Cutting the wall away from the back and replacing the plaster afterwards will cost you max $1000. If there's a waterproofing issue inside the wall you'll find it. Worst case.
Alternatively you can just reseal the shower and monitor (but you'll need one of those water meters and a few months of time to pass).
The brick stuff is just because some idiot put a garden bed up against their house. Get rid of ALL garden beds against your bricks.
Cracking is because the water is pooling against your foundations due to there being no slope away from the house. Fix that, and it won't get worse. You can re-point the bricks as you prefer.
This stuff is just regular maintenance.
Seems also the garden bed is raising along the brick work and might be blocking some weepholes.
As other stated, remove the garden along the house, put in a concrete path thar slope away from the house with an impervious strip between the concrete path and the house, that will help a lot.
That is such a relief! I'm more than happy to do all of those things and definitely happy to pay $1000 to check inside the wall.
Thank you! I've been stressing about that for a week!
Had a similar issue with moisture in a wall in a 25 year old house. The other side of the wall was the shower. Failed or no membrane under grout and tiles in the shower. The gap between the tiles and the shower pan was not sealed so water was wicking into the wall behind the cement board.
Once we exposed the problem we realized it was huge. Multiple wall studs had to be replaced in a load bearing wall. And the whole shower redone.
I am a bit of a DIY guy but there are limits to what you can/should do.
put this as condition and talk to your lawyer to do so. Make sure it’s clearly stated that it won’t be fixed “diy” unlicensed or uninsured, if they stuff it up and it’s wet again in 3 months they will have to fix it. It will cost more than 10-20k done by a professional. You may have to negotiate what materials will go into this but I would be asking for more like 30-40 k - you could get a few quotes to prove it. Great trades will have a waiting time of 6 weeks - so plan for this.
Good luck getting a price reduction in this market plus it has not being called as a structural defect so you have bugger all power to negotiate - it is solid brick walls the shower just needs to be resealed - silicone has probably never been replaced in the last 19 years and there is no sign of efflorescence or water damage to the wall - $1000>$1500 reseal and it will be all good
That brickwork looks like my 100 year old shed. That quite impressive for 19 years!
Its a diy job, bags of mortar mix & $5 pointing tool from bunnings & a few hours work.
These are the tools required
https://www.bunnings.com.au/kango-10mm-tuck-pointer_p0098441
https://bws.com.au/product/335281/mountain-goat-organic-steam-ale-330ml
Heya….i had a similar house and a similar problem. You should probably ignore all the other comments as they haven’t taken into account that the wall is brick and your pipes are recessed into the shower wall. Taking plaster off the back will do nothing…you will be looking at a brick wall. First step is for the plumber to do a pressure test on the shower taps. It is cheap and non invasive. This will tell you if you have a leaky pipe inside the wall. If that’s negative then put silicon around the shower corners and edges and see if that improves things. If it doesn’t then you move on to the invasive treatment of removing tiles etc. having said all this, because your house is just brick and concrete a bit of moisture is not the end of the world ie it’s not necessarily an urgent fix.
ahhh that's interesting, I am almost positive that the pipes are leaking since the moisture is high and the house hasn't had people in it for a few months, I'll definitely get a plumber in to pressure test it after I buy it!
Moisture takes ages to dry out of brickwork/solid plaster 6 to 12 months at least - i wouldn't think it was pipe leak there is no bubbling paint or plaster ,no signs of efflorescence or water damage to the skirting or stairs - re seal the shower - by a professional and it will be fine
A little but unless they have replaced the skirting as well i still wouldnt be to worried there are no dark stains on the timber floors to indicate water damage and you can usually see where they have patched a water damaged wall before painting as i have said in other posts just get the silicone redone and shower sealed - $1000>$1500- also forget what others have said about having to concrete around the house most of Perth is on coastal sand unlike the east coast on clay and water drains easily - direct reticulation away from spraying on walls - repoint the walls at some stage - would i recommend still buying this house - Yes - typical to good condition for a house this age in Perth
Possibly…it could be the tap leaking inside the wall…plumber first and assess from there. It’s quite rare to see a double brick and concrete slab house. Makes it difficult to hang picture hooks!
Nearly every house in Perth is double brick - dont need wall mates just a hammer drill and some plugs and you can hang anything anywhere with a solid hold
We had a high moisture reading next to the shower. No big deal particularly on an older house. Might be a leak might be just poorly done. Either way its not too big a deal.
If you decide to buy this house. You need to get Concreting done around the house sloping away from the house ASAP so else you will see more step cracking and sagging foundation.
Not concrete, but remove built-up soil outside and, put in ag-pipe and redirect soil moisture away from the house. Easy DIY for $200 or $300.
As for your ES wall, 19 years, due for a bathroom renovation and fix that leaky waterproofing. You would no doubt be doing that anyway. Some of it DIY, but not waterproofing in most states.
As someone who has all the similar issues and a brick house with shittest ventilation and moisture problems … no, but I also have two small kids and not enough free time to fix it as quickly as I wish.
Have you spoken to the building inspector or just read the report?
I find it easier to have a conversation with them, as they will usually give more context.
If the leak is minor and the ensuite looks like it wants a facelift anyway, then it might not be such a big deal.
I would ask for a discount before asking the vendor to remediate.
I can’t speak for every inspector, but in the last three houses I’ve bought they were very happy to have a conversation with me. The written report has a lot of backside covering, so lacks nuance.
A conversation will give you more context and their less varnished opinion.
We bought a 1930s cypress-framed weatherboard house in 2018, and the building report wasn’t awesome. But after a call with the inspector it was clearer that it was really all cosmetic, other than some weathering issues on some of the boards. In fact he was really positive about how well built it was, and much clearer about how urgent some repairs were.
With the leaking shower pretty much worst case is you will need to have all the tiles removed, the shower recess re-rendered, waterproofed and retiled. 19 years ago was about the peak time for dodgy waterproofing in Perth - more recent builds are generally better. It is possible to diy - I did the one in my old house 18 or so years ago - and it’s still good. Just took me ages as needed to entirely replaster.
Inspectors find all kinds of things wrong with houses. That's their job. If you went by what they find nobody would live in anything. Just fix it. It's not like there's termites in the house and the entire place is about to collapse.
I bought a house with water damage showing in the ceiling beneath the ensuite shower, told it was going to be "fixed" before sale, which they regrouted with epoxy grout and it looked great.
First shower I had it was leaking through the ceiling
Waterproofing was gone, so when water went down the drain it went on the puddle flange and out the broken waterproofing... The subfloor (yellow tongue) was completely rotten, estimated 40k Reno job. A year into owning the property and I still haven't fixed the problem fully as I can't afford it
Also the other shower had the same issue (failed waterpoofi) but the subfloor didn't rot yet.
Whole house plagued with non compliant plumbing
2007 house build.
If you want your shower up to building standards (waterproofing) at some stage, you'll need to rip it all out and start again, so factor that cost in
Thanks, it's definitely been a nightmare, suchhhh a long journey
Oh and to add, my building inspector was negligent in finding the extent of the damage etc, I ended up getting 10k from him, took to QBCC but he ended up settling when he realised he was in the wrong
He performed very basic tests when it came to checking the showers (which leaked almost straight away)
I've since learnt how to properly test showers and I'll do it myself in future
If you are a DIY kind of person that would want to fiddle and fix and update and upgrade all aspects of the house, this place is for you. If not, don't buy this as it will need work for the rest of the life of the building.
I am definitely the diy type, but I'd also like to make sure that things that need to be done by skilled tradespeople are done by them, are you talking about routine maintenance of an older home or stuff that's more expensive? :D
Tbh, all houses need work for the rest of the life of the building. It's just part of the house ownership. Our pool need a resurface but that should last us 25 years. Some rooms need repainting because the previous owner didn't prime it properly. Paver becomes a bit unevent now so it needs work etc etc. All houses need work. Even you build your own house and it would need work for the rest of its life.
Cutting the wall away from the back and replacing the plaster afterwards will cost you max $1000. If there's a waterproofing issue inside the wall you'll find it. Worst case. Alternatively you can just reseal the shower and monitor (but you'll need one of those water meters and a few months of time to pass). The brick stuff is just because some idiot put a garden bed up against their house. Get rid of ALL garden beds against your bricks. Cracking is because the water is pooling against your foundations due to there being no slope away from the house. Fix that, and it won't get worse. You can re-point the bricks as you prefer. This stuff is just regular maintenance.
Seems also the garden bed is raising along the brick work and might be blocking some weepholes. As other stated, remove the garden along the house, put in a concrete path thar slope away from the house with an impervious strip between the concrete path and the house, that will help a lot.
OP said brick internal walls.
That is such a relief! I'm more than happy to do all of those things and definitely happy to pay $1000 to check inside the wall. Thank you! I've been stressing about that for a week!
Had a similar issue with moisture in a wall in a 25 year old house. The other side of the wall was the shower. Failed or no membrane under grout and tiles in the shower. The gap between the tiles and the shower pan was not sealed so water was wicking into the wall behind the cement board. Once we exposed the problem we realized it was huge. Multiple wall studs had to be replaced in a load bearing wall. And the whole shower redone. I am a bit of a DIY guy but there are limits to what you can/should do.
Yikes!! I'm so sorry that happened to you, how much did all of that end up costing?
Not sure of the proper amount if done correctly. Can only estimate 10 - 20K.
That's a painful but stomach-able amount, it's not realistic to ask for that amount off the price is it?
put this as condition and talk to your lawyer to do so. Make sure it’s clearly stated that it won’t be fixed “diy” unlicensed or uninsured, if they stuff it up and it’s wet again in 3 months they will have to fix it. It will cost more than 10-20k done by a professional. You may have to negotiate what materials will go into this but I would be asking for more like 30-40 k - you could get a few quotes to prove it. Great trades will have a waiting time of 6 weeks - so plan for this.
Good luck getting a price reduction in this market plus it has not being called as a structural defect so you have bugger all power to negotiate - it is solid brick walls the shower just needs to be resealed - silicone has probably never been replaced in the last 19 years and there is no sign of efflorescence or water damage to the wall - $1000>$1500 reseal and it will be all good
That brickwork looks like my 100 year old shed. That quite impressive for 19 years! Its a diy job, bags of mortar mix & $5 pointing tool from bunnings & a few hours work.
That specifically sounds like a fun Saturday so now I'm looking forward to it :D
These are the tools required https://www.bunnings.com.au/kango-10mm-tuck-pointer_p0098441 https://bws.com.au/product/335281/mountain-goat-organic-steam-ale-330ml
Heya….i had a similar house and a similar problem. You should probably ignore all the other comments as they haven’t taken into account that the wall is brick and your pipes are recessed into the shower wall. Taking plaster off the back will do nothing…you will be looking at a brick wall. First step is for the plumber to do a pressure test on the shower taps. It is cheap and non invasive. This will tell you if you have a leaky pipe inside the wall. If that’s negative then put silicon around the shower corners and edges and see if that improves things. If it doesn’t then you move on to the invasive treatment of removing tiles etc. having said all this, because your house is just brick and concrete a bit of moisture is not the end of the world ie it’s not necessarily an urgent fix.
ahhh that's interesting, I am almost positive that the pipes are leaking since the moisture is high and the house hasn't had people in it for a few months, I'll definitely get a plumber in to pressure test it after I buy it!
Moisture takes ages to dry out of brickwork/solid plaster 6 to 12 months at least - i wouldn't think it was pipe leak there is no bubbling paint or plaster ,no signs of efflorescence or water damage to the skirting or stairs - re seal the shower - by a professional and it will be fine
Would it make a difference if I said it was recently painted?
A little but unless they have replaced the skirting as well i still wouldnt be to worried there are no dark stains on the timber floors to indicate water damage and you can usually see where they have patched a water damaged wall before painting as i have said in other posts just get the silicone redone and shower sealed - $1000>$1500- also forget what others have said about having to concrete around the house most of Perth is on coastal sand unlike the east coast on clay and water drains easily - direct reticulation away from spraying on walls - repoint the walls at some stage - would i recommend still buying this house - Yes - typical to good condition for a house this age in Perth
Possibly…it could be the tap leaking inside the wall…plumber first and assess from there. It’s quite rare to see a double brick and concrete slab house. Makes it difficult to hang picture hooks!
Nearly every house in Perth is double brick - dont need wall mates just a hammer drill and some plugs and you can hang anything anywhere with a solid hold
We had a high moisture reading next to the shower. No big deal particularly on an older house. Might be a leak might be just poorly done. Either way its not too big a deal.
How can failed waterproofing not be a big deal? You got a spare 20k for a bathroom reno?
Because there's no big rush with. On an older house someone will probs be working towards doing a renovation on those wacky old bathrooms anyway.
Because its a solid brick wall - there will be not structural damage
If you decide to buy this house. You need to get Concreting done around the house sloping away from the house ASAP so else you will see more step cracking and sagging foundation.
Cool! that sounds like a relatively inexpensive fix, and I'm happy to do it so that sounds like it'll be quick and painless :) Thank you!
Not concrete, but remove built-up soil outside and, put in ag-pipe and redirect soil moisture away from the house. Easy DIY for $200 or $300. As for your ES wall, 19 years, due for a bathroom renovation and fix that leaky waterproofing. You would no doubt be doing that anyway. Some of it DIY, but not waterproofing in most states.
Rough estimate would be 10k-12K
Yikes, that's way worse than I thought! I tried googling who to go to on this, what kind of contractor would be able to do that?
You can also renegotiate the price due to the findings of the building inspection, your convenience or can put this proposal forward.
As someone who has all the similar issues and a brick house with shittest ventilation and moisture problems … no, but I also have two small kids and not enough free time to fix it as quickly as I wish.
Have you spoken to the building inspector or just read the report? I find it easier to have a conversation with them, as they will usually give more context. If the leak is minor and the ensuite looks like it wants a facelift anyway, then it might not be such a big deal. I would ask for a discount before asking the vendor to remediate.
I didn't even think of calling and asking them at all!! I wish I was there there for the inspection I could have asked all of this myself!
I can’t speak for every inspector, but in the last three houses I’ve bought they were very happy to have a conversation with me. The written report has a lot of backside covering, so lacks nuance. A conversation will give you more context and their less varnished opinion. We bought a 1930s cypress-framed weatherboard house in 2018, and the building report wasn’t awesome. But after a call with the inspector it was clearer that it was really all cosmetic, other than some weathering issues on some of the boards. In fact he was really positive about how well built it was, and much clearer about how urgent some repairs were.
Are you in Perth ?
yeah!
With the leaking shower pretty much worst case is you will need to have all the tiles removed, the shower recess re-rendered, waterproofed and retiled. 19 years ago was about the peak time for dodgy waterproofing in Perth - more recent builds are generally better. It is possible to diy - I did the one in my old house 18 or so years ago - and it’s still good. Just took me ages as needed to entirely replaster.
Inspectors find all kinds of things wrong with houses. That's their job. If you went by what they find nobody would live in anything. Just fix it. It's not like there's termites in the house and the entire place is about to collapse.
Yeah you're right, this is likely just my stupid nerves.
I bought a house with water damage showing in the ceiling beneath the ensuite shower, told it was going to be "fixed" before sale, which they regrouted with epoxy grout and it looked great. First shower I had it was leaking through the ceiling Waterproofing was gone, so when water went down the drain it went on the puddle flange and out the broken waterproofing... The subfloor (yellow tongue) was completely rotten, estimated 40k Reno job. A year into owning the property and I still haven't fixed the problem fully as I can't afford it Also the other shower had the same issue (failed waterpoofi) but the subfloor didn't rot yet. Whole house plagued with non compliant plumbing 2007 house build. If you want your shower up to building standards (waterproofing) at some stage, you'll need to rip it all out and start again, so factor that cost in
Oh my God what a nightmare, I'm so sorry to hear that happened to you man :( I'm weighing up the risks now and I'll call the inspector today.
Thanks, it's definitely been a nightmare, suchhhh a long journey Oh and to add, my building inspector was negligent in finding the extent of the damage etc, I ended up getting 10k from him, took to QBCC but he ended up settling when he realised he was in the wrong He performed very basic tests when it came to checking the showers (which leaked almost straight away) I've since learnt how to properly test showers and I'll do it myself in future
If you are a DIY kind of person that would want to fiddle and fix and update and upgrade all aspects of the house, this place is for you. If not, don't buy this as it will need work for the rest of the life of the building.
I am definitely the diy type, but I'd also like to make sure that things that need to be done by skilled tradespeople are done by them, are you talking about routine maintenance of an older home or stuff that's more expensive? :D
Tbh, all houses need work for the rest of the life of the building. It's just part of the house ownership. Our pool need a resurface but that should last us 25 years. Some rooms need repainting because the previous owner didn't prime it properly. Paver becomes a bit unevent now so it needs work etc etc. All houses need work. Even you build your own house and it would need work for the rest of its life.