Causes of Damp

Rising Damp is when water breaches the original damp course and rises up the wall by capillary action. Rising dampness is generally indicated by high damp readings which start in the skirting board and continue to up to around 500mm high from the floor with a sharp fall in readings over that height.

Other signs of rising damp are:

• Skirting board creasing
• plasterboard sounding hollow if you knock on it with your knuckles
• Peeling paint or bubbling plaster
• Mouldy smell in the room
• Damp tide mark up to 1m tall.
• Peeling wallpaper at a low level
• Efflorescent salts at ground level on external walls