Hello.
I bought a brick house from 1958. The guy I bought it from had just completely renovated the place to sell it, which of course was then renovated "as nicely as possible at the cheapest price" with shortcuts and low-budget materials.
All the exterior walls have painted concrete on the inside. There is one exception - There is a drywall panel on the concrete with underlying moisture protection/plastic. Should one be concerned about this exception, that moisture/damage or something else is hidden behind the drywall, or is this a "normal construction technique"? This particular wall is on the lower floor.
In other words - Should I tear open the entire drywall just to make sure there’s nothing suspicious behind it?
Regards,
Andreas
I bought a brick house from 1958. The guy I bought it from had just completely renovated the place to sell it, which of course was then renovated "as nicely as possible at the cheapest price" with shortcuts and low-budget materials.
All the exterior walls have painted concrete on the inside. There is one exception - There is a drywall panel on the concrete with underlying moisture protection/plastic. Should one be concerned about this exception, that moisture/damage or something else is hidden behind the drywall, or is this a "normal construction technique"? This particular wall is on the lower floor.
In other words - Should I tear open the entire drywall just to make sure there’s nothing suspicious behind it?
Regards,
Andreas
I would tear down everything that is directly against the outer wall. The plastic prevents the wall from breathing.
Yep. That is the key question.... The whole house is newly renovated, but it is just this wall that is covered.
The entire wall is above ground, but I know that previously a flower bed was built directly against the outer wall... about 50cm high.
The entire wall is above ground, but I know that previously a flower bed was built directly against the outer wall... about 50cm high.
If the answer to a why question was as you wrote, then I would tear down the wall immediately because no f.n tradesmen do anything they haven't been asked to do. What if they decided to brick up the entrance so no one could get in, would he reply the same way then too? and pay for the job.
If they have put plastic behind it, the person who did it has suspected moisture. A concrete exterior wall should be able to breathe, so the plastic has likely increased the moisture levels in the wall.
I would take it down, plaster the wall, and paint.
Best regards,
Anders
I would take it down, plaster the wall, and paint.
Best regards,
Anders
Thanks for all the answers.
Certainly seems shady enough to tear it down... despite it being a huge project for me... I'm completely all thumbs.
I'll tear it down and hope there's no major remediation work hiding behind it.
Certainly seems shady enough to tear it down... despite it being a huge project for me... I'm completely all thumbs.
I'll tear it down and hope there's no major remediation work hiding behind it.
If there is moisture there, it will show up in the future, and then the solution is to tear down the wall and plaster it. But the risk is that you have a healthy wall and no moisture problem, and then you would have done the demolition unnecessarily. My suggestion, wait and see. There are probably other projects that are better to spend time on.
Found the plastic and studs when I was installing an electrical box there earlier...
Maybe I don't need to tear down the whole wall... I'm considering cutting a one square meter hole to take a look... should be simple enough for me to patch up afterward.
Alternatively, buy myself a fiber optic camera to drill a bunch of holes and look... any other suggestions?
I might be extra paranoid... partly because the room is on the ground floor, and that's where the small children sleep, and on the ground floor, there seems to be constantly 6-7% higher humidity than the upper floor.
Maybe I don't need to tear down the whole wall... I'm considering cutting a one square meter hole to take a look... should be simple enough for me to patch up afterward.
Alternatively, buy myself a fiber optic camera to drill a bunch of holes and look... any other suggestions?
I might be extra paranoid... partly because the room is on the ground floor, and that's where the small children sleep, and on the ground floor, there seems to be constantly 6-7% higher humidity than the upper floor.
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The explanation might be as simple as using studs to run some electrical conduits. Whether the plastic should be there or not is something to consider—on a light concrete wall, it shouldn't be there, but what is the recommendation for a concrete wall? Call an insulation manufacturer and ask. Many might place the plastic there because it's the "normal" way to do it. So I think one should hold back a bit on the conspiracy theories...