In the process of installation original finishes and plasters have been destroyed and to original structures by the drilling of irrigation holes unnecessary damage has been caused. In addition, penny that might have been spent on more cost-effective repair or maintenance works has been wasted.
Based on the readings of moisture meters and the incorrect interpretation of visual evidence in existing buildings rising damp in Brisbane are widely diagnosed.
If properly specified for certain types of structure some protection may be provided by injected chemical damp-proof courses but their general application may be ineffective and wrongly specified and is hardly the most reasonable way of controlling damp problems in buildings. In particular, after it has dried out if applied to a dry wall an effective ‘hydrophobic band can be formed by the more generally available water based products. In damp walls their effective installation can be prevented by this.
Reasons and Impacts
Upward through permeable building materials the movement of moisture by capillary action is described by the rising damp. Particularly in the occupied parts of a building if the moisture penetrates vulnerable materials or finishes it becomes an issue.
From the building materials such as calcium sulphate this moisture will dissolve soluble salts and from its source may also carry soluble salts. These salts will be left behind if through a permeable surface the moisture evaporates, and form deposits within or on the evaporative surface. On the surface salt crystals are deposited as a harmless flour-like dusting where there is a large evaporative surface.
To localised areas such as defects in an impermeable paint finish if evaporation is restricted then with the appearance of small flowers forming thick crystalline deposits salt deposition is concentrated. Thus rising damp treatment is essential.
Salts can be deposited within the pores when evaporation occurs within the material. The spalling of the surface and fractures forming in the material may be the result of the expanding salt crystals in these areas. In porous masonry or brickwork this type of decay may be seen.
Salt deposition occurs due to evaporation at the edge of the damp area when there has been a long-term issue with moisture penetration. Of 'rising damp' the tide mark is often taken as a typical diagnostic feature where this occurs at the base of a wall.
However, even when the water penetration that originally caused them has long vanished, these salt accumulations may remain. Similarly, from causes other than rising damp water penetration may have occurred. Rising damp may give rise to moulds and so mould removal in Sydney is required. Both within fibrous or porous materials, such as on the surface, carpets fitted against the base of the wall or wallpapers the growth of moulds is allowed by damp situation on the wall surface.
To occupants it can be a significant health hazard apart from being damaging to finishes and aesthetically unacceptable.
Surface drainage and defective ground in the base of the walls of buildings are the most common source of moisture. Due to the failure of ground drainage systems, a combination of such factors as rising ground levels and without consideration of drainage slopes the increased use of finishes or concrete around buildings in almost every building in the country this is present to some degree.
