I have just been informed that my 2 bedroom unit has rising damp issues.
I purchased the property 3 years ago and is +ive CF, hence my reluctance to sell. However, the property is suffering from cracks on the wall, cornuses falling down and a structural engineer suggesting the place may need to be restumped.
My thoughts are to continue to rent it out for 12 more months, do a patch up job to hide the problems and then place the unit on the market. This was my 1st IP and I have paid the price for not getting a building inspection.
What are peoples thoughts on this?
Has anyone dealt with rising damp before?
hmmm, sorry to break the news but restumping won’t solve a rising damp issue.
Just because you didn’t get a building inspection doesn’t stop you getting one now to get a scope of work & to quantify your costs.
If the ip is a unit, why aren’t the rectification costs to be borne by body corporate from the sinking fund/special levies? You don’t own anything outside of your walls/floor/ceiling but the liability may extend to inside your property if the cause is external.
If you have rising damp, you would have dampcourse or flashing issues
Scott No Mates wrote:hmmm, sorry to break the news but restumping won't solve a rising damp issue. Just because you didn't get a building inspection doesn't stop you getting one now to get a scope of work & to quantify your costs. If the ip is a unit, why aren't the rectification costs to be borne by body corporate from the sinking fund/special levies? You don't own anything outside of your walls/floor/ceiling but the liability may extend to inside your property if the cause is external. If you have rising damp, you would have dampcourse or flashing issuesThe Unit began to shift / crack 18 months ago. Unfortunately we could not claim this via builders insurance as according to the local council, the house was built back in 1967 and was subdivided in 2007. So the builder has done all the renovations without council permits etc. A structural engineer came out to the unit 12months ago and instructed a camera be placed down the plumbing (came out of bodycorp). This highlighted cracks in the pipes causing leaking which made the ground damp. The unit(s) have not shifted anymore since this has happened. Recently, after getting a handyman in to replace cornuses and fill in other cracks, the paint on the wall directly behind the shower head had started to crumble off. He got his professional mate in who confirmed it was most likely rising damp. I have been informed that costing to fix rising damp will be $5000 and if the place continues to shift in the next 12months, leveling the stumps will cost up to $10,000.
Hi EdmudSt,
You need a creative solution here. The building is passed its used-by date, so if you could get every owner in the block to sell to a developer, I think that would be ideal.
The whole building can be knocked and a brand new building can be built. Rectifying the structural problems will cost more money and will have no guarantee that the issues will be resolved.
Can you explore this possibility as a body corp? The problem is not yours alone. Its everyone's problem. The building shifting and cracking is a major issue, especially if it causes injury to someone or a tenant.
Get everyone on-side. Now is not the time to panic.
Take care.
Angel
Well , the issues lie outside of your premises, plumbing is common property. So if it is broken and causing subsidence resulting in cracked flashings & rising damp then this does become an issue for body corporate. Fair trading is generally such a useless body that you will have no recourse against the last builder even on the grounds of failing to effect insurance.
I am also confused, is it a house? townhouse? or unit?
Thanks for the responses.
It is 1 of 4 units
It sounds to me that you might get out of it cheaply. Is each unit freestanding? Have common walls? Multi-storey? Have common areas?
I only ask because Qld is a strange place with its strata laws so seeking professional advice will be warranted.
I googled the subject matter and here's what I found.
Renovating to remove rising damp
By Alex Brooks
Damp is more than just a moisture problem. It typically occurs on older brick homes as the bricks act like a wick to draw moisture from the surrounding ground. The problem is not only moisture being drawn into the walls, it's the mineral salts that will cause plaster and paint to flake and any accompanying mould that can not only create a nasty smell, but cause allergies.
So how to you cure it? Read on!
What's rising damp?
Rising damp occurs is caused by the weight of the walls bearing down into the ground. The pressure of the walls forces the moisture in the ground upwards, thus causing the rising damp in your house.Many old homes had damp courses made of slate, but over time these have broken down and no longer work.
How do you recognise it?
Signs that your home has a rising damp problem are stained walls, flaking or bubbling paint, salt residue, disintegrating mortar, and rotting timber skirting boards or door frames.
How do you fix it?
The traditional way of combating rising damp is to put in what's known as a 'physical' damp course. This involves taking bricks out of the walls and inserting some lead at half-metre intervals. However, this method can be intrusive and cause structural damage to the house. Another method employed to fix rising damp is called the 'injection' damp course. This involves drilling into the middle of the bricks at the base of the wall and inserting a silicone-based product that spreads throughout the walls, turns into a gel and forms a barrier against the rising damp.
What else should I know?
It's not always rising damp problem – sometimes it's inadequate sub-floor ventilation or a problem like condensation or penetrating dampness.When replacing timbers and plaster, it's important to remember that timber needs to acclimatise to the new moisture conditions in a home before installing it – especially if it's timber floors being put in after a new damp course. And solid plaster needs to be a salt-suppressant plaster to stop the mineral salts bubbling through the brickwork and destroying your hard-done work.
Angel
Here's another one…
How to cure a damp house
Combat rising damp in your home – you can fix a damp house by employing one of a variety of solutions.
What is rising damp?
Rising damp occurs when moisture creeps slowly from the soil under a structure and up into the base of the walls. Most commonly, this occurs in buildings made of brick or stone, as the moisture follows the capillary nature of the masonry. This moisture carries dissolved salts, nitrates, phosphates and other naturally occurring elements. Damage occurs as the salts expand and contract within the wall through on-going seasonal wetting and drying cycles.
How do you recognise it?
Signs that your home may have a rising damp problem include stained walls, blistering or flaky paint on walls, curling or stained wallpaper, salt residue, disintegrating mortar, and rotting timber skirting boards or door frames but no mould.
Fixing it the old-fashioned way
The traditional way of combating rising damp is to put in what's known as a 'physical' damp course. This involves taking mortar out of the walls and inserting a membrane continuously along a horizontal mortar joint. However, beware – this method can cause structural damage to the house.
Another method employed to fix rising damp in Australian houses is called an 'injection' damp course. This involves drilling into the middle of the bricks at the base of the wall and inserting a silicone-based product that spreads throughout the walls, coating the sides of the pores and capillaries. This creates a 'repellent' layer to combat capillary rise without blocking the pores, which would inhibit natural vapour transfer.
Fixing it the modern way
Electro-osmosis is a modern execution of an ancient principle to cure rising damp. John Geraghty of Lectros Australia Pty Ltd explains.
'Essentially, electro-osmosis creates a means of repelling moisture. We install a series of platinised titanium anodes into the affected masonry at one meter intervals and introduce a very small, regulated and perfectly safe electrical charge into the wall just above ground level.'
This 'constantly-on' system prevents water from rising, thus avoiding any recurrence of rising damp.
Is it really rising damp?
Some not-so-reputable companies may tell you that you have a rising damp problem when in fact it's something else, like condensation or penetrating dampness. If possible, get an independent body to do an assessment of the problem before committing to a course of action to fix rising damp in your home.
Also be aware …
The CSIRO stipulates that any physical damp course should be effective below suspended timber floors. This should also be the case for injection/chemical damp courses. Put the damp course below floor timbers around the outside of the house approximately 150 millimetres above ground; inside, it should be put under the existing floor bearers.
To cure the dampness in your home, talk to a professional with experience fixing damp houses:
Hi EdmundSt,
Rising damp is a major issue in older buildings. you should go for rising damp experts those who having huge experience in damp proofing. Rising damp may be cause of health risk.
Take careHi Jennifer,
We had rising damp in one of our IP’s about 8 years ago. We hired a professional company to come in remove the plaster from floor height to about 5ft up, they then inject silicon into the walls, then replastered after about 3 weeks then repainted.
Looks great and solved all the problems.
As for the person who said knock down the building….are you on drugs>?
As for selling it and passing it on to the next owner….? why your sales costs are going to be more than the costs of the repair (even though you’ll make a profit and brag to your friends how well you did).
This said…..how do you have rising damp with stumps? damp appears in properties with ground level walls……suggest you get some professional quotes.
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