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Drying the damp walls


SaligoBay
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We got our first devis yesterday for painting the outside of the house. Are you sitting down? 18000 euros for basic paint job, 24000 euros for crepi finish.

The price includes the cost of injecting some resin product to dry out the walls first, which we'd have to get done 3 months before the painting.

A surveyor did come round once, armed with damp-detectors, and said there wasn't a damp problem.

But the walls have always had a "tide-mark", clearly visible on the outside, average about 40cm high, it goes green in the wet seasons. Inside, some walls are very damp at the bottom, and wallpaper is hanging off - yuck! Last time it rained, we had a puddle on the carrelage where water had come in where the bottom of the wall joins (or not!) the terrasse.

So when is damp not damp, or when does damp become a problem?

Is this resin-injection thing something we could or should think about doing ourselves? Does anyone have any idea how much it would cost?

Thank you very much,
SaligoBay




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Hi,

I have just been given and accepted a quote to remove all old plaster from front half of facade of house , ( granite underneath ) where the old plaster is crumbling and falling off , the cost is 1.500 euros , the painter has quoted a further 1.500 euros , to pressure wash the entire front of house , apply anti- moss/green etc. then 1 coat of sealant plus two coats of paint , this seems quite reasonable to me , but of course I don`t know the size (area ) of your problem . We are in area (56 )so things might vary a bit.
We removed the plaster from the inside walls ourselves and the granite , whilst not wet , always remains moist , although not pointed yet , the house as a whole does not feel damp at all and all the beams and wooden floors are as dry as a bone.S as you say `when is damp not damp`?
I would get a few more quotes , and ask your neighbours if they have similar problems.

Regards,

Jude
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Just before Christmas we paid from memory about 4,500 to have the following done to the front of our house, the frontage is approx 500 sq metres including windows and doors. The removal of the hidious Crepi, repare and replacement of damaged or missing stones, sandblasting, complete repointing, and coating with something to offer some protection to the stone. This was done by the same man who has the contract from the marie to look after the stonework on that famous church in our town, so what I am saying is this was not a cut price job from the local bodge artist. It was money very well spent.

Diana
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Sounds like the surveyors batteries were flat in his moisture meter!I think you definately have rising damp and the quote is for a chemical injection DPC,it can be installed by yourself but I don't know where you would hire the equipment in France.
I have loads of info on damp/remedial works,if you have access to a fax I could send some.PM if you have.
Regards Tony CEng MIStructE
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We have a problem too - it appears, having spoken with a builder, the problem is not so much the damp walls as the fact that somewhere along the line,saltpetre is the problem. This is something to do with lime. I know now that lime, on contact with cold water, bubbles and fizzes and creates damp - we have a problem trying to stop the bubbling and fizzing on the inside of our walls, and it grows a crystal fur of sorts. We have tried the Thompsons Waterseal range of products - they do work to an extent, but it is trying to stop the limestone/mortar reaction. This is where you need to start. If the house is built of limestone, it absorbs the water and that is when you have to start scratching your head. Try the Thompsons stuff - it is good, I'm sure there is the equivalent products in France.
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