O/T Chimney leaking into bedroom help

[Captain Sensible]

Hi, I am at a bit of a loss regarding our chimney. The breast leads directly into the house, its not a breast that sticks out into the room, the chimney protrudes out of the house so the walls in the house are flush. We have had some damp coming into the bedroom wall where the chimney is. We have a gas fire in the living room below the bedroom, could this be the problem? I cant see where the gas fire is vented? unless its vented from the chimney flue, can that cause damp? We rarely use the Gas fire. It is a problem that we have had previously about 5 years ago the flashing was replaced, the 2 years ago we had a roofer take off all the tiles and check for leaks and still nothing. The next step is to get the chimney repointed (we had pointing done below the tray when the flashing was re done), or completely rebuilt? Obviously that would be extremely expensive. As far as I can see from an attic space we have at the back of the house, is that the wall where the chimney breast is, is damp. There's no water dripping down walls or anything but in the bedroom we are getting staining on the paintwork and that part of the wall is decidedly colder and damper to touch. I scartched some of the paint off and the plaster is dark and damp. The side of the chimney where the problem is, gets battered by rain, could the bricks just be pourous, and soaking down into the bedroom? It gets worse this time of year so its definitely rain related.
Good folk of NSC, is there anything I should try, waterproofing spray for the exterior of the chimney? new lead again? repointing? Or tear the F'inf thing down?

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Skim read & got breasts, flashing, staining, damp & bedroom. Can't see a problem, so I'm out

 

[Goldstone1976]

I'm no builder, but would offer the follow comments:

1 If the lead was done properly first time, there's no way it should need replacing already.
2 If it's worse when it's been raining, it is, as you say, likely to be rain-related! If the chimney stack is proud on the outside of the house, then in order for rain to penetrate through the brickwork to your plaster, it has to penetrate the outside course of bricks (or mortar), jump the void, and then penetrate the inside course to get to the plaster. That seems unlikely, unless the void isn't a void any more and there's a bridge of material (insulation say) between the inner and outer courses.
3 If that's not the problem - how about the chimney pots -do you have a cowl on it/them? If not, rain can come straight down the chimney, and then penetrate only one course of bricks or through the mortar joints.
4 Dunno about the gas fire...

Step 1 has to be to get a diagnosis. I'd advise getting someone (many sweeps can do it) to shove a video camera up the chimney to see if they can find the problem site - it might be obvious from inside the chimney.

Good luck...

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Have you tried sweeping it off and on again?

 

[Captain Sensible]

I'm no builder, but would offer the follow comments:

1 If the lead was done properly first time, there's no way it should need replacing already.
2 If it's worse when it's been raining, it is, as you say, likely to be rain-related! If the chimney stack is proud on the outside of the house, then in order for rain to penetrate through the brickwork to your plaster, it has to penetrate the outside course of bricks (or mortar), jump the void, and then penetrate the inside course to get to the plaster. That seems unlikely, unless the void isn't a void any more and there's a bridge of material (insulation say) between the inner and outer courses.
3 If that's not the problem - how about the chimney pots -do you have a cowl on it/them? If not, rain can come straight down the chimney, and then penetrate only one course of bricks or through the mortar joints.
4 Dunno about the gas fire...

Step 1 has to be to get a diagnosis. I'd advise getting someone (many sweeps can do it) to shove a video camera up the chimney to see if they can find the problem site - it might be obvious from inside the chimney.

Good luck...

Sounds like a good idea to get a sweep to see what's going on inside. Regarding point 2. The chimney is Proud on the outside but also slightly recessed to it does form part of the bedroom wall.

 

[skipper734]

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/damp-chimney-breast.htm The cure is here, all you have to do is figure out which is the fault.

 

[WATFORD zero]

My only advice would be not to put 'Who can shove a video camera up my chimney in Brighton' into Google

 

[Captain Sensible]

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/damp-chimney-breast.htm The cure is here, all you have to do is figure out which is the fault.

Good site cheers!

 

[paul-brighton]

TBH I would suspect the fire first. I may be imagining things but the suggestion seems to be you use the fire, you start noticing damp? You cant see the vent... I suspect bad condensation.
Nowadays gas fires have their own steel vent that sits inside the chimney. Surprisingly easy to fit if you are not scared of heights. It is a flexible pipe that drops down the chimney and connects to the fire. Having said all that If you have no separate vent I would suggest agetting the chimney swept to see if that improves things.