On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 14:24:48 +0100, "David Hearn"
wrote:

Our 1930's semi has a bay front (single bay spanning upstairs and
downstairs). The soffits extend past the bay (so its not a flat roofed
bay).

When we moved in, we noticed that the wall paper around the upstairs bay was
coming off. I suspected this may be due to damp. What I'm wondering is
what the constuction is of upstairs bays. I assume that the downstairs one
is a standard cavity wall (like the rest of the house) - but the upstairs
one is a bit of an unknown for me. Other houses in the street have rendered
bays, tiled bays etc - whereas the front of our house is stone clad (ewww!).
I suspect though that whatever construction it is - its a single thickness -
ie. no cavity and therefore possibly more susceptible to damp.

So - is there anything I can do to reduce any damp problems when
re-papering? Can I paint something on to stop it (I'm just after something
to stop the paper coming off as we've not noticed there being any other
problems with it)?

I have a similar 1930's semi with a square bay and as you suspect the
lower bay is a cavity wall, but the upper is a single skin. You should
be able to tell for sure by looking at the thickness of the upstairs
wall below the window.

Mine is rendered and apart from the plaster being cracked in the bay
(it's actually pretty bad throughout that room, but not so bad it
needs replacing) I don't have a damp problem. Many of the other houses
in the street have had theirs tiled, which is probably the one sure
way of ensuring that water can't get through, although it must add to
the weight.

Although you can get interior damp-proofing treatments (or gloss
paint) that stop residual dampness affecting decoration, if the source
of the damp has not been fixed, then you will just seal the problem
into the plaster, which could make it worse.


--
Colin Swan