Last Sunday I got around to investigating Mrs. T’s contention that she could hear dripping from behind the washing machine. Obviously I put it off for ages but finally pulled the thing out (taking 3 seconds) to discover the bit which screws onto the water supply was indeed dripping. It took 1 second to tighten it and the dripping stopped. It seems to have been at it for, oooh, probably ages. The wall it was mounted on was soaked, as was the other side of it which has book shelves – removing the contents (all of which were wet/mouldy where they had been touching the wall) and the wall itself was wet. The adjoining side wall was also wet, up to about 2 feet. The floor is soaked, out to about 6 feet.

A week on, with the doors open, fans on and a dehumidifier running which has removed .75 litres so far, it all seems to be drying out quite well. But oddly, damp patches are reappearing on the floor screed though, so I wonder if there is more to this drying out business than meets the eye. Obviously before commencing refurbishment I want to be sure the » Continue Reading.