How to tell if your home has damp
Sometimes you think your home is suffering from damp, other times you are okay. You are not convinced that damp is already an uninvited guest already settled inside your home. What should confirm that anyway? Well, this issue can be compared to cancer. You need to go for checkup early enough so that even if you are found with the disease, it’s still young and treatable. Waiting until the big signs show up won’t leave you with enough options. The earlier you know whether your got damp, the better. Treating will be easier even with DIY saving you money. Damp proofing experts will use both their eyes and special diagnosis equipment. You may not need those equipment though.I have prepared a list of simple signs you should watch out for when you scrutinize your home for damp.
- Wall stains and tide marks
Water will find its way up the walls if no damp proof course exists. When it does, the water will evaporate with time. However, the salt in the water will not. The salt residue is what forms the stains on the walls. These form on the lower sides of the walls usually below one meter margin. Tide marks form in the same manner leaving stains which can be yellowish or brownish.
- Wallpapers peeling off
Why should wallpapers peel off? It is only sure to say that the adhesive joining them to the wall is worn out. It starts with the wallpaper corners curving outwards and later the entire wallpaper tends to come out or loosen. If the loosening starts from the skirting board and progresses gradually upwards, then you got rising damp in operation.
- Rotting skirting boards
The first thing that rising damp specifically will attack is the skirting board. This is the immediate element that will undergo excess moisture introduction leading to eating away and rotting with time. It may start as signs of flaky paint on the skirting board. It can then proceed to cracking and then growth of fungus and later easy crumbling with the effects of rotting. You might be able to save the skirting board if you keep your eyes open early enough.
- Blistering plaster
This is caused by salts getting deposited in the plaster. You will observe fluffy deposits that result when water emanating from inside the bricks finds its way into the plaster and evaporate leaving the salts behind.
- Black mold
It is the ideal signal to dampness. Mold is a living thing that requires the basics of life including water. If there was no water, there could not have been mold. If the mold is concentrated on the skirting board and maybe even above it, then you have a problem.
If you spot any of these signs, then you should be set to treat your damp house as fast as possible and call your local water damage restoration service..