Drying plaster - how long is a piece of string

[Octopus]

opinions please:

Derelict house for 8-9 years, leaky roof, walls prior to plastering felt wet, roof now fixed, replastered - up to 2 inches thick in some places. No heating.

How long should I leave the property before I try and do the 2nd fix/test?

Very concerned about all the moisture in the building and having a client who thinks it will dry in 48 hours!

Thanks

 

[telectrix]

more like a month, with heating on

 

[Octopus]

more like a month, with heating on

Problem then, no electrics except a temporary board, no boiler (as yet).

Wow

 

[MarkieSparkie]

I'm with tel on this, ideally I'd want a month, with dehumidifiers (1 up &1 down) running 24/7. The older the constuction of the building the longer you require generally. You could however start testing the dampness with a protimeter (professional damp-meter) after 2 weeks, but from experience you'll probably be wasting your time because the ground floors, particularly if concrete, and lower walls, particularly if limestone, will still be retaining the moisture. Don't try and force dry it by wacking the heating on as the plaster will crack.

 

[telectrix]

and said moisture will play havoc with your IR readings, not to mention corroding all your nice new shiny fittings.

 

[Octopus]

and said moisture will play havoc with your IR readings, not to mention corroding all your nice new shiny fittings.

Exactly what I was thinking..... so every cloud has a silver lining, the 2 jobs I was thinking about having to turn away can now be in pole position for the week after next!

 

[rryles]

After 48 hours you'll still be able to see it's wet!

 

[telectrix]

and then , once it's all drying out nicely, along comes mr. plumber and gets the whole place soaking wet again

 

[LukeD]

Customers need to be told !

Do not use the heating if possible , open windows etc is the best way. Force drying just cracks the plaster .
I would allow a Month

 

[grantr37]

Need to get a couple of industrial Heaters in from the tool hire shop and leave them on day and night for about 10 days with the upstairs windows open to the little 5 mm notch, this will het rid of about 95% of the moisture, the last 5% will take up to 8 weeks to go, so the walls cant be sealed, undercoated or painted for at least 8 weeks from now, and the first 2 coats of paint wont do any good, so it will need 3 coats, ideally you need 2 heaters going downstairs, 2 heaters going up stairs and a dehumidifier machine going at the top of the stairs, the 10 days with the big heaters going will create a large electricity bill for that time (think about 50-55 pounds) but it is needed....and the heat wont be tolerable for those 10 days, so nobody can stay there during that time...somebody will need to visit the house in the morning and at about 5PM every day to check the heaters and de-humidifier machine.....after the big heating/drying has finished it will need the normal heaters to be put in place and turned on (possibly temporary convector heaters) fot the next 8 weeks or until the hot summer weather comes in, on sunny days, all windows swung open and let the air get through the house to dry out the walls...and the stonework behind them...

 

[SirKit Breaker]

Just go round everyday, and push the wall with your fingers quite hard, if it leaves an impression its still wet, so try again tomorrow. Sooner or later it will dry and your fingers will stop making dents in the walls, and it will teach the plasterer not to tie your cables in knots or trample them to death.

 

[bugsy]

Put some dehum units in there for a week 2 should do it -