Mould and damp isn’t just unsightly, it can reduce the price of your home, make it much more difficult to sell and can also have a negative impact on your health if it becomes severe. Because we spend so much of our time in the home, ensuring that your walls and ceilings are free of damp is imperative. If you’re exposed to high levels of indoor mould and dampness, the spores could get into your body and cause you issues with your lungs and respiratory system.
Smells
Damp is often caused by unwanted moisture in the home from a leaky roof, or pipe or bricks that have become too deteriorated. This extra moisture tends to create a musty smell in the home; a smell often likened to the smell of wet socks, damp earth, rotten wood or paper.
If you can smell anything similar to these scents, it’s worth investigating the area further.
Sights
If you can smell something suspect, the next step is to keep your eye out for visual signs of damp. Penetrating damp can be diagnosed by the appearance of mould on the walls, floors or ceilings, as well as dark patches on the walls.
Rising damp is slightly different to penetrating damp as it moves vertically up the wall. If you find a damp patch that begins at the bottom of the wall and travels upwards, this is a sure sign of rising damp. If you see lifting floor coverings – things like tiles, vinyl or carpet – or rotting skirting boards then this would also indicate rising damp over penetrating damp.
Sensations
Finally, if you’re still unsure at this stage, it’s worth checking all of the windows. If there seems to be excessive condensation on the windows, then it’s even more likely that the culprit is damp. Another thing to check is if there is the appearance of a powdery substance on the walls and feeling the wallpaper to see whether it’s peeling.
King Coatings: Your Choice For Exterior Coatings in Scotland
At Kingdom Coatings, we’re Scotland’s leading roof and wall coatings firm. We can transform old roofs and walls so that they’re restored to their former glory and protected effectively from the elements.
To find out more, contact us today. You can find us at Kingdom Coatings, Head Office, Unit 1 & 2, Block 2, Ward Street, Alloa Industrial Estate, Alloa. FK10 1ET, call us on 0800 228 9436 or email us at info@kingdomcoatings.co.uk.
