Submitted by victor0nl1n3 t3_yj3v8o in DIY

Hi everyone,

We bought a house in early 2021 had it refurbished. Unfortunately, we are now only 1 year later and many of our walls are already badly damaged with paint flaking off because of humidity. Before repainting everything, we need to find the source of humidity and fix the problem. However, despite our best research, we are still left clueless today.

Hopefully, some of you have expertise in this and will be able to help us out!

I am not sure how much info you need to help the diagnosis so please don’t hesitate to ask questions. As a starting point, here’s a layout of the ground floor showing the 5 spots where we’ve noticed humidity. Hereafter are the pictures for each area.

What do you think is causing this issue? How would we fix it?

Sidenote: The whole street seems to be having humidity problems. We talked with a neighbor that has recently done injections in his (exterior) wall but it doesn't seem to have done him much good.

EDIT FOR ADDITIONNAL INFO:

  1. We have checked for leaks using the leak-indicator on the water meter and everything looks perfectly fine.
  2. I placed a hygrometer in the kitchen. The RH is quite stable at 65%.

​

https://preview.redd.it/ictjkut34bx91.png?width=794&format=png&auto=webp&s=53df8a03156f075345fe99cf746444b2c52c80bb

HUMIDITY ZONE 1

​

https://preview.redd.it/5mxs7dr44bx91.png?width=797&format=png&auto=webp&s=d7fcdc81db01391edd4ee0461691bc19a5d4f0f1

​

https://preview.redd.it/0egpgem54bx91.png?width=706&format=png&auto=webp&s=44ab4034419395e0d0a51b3eca68aa1de47d6ef6

HUMIDITY ZONE 2

​

https://preview.redd.it/x62z95174bx91.png?width=582&format=png&auto=webp&s=3f3c056ee996deca8b57542566a82d31eb08bf34

​

https://preview.redd.it/i25i8dk74bx91.png?width=1255&format=png&auto=webp&s=c39cdb29dddbdc785e21f02af4d22fa4c67741c3

HUMIDITY ZONE 3

​

https://preview.redd.it/0t7hxz584bx91.png?width=874&format=png&auto=webp&s=17fba84146c9e1f425d179b130ee92ca67c6e15c

​

https://preview.redd.it/lnat7vn84bx91.png?width=706&format=png&auto=webp&s=1768349853fa029e6c21452891683f529855a678

​

https://preview.redd.it/ntws32a94bx91.png?width=706&format=png&auto=webp&s=53302f320724838d4b3419be9e54cb9db0c8c663

HUMIDITY ZONE 4

​

https://preview.redd.it/h5xl5ax94bx91.png?width=1028&format=png&auto=webp&s=3e084b8033d148bf2bde0c3d8b5e800c07b02044

​

https://preview.redd.it/b48inyea4bx91.png?width=1255&format=png&auto=webp&s=a623ec40df176da177da4d85d9d92eeace7d3677

​

https://preview.redd.it/1l35fb8h4bx91.png?width=1255&format=png&auto=webp&s=c1ad9defa93fb8d3147db2cae4705e7dc3ad7da0

​

https://preview.redd.it/wyv91yai4bx91.png?width=1255&format=png&auto=webp&s=40d045e36bb5a410ed339d6ea327de0d47c0b36f

​

https://preview.redd.it/dnjars9j4bx91.png?width=1255&format=png&auto=webp&s=5e8010059a3926a51d3e4b04701727ee9988f277

HUMIDITY ZONE 5

​

https://preview.redd.it/eswdthnk4bx91.png?width=1255&format=png&auto=webp&s=a6b3041b50fa56e5e1e6a00470ca6944c3d9be9d

​

https://preview.redd.it/7qkgik9l4bx91.png?width=1255&format=png&auto=webp&s=5d2b09a411bfcc2dfaf18214803c71ca7e429c65

​

https://preview.redd.it/qr45ajrl4bx91.png?width=1255&format=png&auto=webp&s=7bfa1a60dd21563211405ad8f3a61a65338afe47

​

https://preview.redd.it/m0go1ujm4bx91.png?width=1255&format=png&auto=webp&s=8c10aa85f6e0f0f72b5eb4daa15b07b3bf9d8b17

29

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

_TEOTWAWKI_ t1_iulzhid wrote

Just taking a stab here, but I'm going to guess this is an older home with plaster walls and built on a grade level masonry foundation in a wet climate (UK?). My best guess would be that the garden doesn't grade away from the flat(s) and the foundation/slab aren't waterproofed. Masonry is essentially a sponge, and the only place for the water to go is up into the walls since you have impermeable flooring. Here in Seattle, a common retrofit for slab-on-grade homes is to trench a perimeter footing drain around the house to relieve hydraulic pressure under the slab since our water table comes right to the surface in areas during the winter. (Water wells will become artisan in winter)

25

jvrcb17 t1_iun60ot wrote

Ah, a fellow rain city person.

This is solid advice

6

Manage-It t1_iundy9e wrote

>_TEOTWAWKI_
>
>I'd like to second what _TEOTWAWKI_says. However, I would emphasize checking the crawl space to see if a moisture barrier is present. If the crawl space is just exposed soil, that's likely your main source. Moisture will evaporate into your home during warming periods and when the house is heated. As a minimal expense test, I would recommend buying a moisture barrier and stretching it over the exposed soil below the crawl space and making sure all gutter drains and surrounding foundation slopes exit away from the house and crawl space and cannot pool.

4

nah-meh-stay t1_iulyy3o wrote

They all seem clustered. What's the floorplan upstairs? It could be a leaking drain or condensation on pipes.

65% is high for me. I keep mine 45-50.

7

DotAccomplished5484 t1_iumssy4 wrote

My first thought also was a leaking drain pipe because of the limited range of the damage. A leaking water line would result in visible water, but the intermittent demand on a drain pipe would generate much less leakage. It also appears that the damage is where studs are. Almost certainly the damage shown in the photos showing the outlet is on a stud.

A roof leak is a slight possibility, but if it is a roof leak damage would also appear on the second floor.

2

loverlyone t1_iumxbn2 wrote

Wouldn’t a leaking water line also be creating pools of water in the flooring? With other homes in the neighborhood experiencing similar problems, I’d look at water coming from below, particularly if OP’s house is built on a slab. If the entire street was built at the same time chances are the slabs were all poured with the same materials.

2

MidnightAnchor t1_iulvd0x wrote

Is your foundation waterproofing good? How is the pitch heading away from it?

3

victor0nl1n3 OP t1_iulw9c5 wrote

Hi! Thanks for your answer.

It's an old house and we don't know much about its foundation.

If the waterproofing wasn't good, wouldn't we have issues on exterior walls too? We would expect rising damp wouldn't we?

Maybe for some reason, water can get under the house and the waterproofing has a leak where we are seeing the humidity issue. How could we test this hypothesis? And what would be a solution?

1

progodyssey t1_iuot9ae wrote

90% of the time, give or take, water issues in walls stem from poor drainage around the house. I'd bet my mortgage that is your problem: The water in your yard drains towards your house.

2

Manage-It t1_iuzkyts wrote

Listen to shat progodyssey says. In addition, inspect your neighbors' run-off as well. I've seen residents in neighborhoods with old homes, built right next to each other, angle their gutter drains and run off into the next-door neighbor's property. Keep in mind, the current residents may not know their gutters are running into your property. It could have been that way for many years.

1

Druss369 t1_iulwrqo wrote

What is the actual chemical composition of the concrete? There was scandal here in Ireland where some builders skipped out on using the correct materials, used some shitty substitute and the houses nearly fell apart. It was pretty bad.

Check both foundation composition and building composition. Take samples from a few different spots and send em to a lab. If other houses around you were built by the same crowd then this is a possibility.

Best of luck.

2

higgs8 t1_iumxo9f wrote

A friend of mine had something like this and it was caused by two things: old leaking pipes in the floor, and the house being built in a hillside where the hill would direct rainwater towards the building, and the walls not being well waterproofed. They could fix the pipes but not the hillside, but it helped a lot.

2

Autobot36 t1_ium5s3x wrote

How’s the gutters? Keep water away from your foundation and get your self a saniflow dehumidifier

1

jwarper t1_iumwx4y wrote

Is this level of the house below grade? If so, you have drainage problems around the house, moisture is getting in from foundation walls and/or from below the subfloor.

If this is above ground level, you have possible roof leaks or pipe leaks seeping water through walls.

First thing to do is get a de-humidifier or two to combat the humidity retained inside. Then inspect exterior foundation for low spots, water drainage issues, cracks in foundation, etc.

1

Sluisifer t1_iumx8tf wrote

A pro is worth the money here, even if just for diagnosis/consultation. They know the area, the building materials, the climate, etc. Very unlikely this is an unusual problem in your area.

Seems likely that it's a foundation/drainage issue. There's no easy fix for something like that, so it's well worth some money to figure it out definitely. To do otherwise is pennywise pound-foolish.

1

Background-Ad-343 t1_iun0p27 wrote

It could honestly be a number of different reasons, not enough ventilation on the roof, foundation, climate, age of the house, windows, doors,etc.I would get someone to come and take a look for a proper idea of what is going on

1

bburghokie t1_iun3awj wrote

others have said some of these items but i'm just writing my thoughts out as they come to me so there will be some overlap but maybe my thoughts are helpful to you as well, good luck!

​

  1. 65% RH is probably higher than it should be. First thing to do is get a dehumidifier in there and keep it running so that RH is below 55%.
  2. Does the kitchen have an exhaust fan that exits outside? (i'm guessing that it doesn't). Look into installing one but if this isn't possilbe then you'll just need to keep the dehumidifier running all the time
  3. is there a bathroom upstairs? there could be some leaking into those walls but a person might expect the paint flaking to be seen everywhere along the wall, not just in those lower locations so this is unlikely
  4. most likely, the walls are wicking water up from the ground. Check your downspouts to make sure all water is being pushed far away from the house. Is the ground properly sloping away from the house? Is the back "garden"/patio sloping away from the house? The next time it rains go outside and have a look and see where water is pooling or puddling. If it's in areas close to your house then you need to fix those spots asap.
1

DaftVader t1_iun7hfr wrote

I had nearly identical damp caused by two issues - damp coming from the roof down through the walls to the bottom of the house (yep) AND cavity wall to outside of house filling up with debris/crap and allowing damp to pass in at ground level from outside.

Paid someone to treat it by injecting a damp proof foam into cavity wall. Been fine since.

Get a damp proofer to come and investigate and they can tell you. It's money well spent.

1

twnsth t1_iunjt4g wrote

See how the moisture is at the bottom of the walls? That only means it is coming from the top. Your issue can be related to roofing (or ground-drainage if you are below it)

1

ConfidentKangaroo249 t1_iuoeubb wrote

When I got my house somebody blocked up all the air vents with sealant! Check they are all clear

1

kittenfordinner t1_iup85dr wrote

your not drying your clothes inside are you?

1

Infamous_Delivery163 t1_iuppxjw wrote

Location?
Floor type? (Slab, crawlspace, basement, etc.)
What's above that area?
Estimated age of home?

1