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https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl DIY Forum >> Painting, Decorating & Tiling Questions >> Dot & Dab patches... https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1377191124 Message started by HBoss on Aug 22^nd, 2013, 6:05pm

Title: Dot & Dab patches...
Post by HBoss on Aug 22^nd, 2013, 6:05pm

Can you paint over dot & dab patches?

Title: Re: Dot & Dab patches...
Post by woodsmith on Aug 22^nd, 2013, 6:58pm

By dot and dab patches do you mean dark marks on the wall following the positions of the dot and dabs? If so they are usually caused by damp on the outside wall spreading through the dot and dabs into the plasterboard. You would need to fix this before you could paint to be sure the marks didn't reappear.

Title: Re: Dot & Dab patches...
Post by HBoss on Aug 22^nd, 2013, 7:20pm

Yes that's what I meant. Thank you for your reply. Apparently the house has had a damp proof course before we moved in about 5 years ago. More matches seem to be appearing too. It looks awful!

Title: Re: Dot & Dab patches...
Post by woodsmith on Aug 22^nd, 2013, 10:51pm

I have seen some jobs where they have tried to fix this by cutting out the offending patches but it is a poor job at best.

The first, and easiest, things to look for are,

guttering, is it in good condition and not blocked in any way? Go out when it's raining hard and see if any water is coming out where it shouldn't.

Pointing, is the pointing in good condition.

Look for any reason why the ground at the base of the walls may be particularly wet.

Title: Re: Dot & Dab patches...
Post by mountainman on Sep 25^th, 2013, 4:28pm

woodsmith wrote on Aug 22^nd, 2013, 10:51pm:

I have seen some jobs where they have tried to fix this by cutting out the offending patches but it is a poor job at best.

I've seen some truly terrible cover-ups on damp in my time..
Particularly when I was looking to rent in Brighton for a short while in my life- it seemed like every place I went was damp, and they just tried to paint over it!

I'm pretty sure that anyone familiar with living in damp conditions can just smell/taste it in the air.. :-X