Hello everyone!
New to the forum as a member, but have long been a reader of all the interesting threads here on byggahus.se. I am now a new homeowner myself and facing a little problem. The house was built in 1980 and is a one-story house with a finished basement. The house had a inspection remark on an exterior wall in the basement where the wallpaper (glass fiber) was discolored and bubbly. During moisture measurement, the lower part of this wall is dry and fine, but at the top of the wall, just below ground level, the wall is very damp.
Today I tackled it, and tore off the wallpaper. It was probably just in time since the wallpaper already had a faint mold odor. The plaster had come off where the moisture damage was evident. I chipped away as much plaster as I could, and now I'm here without really knowing what the next step is. I have a Woods dehumidifier running in the room since I assume it's good to dry out the wall properly.
See attached pictures. It's really only at the top where the problem actually exists, and just below ground level. What would you do? Repair the plaster, and then paint with silicate paint or something similar? Is that enough? Will the wall then breathe better, than has been the case now, with a glass fiber in the way?
I look forward to your answers, from a puzzled new homeowner
New to the forum as a member, but have long been a reader of all the interesting threads here on byggahus.se. I am now a new homeowner myself and facing a little problem. The house was built in 1980 and is a one-story house with a finished basement. The house had a inspection remark on an exterior wall in the basement where the wallpaper (glass fiber) was discolored and bubbly. During moisture measurement, the lower part of this wall is dry and fine, but at the top of the wall, just below ground level, the wall is very damp.
Today I tackled it, and tore off the wallpaper. It was probably just in time since the wallpaper already had a faint mold odor. The plaster had come off where the moisture damage was evident. I chipped away as much plaster as I could, and now I'm here without really knowing what the next step is. I have a Woods dehumidifier running in the room since I assume it's good to dry out the wall properly.
See attached pictures. It's really only at the top where the problem actually exists, and just below ground level. What would you do? Repair the plaster, and then paint with silicate paint or something similar? Is that enough? Will the wall then breathe better, than has been the case now, with a glass fiber in the way?
I look forward to your answers, from a puzzled new homeowner
A small update. Now I admit my ignorance in material knowledge
What I called plaster in the previous picture turns out to be just ordinary filler, I now realize. I've now removed all the wallpaper on the entire wall. What's left is filler in some places. Behind this is plaster.
My question now is, can I chip off the rest of the filler, and then paint directly onto the plaster? When I run my hand over the plaster, a lot of sand falls off. Is that how plaster behaves? Can you paint directly on it, or should I do it differently?
What's interesting is that the plaster itself doesn't seem particularly damaged, yet the wallpaper and filler? Shouldn't the plaster have come off as well?
See new image below.
What I called plaster in the previous picture turns out to be just ordinary filler, I now realize. I've now removed all the wallpaper on the entire wall. What's left is filler in some places. Behind this is plaster.
My question now is, can I chip off the rest of the filler, and then paint directly onto the plaster? When I run my hand over the plaster, a lot of sand falls off. Is that how plaster behaves? Can you paint directly on it, or should I do it differently?
What's interesting is that the plaster itself doesn't seem particularly damaged, yet the wallpaper and filler? Shouldn't the plaster have come off as well?
See new image below.
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First of all, you should ensure that the moisture supply from the outside is stopped. It is clear from your pictures that the moisture is entering near the ground surface and then spreading somewhat downward.
Then let the wall dry properly, it can take a very long time.
Then you can paint with silicate paint if you want.
Then let the wall dry properly, it can take a very long time.
Then you can paint with silicate paint if you want.
Thank you for your replies! Now that I've chipped away some of the plaster, I see a spot on the wall where it's clearly wet. It's very close to ground level, so I went outside to take a look. Outside, there's paving stones (monk stones). I removed some stones. Underneath these are stone dust and then a mat, which I assume is one of those you usually lay first before laying paving stones? Under this mat, there's sand. Quite wet sand.
Is sand a capillary breaking material, or is it simply inadvisable to have sand against the wall? But why is it only a problem right under the ground surface? It feels so strange. I've dug out sand where the dampest spot is hoping it will dry a little faster, but what do you refill with afterward?
It doesn't seem very urgent to dig all the way down to the drainage when the problem is obviously at ground level. But what happens if I remove the problem at ground level, will the moisture then move down a notch on the wall instead? Oh my...there are many questions!
Could it be that the paving, including the underlying work, is causing trouble...it does match the location of the moisture problems, at least...
Is sand a capillary breaking material, or is it simply inadvisable to have sand against the wall? But why is it only a problem right under the ground surface? It feels so strange. I've dug out sand where the dampest spot is hoping it will dry a little faster, but what do you refill with afterward?
It doesn't seem very urgent to dig all the way down to the drainage when the problem is obviously at ground level. But what happens if I remove the problem at ground level, will the moisture then move down a notch on the wall instead? Oh my...there are many questions!
Could it be that the paving, including the underlying work, is causing trouble...it does match the location of the moisture problems, at least...
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How is the ground outside the house? No downspout nearby that channels water in?
Most likely, the water flows easily in the sand layer and finds its way into the concrete.
The next layer, which I assume is clay, doesn't let water through as easily, so I would think that if you can just get rid of the "surface water," the problem is solved.
Most likely, the water flows easily in the sand layer and finds its way into the concrete.
The next layer, which I assume is clay, doesn't let water through as easily, so I would think that if you can just get rid of the "surface water," the problem is solved.
The house is very well located in the sense that there are no elevations around the house from which water can run (at least no significant height differences), but closest to the house by the paving, it is possible that the slope is not good enough. Not something that can be seen with the naked eye, but it should of course be investigated.
The downspouts are connected to the stormwater pipes, and it does not appear to be a major problem with them, since one would think that the moisture should be more concentrated around these, and maybe even at a deeper level.
So should I perhaps remove the sand layer, do you think? And refill with gravel? Could that work? I don't need to have the paving stones put back in place, I don't think they're that attractive anyway.
Edit: I should also mention that the wet spot on the inside of the concrete wall that I discovered is now completely gone after I dug out the soil outside where the spot was, and put in a dehumidifier for a few hours. I don't know if it's the dehumidifier or the digging that resulted in it drying, but it feels good anyway.
The downspouts are connected to the stormwater pipes, and it does not appear to be a major problem with them, since one would think that the moisture should be more concentrated around these, and maybe even at a deeper level.
So should I perhaps remove the sand layer, do you think? And refill with gravel? Could that work? I don't need to have the paving stones put back in place, I don't think they're that attractive anyway.
Edit: I should also mention that the wet spot on the inside of the concrete wall that I discovered is now completely gone after I dug out the soil outside where the spot was, and put in a dehumidifier for a few hours. I don't know if it's the dehumidifier or the digging that resulted in it drying, but it feels good anyway.
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