skip to main content

Home Repair DIY Exteriors

Rods stuck into wall causing damp

3 years ago

Does anyone know why these rods would have been stuck into my wall, or what they are used for ? They appear to be causing damp both inside and outside.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

Jenny Troy
Original Author
3 years ago
Daisy England
3 years ago
They look like a clip of some sort. Perhaps originally put there to keep cables in place? Won’t they just pull out.
Related Discussions
Cant use LVT!? Need "breathable" floors.
Q
Comments (17)
Yes minipie, that's precisely the concern, the walls are still drying out to this date in some areas. It is the intention to tank the bathroom, but this is a small area in a not so risky spot having only one short exterior wall. It will have both a radiator and towel radiator and extra vents whether it gets a warm floor to boot or not .... but this isnt my concern, the other nearly 65 square meters of matching floor covering, and the sheer cost of it is! I dont mind rustic, but the use of cork or lino concerns me in terms of being hard wearing enough, and clay tile sounds pricey but I shall have a look at that. I looked at Hessian, sisal... but Ive never lived with those types of floor. I've seen some say theyre hard to get stains out and I'm concerned that it would latch onto husky hair. This looks alright: http://www.corkfloor.co.uk/floor/GNVICELAND.aspx , nearly £4k (+++) without fitting or the accessories though. But it's "VinylCork" ... that's still coated and looks the same problem as LVT?! http://www.corkfloor.co.uk/floor/GNCCLSWHITE.aspx at a start of just under 2.5K (+++), which would do the job. ... but this also poses the question regarding it's "weartop" coating which is the thing that makes it any use at all for the durability I am looking for... I'm lost... I honestly cant live another 3 years with bare cold floors that look an absolute mess :( At this point, I'll whack £2.99 carpet in and sell the place
...See More
Kitchen upgrade and replumbing
Q
Comments (14)
TBH that doesn't really sound very terrible. But as Jonathan pointed out, it can be quite scary if you have no previous experience of house buying. But as he says, it's worth reading up and researching what all these things are. To have a small amount of rising damp in a small room such as a WC, isn't a big deal. A damp company can get that done relatively easily. They would take off the plaster to a height of approx. 3ft (ish) on the affected walls, they then inject the bricks and then re-plaster. There may be an issue with the DPC, which they would also deal with. When we moved in to our house, we had walls in our two sitting rooms, the downstairs loo, hall and in the cupboard under the stairs all with rising damp. It was a bit of a mess, but it got sorted quite quickly and when the plaster was fully dried, we could redecorate. As I said before the other mentions of damp are from external water ingress - which means you just need to identify why and how the water is getting in and get it fixed (incidentally, flat roofs are prone to leaking), that will fix the damp problem and thus any mould. Again a damp specialist will be able to advise you on this, but this type of problem is quite straight forward to deal with. Of the remaining points: Electrics - get clarification from the surveyor about what circuits he's referring to and then get an electrician in to find out roughly much it would be to do. Upgrade fire detection - this means install some smoke detectors - you can do this yourself, buy then from a DIY store. Insulation - get clarification of what the surveyor means by external walls, does he mean get cavity wall insulation or similar? If so that's not an immediate essential and could be done later. Insulating the attic - put in better loft insulation - again another thing you can do yourself get loft insulation from a DIY shop or look at other more eco friendly solutions. Minor repairs to doors and windows - not a great expense and likely a lot you could do yourself - perhaps panes need replacing or blown double glazing need replacing - fairy simple and straight forward. Clarify what the survey means by protect low level glazing. I suspect this means there is some window/s which is/are vulnerable to breakage (rather than a safety hazard) which would mean either getting a protective grille for it or you can get film to go over glass that makes it less like to shatter. Dormer & garage roofs - just check to see if they are water tight and sound - a builder or roofing specialist could advise you. Uneven paving etc - really absolutely nothing to worry about and likely something you could leave for a while - unless it is dangerous. Wasps nest - simple we've had 5 removed from our property THIS YEAR (it been a bad year for us for wasps!) It cost us £66 per nest. Carbon monoxide detectors - same as smoke detectors - do it yourself Fully functioning mechanical ventilation - get an extractor hood for the kitchen when you re-do it and you could just open the bathroom window when required. These are not vital but are good to have in the long run. Installing earth bonding - its a piece of wire! check on Google to see what you need to do, you can do it yourself. (I have a feeling it is no longer considered a necessity, but I could be wrong on that.) Clean down mould - you can get special cleaner to use to clean mould off, so get a some and sponge and do it yourself! Background vents - don't appear to have any in my house. I would say if you regularly open windows, doors don't over fill rooms with furniture, these are not immediately required (if t all) especially if there are trickle vents on the windows. It really isn't that scary when you break it down and understand exactly what it's talking about. Don't get too concerned, damp specialists deals with those types of issues every day, so it's not an enormous insurmountable problem, its quite straight forward. A lot of things on the list are very, very minor and simple, quick & easy to do - for instance it takes 10 minutes to put up a smoke detector. I think if you can get a damp specialist or a competent builder to look at the property, I think you'd feel a lot better about it all.
...See More
how to dress a Victorian Bay Window - living room
Q
Comments (22)
They are lovely windows! I think the windows would actually look better without the curtains. Do you close the curtains at night for privacy when sitting in the room? Or just close at night going to bed? I think shutters might look too much for the big windows and you need something simpler. I like roman blinds. Or how about just curtains at the 2 sides, and when pulled back at the sides they are swept away from the walls/windows.... or held back with a hook/holder?
...See More
Help! Stuck drilling above the window!
Q
Comments (10)
Oh gosh Anita that sounds like a nightmare. We bought a new set of drill bits, these from Screwfix: https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-straight-shank-masonry-drill-bit-set-8-pieces/3189x We were using the number 6 or 7 I think so you could also look for a single bit in the correct set - at the time we weren't sure so bought the set but I doubt the larger sizes will get used so we wouldn't do that again. We did also buy a set for metal when we originally thought it was metal but after drilling a couple we are pretty confident it's concrete now. We had the same experience that you drilled in by around 1.5-2cm, basically through the plaster and then you just stopped completely, my partner just his kept at it using quite force (which is where the the 2 handed drill comes in handy for support) and eventually we got through. If you are raising your curtains could you try even higher or are you going right up to the ceiling? Or could you go slightly wider? We were setting our curtain pole brackets around 10cm from the edge with the curtain pole over hanging a further 5-10cm depending on the window. We found on our windows that we'd occasionally get 1 hole that would drill really easily, we think that must have been hitting just to the outer side of the concrete lintel. Although to be fair in your situation I'd maybe be tempted to go with the batten now, it was a pain for us to get this to work and at points we were wondering if was worth the effort. Once the curtains are on you can barely see any of the fixtures anyway so it might be worth considering or maybe get some professional advice if you can? Like you said it's not worth buying more tools for, a handy person with the right tools would get the job done in easily less than a hour.
...See More
Rowland
3 years ago
jenny,

they are nails and the black plastic is s cable clip. my guess is an old cable was run and has been pulled out leaving the clips behind. they will not be the cause of your damp. if you can provide some photos of the internal problem perhaps it can be diagnosed and a solution worked out.

Best

Rowland
Rowland
3 years ago
jenny,

looking at your photo it may be that your floor level internally is below the external floor level. the door to the side of your first picture seems to indicate this being the case. if I am right then there could be a number of reasons that you have damp internally.

if you can share some photos of the outside and the internal area of the affected area I may be able to give you a better steer on what's happening.

Best

Rowland
User
3 years ago
Yes, they are cable clips which can be removed and not the cause of damp

Sponsored

More Discussions

Large sliding door or keep small French door and window

36

Proposed floor plan help please

35

Which layout do you think would look best for our renovation project?

5

Kitchen diner garage access help

1

Above garage extension to create primary suite

0

United Kingdom

Tailor my experience with cookies

Houzz uses cookies and similar technologies to personalise my experience, serve me relevant content, and improve Houzz products and services. By clicking ‘Accept’ I agree to this, as further described in the Houzz Cookie Policy. I can reject non-essential cookies by clicking ‘Manage Preferences’.