Help diagnosing a mystery damp problem on ceiling - help needed
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Paul Walker-Emig
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Help diagnosing a mystery damp problem on ceiling - help needed

by Paul Walker-Emig » Sun Jul 12, 2015 3:28 pm

Hi All!

I've got a damp problem that we can't quite work out the solution to.

As you can see in the image below it's near the ceiling, though appears as a patch slightly below (the screwdriver stuck into the ceiling is for later reference in a another pic).

photo 1.JPG


There is a chimney resting on a joist in the loft that's roughly above the wet patch that's open from below and it wasn't in great condition. However, we've repaired the chimney and the problem still remains.

Our next thought was that it could be leaking through the parapet, running down the cavity wall, hitting a wall tie and coming across. Our plan was to take a chunk of the wall out so we could see what's going on behind. However, we've now realised that it's a 9 inch wall (this is a terraced house), so there's no cavity for it to run down.

Basically, we're at a loss into where this water is coming in and why it's showing up here. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Below is a picture of the loft with the screwdriver sticking up from below, but I'm not sure this will help.

photo 4.JPG


I've put newspaper around the area to see if it soaks up any water if it rains, which it has this morning, but it doesn't look like there's any water on the paper and the damp patch looks worse! Perhaps it's not just rained enough to pick it up?

The only other bit of relevant information I can think of is that there is some pipework in the loft but a lot of it is redundant and disconnected and it's not directly next to the damp patch anyway.

Again, any ideas would be appreciated!

Thanks!

welsh brickie
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Re: Help diagnosing a mystery damp problem on ceiling - help needed

by welsh brickie » Sun Jul 12, 2015 5:57 pm

the water is coming down the flue, its either penetrating through a crack or the brickwork.
Secondly its structurally unsound to have a chimney stack resting on a floor joist, it is not designed to take that much weight, and in time water will rot the joist inevitably causing collapse

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