On 15 Jun, 18:42, Mike D wrote:
On Thu, 14 Jun 2007 09:59:42 -0700, Chris George
wrote:

In fact you could do that without the dpc and probably get away with
it but not recommended.
Good luck
Chris

Chris, Thanks for your input. All of what you said concurs with my own
understanding of the issue. The house was built with lime mortar, so
that prabably helped. Yes, the damp meter shows a higher reading near
ground level and in most places the walls are much drier above 1 mtr
above floor level. I agree that your remedy is the thorough approach,
but hacking the plaster off the walls and replastering is, of course,
extremely disruptive and messy, to say the least. And the plaster that
has been used is not easy to remove.

Cheers,

Mike

IF and only if it is certain that the wall has hygroscopic salts in
it (and you can verify that by testing or as described earlier) then
you have no choice but to replaster or live with the damp.
The objection to re-plastering is often based on the fact that most
commercial companies, quite wrongly, recommend it - regardless of
whether or not it is necessary - to protect themselves. By all means
try to keep it if it is borderline - you may get away with it if the
prospective purchaser's surveyor comes after a dry period.
Chris