Salt damp — also called rising damp — happens when ground moisture is drawn upward through your walls by capillary action, carrying dissolved salts with it. Those salts crystallise inside the brickwork, crumbling mortar and pushing plaster and render off the wall from within. The stains, the peeling paint, the white powder at the base of your walls — that's salt damp.

Here's what most homeowners don't realise: the render isn't the problem. The render failed because the wall behind it is wet. Patching the surface without stopping the moisture is the single most common mistake — and the reason most salt damp repairs don't last.

Buildfix salt damp repair starts where it should: at the source. DampBlock™ AQ50 creates a new damp-proof course (DPC) inside the wall first. Then the damaged render is stripped, a salt-retardant base coat applied, and the walls finished with a breathable render. One team, one visit, one result that lasts.

Rising damp carries dissolved salts from the ground into the masonry. As the moisture evaporates, those salts crystallise behind the render — expanding and pushing it off the wall from within. Standard cement render traps the moisture and accelerates the damage. Breathable render lets the wall dry while the new DPC stops fresh moisture from entering.

Salt damp repair replaces the failed render with a system designed for damp-affected walls — but only after the moisture source is cut off. The result: walls that stay smooth, stay dry, and don't peel again.