My house is 110 years old with plaster and lathe walls. The chimney sits in interior walls. Four years ago, the ceiling cracked and fell down in about a 12 inch diameter circle near the chimney. The surrounding ceiling and wall (the wall that is the chimney) is appears to sweat. It never gets soaking wet and actually runs down the wall though it will occassionally bead up. When the moisture does bead up, it has almost a sticky consistency. This only happens after it rains. Between rains, it dries up. We have spent thousands with roofing contractors who want to keep replacing the same shingles and flashing. We have had the chimney repointed. We have been told the liner in the chimney is fine, and the chimney is capped. The problem continues. We have removed the drywall from the attic around the chimney, but do not see any dampness on the roof or chimney. The roof boards and the chimney in the attic continue to be dry. We removed a considerable portion of the ceiling plaster to ensure that we removed anything that was damp, and then left the exposed ceiling open for almost two months so that the ceiling could dry out. We are frustrated to no end and don't know what to do. We thought the problem was resolved with the last roofer, and have spent hours replastering the ceiling, only to find damp spots again.
Any help or suggestions would be very much appreciated. Also, does any one have any suggestions on the type of person to call? Roofers have gotten us nowhere. We frustrated and at our wits end with this problem.
Any help or suggestions would be very much appreciated. Also, does any one have any suggestions on the type of person to call? Roofers have gotten us nowhere. We frustrated and at our wits end with this problem.