“A wet February, a good year”, as the saying goes. But not for walls!
Many factors can influence the presence of damp stains on the walls of your home. It isn’t pleasant to find that your walls are damaged low down and you need to do something about it. However, there are ways to prevent the problem directly.
Let’s take a closer look at the causes of damp walls and the best way to deal with it.
What causes damp in interior walls?
The main causes are:
- A burst pipe: as damaging as it is unpredictable, it leads to water leakage that very quickly makes the consequences apparent.
- The absence of waterproofing: walls in contact with the ground are exposed to rising damp from the ground. During the construction stage, it’s therefore necessary to waterproof the building, giving special attention to ground floors and basements, especially in the case of country cottages and villas.
- Damage to the waterproofing layer: as previously mentioned, it’s good to waterproof, but it’s also necessary to apply a protective layer that can withstand heavy loads and hydrostatic thrust from the ground. Only then will the waterproofing last intact.
- Inadequate ventilation of rooms: air saturated with moisture creates no less damage than the factors described above. If a wall is cold and the interior of a room is warm, water vapour turns to condensation. It is therefore advisable to provide adequate ventilation of rooms.
What are the consequences?
First of all, there is efflorescence, i.e. the solidification of salts in water, which appears as white spots. This is followed by swelling and flaking of the plaster.
Lastly, mould stains may appear.
This affects the aesthetic appeal of rooms, but even more so their liveability: unhealthy and potentially harmful mould and damp can cause much damage to human health if not quickly removed.
What NOT to do?
Unfortunately, mould and damp appear and we can try to contain (cover) the damage.
It’s a good idea to consult a specialist to find out the extent of the problem and possibly find a tailor-made solution.
But it’s certainly not a solution to try and cover up the damage, like sweeping the dust under the carpet: the problem remains. What’s more, there’s the risk of it recurring and getting worse because insulating paints and tiles prevent it from drying out.
How to prevent it: recommendations from TeMa Building Solutions
Prevention is always the best approach in this case: by providing appropriate waterproofing, drainage solutions and mechanical protection of the waterproofing from the outset, you can avoid the costs and difficulties that would arise once the damage has been done.
TeMa Building Solutions therefore recommends itsT-Kone Plaster studded membrane and its accessories.
The studs create an air gap of 8 mm that ensures constant air circulation and, thanks to the profile at the base, eliminates excess moisture. It needs to be applied with the nails provided after cleaning and levelling the surface, thereby providing perfect adhesion for plaster.
Go to the specific page to learn more.
- Published in BUILDING, Thermal insulation and ventilation systems
Restore walls with T-Kone Plaster
The appearance of damp on walls may be due to various possible causes. The most common include the absence of waterproofing systems in the external part of the wall, the one in contact with the foundation soil, the absence of any efficient mechanical protection that may cause damage to the waterproofing system, or the presence of air saturated with moisture – due to inadequate ventilation – that comes into contact with cold masonry and is, therefore, not thermally insulated.
All this may cause a series of phenomena such as the appearance of whitish areas on walls. These are more frequently known as “efflorescence” and are caused by the build-up of salts, which may lead to the detachment of the surface plaster.
However, walls cannot always be restored from the outside. To solve this problem of an unhealthy environment, TeMa Building recommends T-Kone Plaster, a studded membrane that acts as a cavity.
T-Kone Plaster acts from the inside of a house by creating an 8 mm air gap, equal to 5.4 litres/m², between the original wall and the new finish. Thanks to its mesh, this can be coated with a new layer of plaster while its special profile at the base is able to counteract moisture through micro-ventilation.
Rot-proof, non-toxic, resistant to atmospheric agents and fungi, T-Kone Plaster is an effective and permanent solution for restoring walls.
To find out more about our studded membrane, EXPLORE OUR WEBSITE.
