Building Maintenance - "Wall Dampness and Its Correction"

In general you should seal the outside boundary between your basement walls and soil. However, sometimes this is useless.

1. Waterproofing/sealer...

2. What is the floor surface? tile? linoleum? concrete?

http://www.sealkrete.com/general_sk_faqs.htm

Here's some tips....Make sure surface to be treated is clean and dry....

Use several coats, allowing coats to dry completely in between applications....Take days if necessary....Each succeeding coat takes longer to dry...

IF this wall dampness is occurring above ground, then there a number of clear waterproofing sealants commercially available that would prevent water and water vapor transmission through the brick and mortar.

IF this wall dampness is occurring below grade through a brick foundation wall, then you must excavate the the wall(s), prep clean them, and apply a very good commercial grade water proofing compound with a reinforcing fabric. Depending on the material, sometimes several coatings will have to be applied. A vast majority of these compounds are asphalt-based, whilst others are not.

In some instances you may have to install a new footing drain pipe (and clean washed stone , all wrapped in a filter fabric envelope) along the exterior edge of the foundation wall footing. Make sure this drainage pipe either daylights or ties into a drainage structure of some type, such as a catch basin either located in the street or on your property.

Sometimes small hole develops inside the cancelled water lines pipes and water leaks through it. Use as built drawings ,identify the locations , rectify the pipe leak.

Insulate the pipes and ventilate the space if it is a condensation problem.

If your "wall" issue is paint peeling/popping off (you stated that water seepage was not an issue), try to use Latex paint rather than oil-based- it "breathes". The earlier suggestion of sloped run-off and control of rain water flow and keep water away from the wall is also a great idea.

Although it will sound "strange"- Assuming that this issue is for below grade walls, another option is to slowly flood the area about 25-30 CM away from the wall (light flow through perforated / mesh "hose" for about a day or two) and then insert corrugated fiberglass panels in the softened, muddy earth as close to the wall as possible, with about two corrugation overlap. The panels will provide a relatively secure external vapor/water barrier for the wall.

RE: the "upper" bath issue causing "lower" ceiling problems- It is VERY possible that the problem is a deteriorated wax toilet ring seal. Relatively simple solution is to remove the toilet- scrape away the old ring and replace with a high-grade "extended surface" (about 50% more wax that is molded "higher" than standard models) and re-install the toilet.

I feel your pain!! I am from So, Cal USA, one of the driest climates in the country, but now live in the wettest city in the USA. Mobile Al. I own a building built in 1850, brick with flat roof. I had never ending leakage problems. They were solved with the smallest things. Check around all windows and re-caulk inside and out. Check your sculpers, they most likely have small leaks. The only way to fix them properly is to strip down and redo.If your outer wall has not been sealed do so

GA You started with exactly the point I was trying to make with my picture of flooding in India. India building structure and soil conditions are different than the USA. They're also vastly different in different parts of India. Arunachal Pradesh is the mountainous region that has the disputed McMahon line for a border. The climate varies greatly with elevation and according to Wikipedia the nominal summer rains span the range of 200 to 300 cm (80 to 120 in) in a season. This much rain combined with a long distance to travel to the ocean make controlling water tables a little bit of a challenge.

Thanks for a valuable discussion..!!