Rising Damp Solutions

What is the cause of rising damp?

Rising damp happens when water seeps into the foundation of a brick home and rises up the walling. It can cause damage to both the walling and if left untreated can turn to mould, which is a serious health risk for people living in the home.

In good news though, rising damp solutions are easy to find. If you can spot the damp before it rises too far up the wall, then you’re in luck.

How to spot rising damp

There are a few tell-tale signs that damp has set into your walls that make it easy to spot. The most common signs to look out for are:

• Mould or mildew on the walls – it can be white, grey, green, or any shade in between.
• A mouldy, musty smell coming from a room or wall
• Peeling or lifting plaster and paint
• In extensive cases, you may even notice constant condensation on windows

How to treat rising damp, DIY style?

If you’re going to tackle the damp issues DIY-style, here are the first few steps to get the ball rolling in your rising damp treatment process.

Step 1 – Start at the base of the wall first

Step 2 - Chip off all the plaster and paint from the base of the wall so that the brick and plaster is exposed.

Step 3 – Using a hammer drill, drill small holes into the plaster about 7-8cm apart or 3 – 4 holes per brick.

Step 4 – Using specialised caulk, squeeze rising damp caulk or DPC cream into the holes. Allow to dry overnight and do it again.

Step 5 – Cover the holes with waterproof plaster or mortar. Keep the area exposed for a few weeks and even months to be able to check in on the damp and make sure it’s not returning.

If you’re not completely satisfied that you’ve managed to stop the damp, we advise calling in a building specialist to assess the situation and give you some advice and help.

As your local DIY and rising damp specialists, we have all the products and accessories you need to fix a damp problem. Find your nearest store now or log on to BUCO online for easy, convenient online shopping.

Happy DIY-ing, from the BUCO Team.