hi hope someone can help with this problem,
i have a room in my house that developed some shadows on the wall base just above the skirting where the chimney wall joins (the wall is a party wall as its a semi detached house) im sure they get better and worse at times but im not quite sure
Background info
the chimeny has not been used for a few years now and had been blocked up for a while at the base (not anymore) but it did have an air brick fitted although the chimenys arent capped
when i bought the property i had a damp survey and had the upstairs chimeny breasts re skimmed and treated for staining and there no signs of any problems here presently
there are 3 seperate vents on the outside of the back outside wall that joins the party wall for the under floor ventilation im guessing that isnt a problem
But my first thought is that it is damp
so
What i have done so far
i have someone coming to cap the chimneys and re point and check the condition
i have lifted the floor boards around the chimeny base and there does seem to be a damp proofing brickwork and it hasnt been bridged
There isnt obveous signs of dampness in the material on the floor under the boards but it isnt bone dry to touch (we have had some damp and gloomy weather recently)
Could this be caused by dampness coming down the chineny? should there be anything else i should check? as i would rarther remove the possible cause and then repair rather than cover over and have to come back at a later date
thanks for any help

when you say theres some 'damp proofing brickwork that hasnt been bridged'..
what exactly do you mean by that?
to explain, when I did dpc injections we never injected round a chimney breast, just an upstand in the corner where it meets the party wall...
reason for this is because chimney breasts arent single skin constructions, theyre double, treble, filled with rubble skins with no dpc installed...
what im saying is, chances are its bridged from inside the breast...

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you need a vent in a closed chimminy at the very top [the pot or just below] and the bottom within a few inches off the hearth for air circulation

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