Rising Salt Damp - HELP

Hi,

We have just purchased a new house in Adelaide and a friend has told us we might have rising damp or salt damp? Can someone tell me what we should look for or how we can treat it?

Thanks
Katie

Hi Katie,

Does this help in the sense of offering a place to start?
I have posted questions to this forum but rarely get replies. Not a criticism; an observation, maybe I am unlucky or my posts of little general interest.

http://www.greenweb.com.au/archicentre/ ... pness.html.

Andrew.

ANdrew, that link did not work.

Rising damp contains salty water because it is rising from the ground and brings the mineral salts with it. As such two things happen. First, fungus will not grow in any timbers near the dampness - ie the timber will not rot.

Second, the salt crystallizes on the surface of the brickwork (usually brickwork) as a white efflorescence and you can brush it off as a white powder - taste it if you want!

If neither of these factors are present ie your adjacent timber is rotting, there is mould but no salt then it is likely to be tap water leaking or rain water penetrating from somewhere.

It can be treated and there are a few methods available and you are best to look in the yellow pages under rising damp. Don't compromise, go for the best chemical systems that ARE guaranteed.

You will also need a builder/carpenter to remove and replace skirtings etc so that the contractor can get access to the brickwork as close as possible to the floor and to avoid ruining the external brickwork (if external walls).

Hope that helps.

Rising damp is this moisture that is coming from the ground. Most of older houses will have it. In it’s most obvious appearance is looks like a water lick, just upside down – it goes from the floor.

Check for any pilling, unstable, bubbling paint along the floor, marks that walls were repaired near the floor, rotten or wet skirtings?

Go around the house and nock on the wall near the floor.
If you hear the dull sound in some areas – might be a sigh of the wall damaged by a rising damp

Hi Katieng,

What suburb are you in and what is your house constructed of - bricks or sandstone etc.
Rising damp is common in Adelaide and many due to many houses not being built with damproof courses in the early days.

So a bit more info or some photos and some folks here will be able to give you some - on-line advice- before you maybe call in a contractor to look at it.

Andrew have not seen you post here - so will see what it is - I'd say it's just slipped through the keyboard
Steve

I wonder if the OP (original poster) will reply - 1 post only in Aug 06

OLP,

Mate you probably need to look at the age of the thread before reviving it....