Flaky Blistering Paint

[DIyanabe]

Hi all,

I am new here and this is my first post, so thanks in advance for any help.

I have a problem in my lounge on two external facing cavity walls.

When I first purchased my house I noticed the paint work close to the skirting about 1 foot high was blistering, flaky and peeling, I put this down to it being old paint work and maybe some damp in the walls.

Since then I have had the two walls chopped out for electrical work and re-plastered and skimmed, so both fresh walls.

I have also re decorated the entire room, after about 3 months the same problem has occurred in the same place on the same walls and only these walls.

I have noticed that the patio outside is fairly high and may be very close to or level with the DPC.

My thoughts are damp is hitting the walls when it rains etc and this is passing through the brickwork.

so my question is,

1. Is this likely the cause?
2. Can it be cured?
3. Can I seal the external walls to stop water ingress?
4. Can I paint the internal walls with some kind of damp proof paint and then repaint over with my choice of emulsion?

Any help and advice much appreciated.

Pictures included

 

[DIyanabe]

Anyone?

 

[chopnhack]

Anyone?

Hello, I forgot to respond when I first saw this, my apologies.


Pictures 3 and 4 clearly show the mortar between your bricks as being wetter than the rest. I am not sure where your leak is coming from, but you are getting moisture behind the brickwork. Are your weep holes blocked? Check the area around that door, it clearly is newer than the brick so chances are that it could have been installed improperly or not caulked well. Moisture could be getting in around the door frame.

 

[DIyanabe]

Hi thanks for they reply,

The door was only recently installed and the problem was there before that, so I can rule that out.

As you state the brick work looks wet and I cant see any visible leaks, all I can think is that when it rains the splash back from the patio or remaining damp on the patio is getting in as it looks like the patio has been installed above the DPC and may have previously had some kind of barrier paint on which has left residual marks on the wall.

 

[chopnhack]

The door was only recently installed and the problem was there before that, so I can rule that out.

Well that's good!

all I can think is that when it rains the splash back from the patio

Not likely as the wet area starts 4 courses high. Did you happen to see if the cavity closure was intact when the door was pulled?

 

[DIyanabe]

I didnt see when they were fitting the door, I must also add I have the same problem at the other side of the door fitting

Both walls left and right of the french doors have the same problem and both were before and after,

Also the problem was present before cavity wall insulation was installed.

really cant understand where the water can be getting in

 

[dovetail]

It's most likely a combination of issues resulting in moisture penetration. The door is not water tight, I've seen this quite a bit in masonry installs. It is very difficult to properly flash the opening. A drip edge at the top of the door will help some as will caulking around the door with a high quality sealant such as OSI quad http://www.ositough.com/en/products/view-all-products.html. Also verify that they installed a pan under the door and that the pan was installed properly. You would be surprised to find out how far water can wick.

Other issues I can see off the bat are a lack of weep holes in the brick veneer, if water is getting in it can't escape. Most likely there is no building wrap (tyvek) between the brick sheathing compounding the problem. Leaking gutters may also be contributing to the problem. Usually the brick sits on a ledger that is formed into the foundation wall but yours appears as if it could be sitting on mortar. I'd have this looked at by either an engineer or mason. It may need water proofed as you suspect but it may require more than a scratch coat or brush on compound to do so.