Damp walls in Porch

Jasondeans86er

Hi all,


Looking for advice, I have a small porch, which I insulated a few years ago (30mm foam backed board) I also sealed the bricks at the time. Over the weekend I noticed something that made me inspect the insulation and upon removing the boards I noticed the wall was soaked.



I have re-coated the roof (flat roof) with water seal paint (thinking that this was potentially the cause of the water) and installed a vent (there was none in the space before then)



My question is, as the water appeared to be surface water and possibly the insulation was keeping it from drying out. what is the best option when putting back up the insulation board? am I best leaving some form of air gap between the board and wall (the wall is quite uneven) or filling the gaps completely with expanding foam before replacing the board over the foam, or something I have not thought of?


I know the best option is to replace the flat roof but financially that possibly is not an option at the moment.



Any advice is appreciated,



Thanks.

Calahonda52

You need to make sure the water ingress is fixed, period

BryanF

Could you take a few photos ( please give context)

Can you see the source of the damp?

Is there a lot of moisture in the air?

Jasondeans86er

I will add some photos in the morning.... it's pitch black out there now. There seems to be two main spots that seem extra wet. one is up by the roof and there is a slight lip on the stone outside so I would guess it is pooling there and getting in. I have put some silicone in this to try stop this. the other is at the bottom of the wall where it meets the door, this kinda looks like seepage from the ground.... I put a dehumidifier in the porch last night but it did not take a huge amount of water out of the air. the wall for the most part has vastly improved over yesterday in terms of how wet it is without the insulation on it but still two or three spots that have me worried.

BryanF wrote: »

Could you take a few photos ( please give context)

Can you see the source of the damp?

Is there a lot of moisture in the air?

Jasondeans86er

Hi I am hoping the images will be attached to this.


Please excuse the white silicone, this is from the foam board, along with having to click on links (couldn't find another way)

https://imageshack.com/i/pl3Q0xaKj (outside)

https://imageshack.com/i/poA6T9xRj (full wall)

https://imageshack.com/i/pm7tcrgqj (top of door)

https://imageshack.com/i/pnTkTmvtj (middle)
https://imageshack.com/i/pnG6cc7qj (bottom)



My main concern is the middle of the wall by the door, while the other two areas (top bottom) have dried out somewhat this area still seems very wet. I can not see anywhere that the rain is getting at this point but considering I have seen mosses building an ark the last few days it is hard to tell what is dry!


Any advice is appreciated.

MicktheMan

I suspect the porch is outside your thermal envelope and as such should not have been insulated or to put it another way, insulating it was a waste of time.
I also suspect that the brick wall is a solid wall and you have penetration / soaking from rain (is the affected wall the prevailing wind direction?).

So my advice is to have an onsite inspection and if my suspicions are correct, remove the insulation and treat the porch as an outside area.

Jasondeans86er

Yes the porch has direct wind. If you notice in the photos there is a section right beside the door )about a brick and a halfs worth) that definately drops in about an inch. where I drilled the vent has an air gap but I doubt this brick and a half around the door does.



Is there anything I can do to improve the wall in relation to the damp getting in? should I re water seal it etc along with it's appearance as it is now ugly as sin with all the silicone etc.

MicktheMan wrote: »

I suspect the porch is outside your thermal envelope and as such should not have been insulated or to put it another way, insulating it was a waste of time.
I also suspect that the brick wall is a solid wall and you have penetration / soaking from rain (is the affected wall the prevailing wind direction?).

So my advice is to have an onsite inspection and if my suspicions are correct, remove the insulation and treat the porch as an outside area.