Damp-damaged plaster in Woolwich and Plumstead — contaminated plaster removed and replaced properly, after the cause is dealt with rather than instead of it.
The terraces up toward Plumstead and Shooters Hill carry more damp than the riverside flats do — solid single-skin rear walls, raised ground levels, and back additions that were never as dry as the front of the house. Replastering a wall that is still getting wet is the most common wasted spend we are asked to look at.
In the riverside flats the usual culprit is not the building fabric at all but condensation: sealed modern windows, washing drying indoors and little ventilation, so mould blooms on the cold external walls. Plastering will not change that and better ventilation will, so plaster is only replaced where it has genuinely been damaged.
Gutters, downpipes, pointing and ground levels. In these houses the cause is nearly always external and cheaper to fix than the plaster.
Salts drawn out of the brickwork keep pulling moisture from the air forever. That plaster has to leave, not be painted over.
A sand and cement coat with the right additive, then finish - not gypsum straight onto a wall that has been wet.
If it is a roof, a drain or condensation, we will say so and not take the job. It is the cheapest advice we give and the most useful.
Mould and staining are read alongside how the room is used and ventilated, because condensation and a leak need completely different answers.
Where long-term mould has damaged the plaster, it is cleaned back, treated and made good, with the cause explained so it does not return.
Send a photo or a quick video of the room on WhatsApp, or get a free fixed quote — no obligation, and we’ll tell you straight what it needs.
Almost certainly not. Genuine rising damp is far rarer than the industry selling the cure suggests. In the Plumstead terraces it is usually a bridged damp course, a raised path, a failed gutter, or condensation in a cold back room - and each needs completely different work.
We can make it look fine for a few months and it will come back, quite possibly during the buyer's survey. A surveyor with a meter finds it regardless of what the paint looks like. Dealing with it properly is the shorter route.
About 25mm a month once the cause is fixed, so a solid wall can be several months. We would rather tell you that and come back than plaster a wet wall and have you call us in the spring.
It helps a lot with condensation, especially in a flat with sealed windows, alongside extractor fans and open trickle vents. It will not fix water coming in from outside, which needs the leak found and repaired.
In a flat, external walls, roofs and gutters are usually the freeholder's responsibility under the lease. You get a clear note of what was found so you can raise it with the managing agent.