Print this page

ASK OUR TEAM OF EXPERTS FOR ADVICE - RECENT QUESTIONS

Q. hi we have a terraced house and have a problem with having wet around our windows and then wet walls with mould at the bottom of our bay windows inside. i don't think we have any cavity in the walls and don't have any ventilation on the windows either. this happens upstairs to but not as bad can you give me some advise View answer »

Q. I have a Sandstone property which I am having problems with mould mainly in the first floor bedroom on the outer wall. Upon looking up I can see some of the Sandstone is wet looking and gaps in the pointing so I am wondering if water is getting into the property causing the mould, however I require an expert to advise.. If you can offer any advice or suggestions as to the cause/solution I would be most grateful. View answer »

Q. A few confusing problems, possibly related... 1) I have an en suite bathroom with paint and plaster flaking and crumbling despite the presence of an active ventilation system, which is ducted to the loft. There are no visible mold spots. I'm guessing this is a ventilation/condensation problem but I'm not sure how to solve it. 2) In the hallway, paint and plaster on a piece of seemingly dry stud wall, which is perpendicular to the stud wall dividing the en suite and the hallway, have started to flake and there are black mold spots in the corner where the two pieces of stud wall meet, adjacent to a radiator. These are completely interior dividing walls, with no contact to any external wall. The wall itself seems dry and I am struggling to explain why mold is growing there and what is happening in general. I have speculated that both of these might be explained by an enclosed water pipe slowly leaking but the fact that the walls appear dry is confusing me. It could be unrelated but two nearby doors have started to rub against the floor but rather than the doors having dropped, it seems more as though a bump has appeared in the floor. The reason I mention this is I am wondering if the floorboards are being affected by whatever is causing the other problems described above. View answer »

Q. The previous people in our house had a chemical damp course put in (but they lost the guarantee documents). This was around the outside of the sandstone property and in some of the internal walls. Where the internal walls were done the walls were also re-plastered. We now appear to have rising damp in the inside of the end wall of the property. This had the damp course on the outside but not the inside and wasn't re-plastered is this usual? How do we stop the damp on the inside? View answer »

Q. Our cottage has an inglenook fireplace in which the main beam over the fireplace had had its centre piece cut out over a length of about 5 feet, due, we think to a fire. A new piece was put in and the three beam pieces were supported by two brick pillars. We took out the centre pillar and inserted another beam below thus bridging the gap under the original beam and supporting it. We installed a wood burner two years ago and the lower beam, which we are lead to believe is soft wood, probably pine, has split lengthways at the bottom of the beam, virtually all the way across. We are concerned that this may evenyually weaken the beam detrimentally should this splitting continue across another part of the beam, and wonder what can be done to prevent this. I would be very grateful for any advise. Thank you. View answer »

Name:

Daytime telephone number:

Postcode or town:

Email Address: