I've recently found a lot of damp around the bottom of a chimney breast
at one end of the house. The house was built in the 1930s and at some
time (I guess 20-25 years ago) a wood-burner and flue liner were fitted
to this fireplace. There doesn't appear to be any ventilation into the
chimney so I'm wondering whether that's the root cause. Having mentioned
"root", I've hacked-down a damn great shrub that's been growing against
the chimney since at least the 1970s and it's possible that has done
some damage "down below".
The room has a suspended floor, with an original decorative parquetry
floor laid on the boards. The parquetry panels are T&G'd so it's not
feasible to lift it to see what's happening underneath (I've got an
inspection endoscope on order so I can look round the edges at the sides
of some of the joists).

I haven't had to deal with damp before so would welcome input from
anyone with knowledge.

On 31/03/2021 14:13, wrote:
I've recently found a lot of damp around the bottom of a chimney breast
at one end of the house.

Rising damp. If you lift the floor you will find a chimney breast with
no DPC standing in a pond.

At least that's what I found...


--
"First, find out who are the people you can not criticise. They are your
oppressors."
- George Orwell