What should I do about paint flaking away from an area with moisture in the wall?

Question

We have a very old cottage (built in 1650) that we have just completely refurbished from top to bottom. Because it is stone & brick and had a major problem with damp when we first purchased it, we stripped all of the walls back to brick and redone with a lime cement plaster to let the walls breathe.

As such, we didn't seal the plaster (as this would have negated the breathability) and painted with a microporous paint (Laura Ashley Pale Duck Egg). This has been fine absolutely everywhere, except one corner of the kitchen that backs onto an outside store. In this corner, the paint very quickly started to peel and flake away only a couple of months after applying it.

There is a lot more wall that backs onto the outside store, but it's only this small corner that has a problem; however we also appear to be developing a similar issue in a small spot on the opposite wall, which backs straight onto the outside at the front of the house.

Obviously I want to repaint it, but without it happening again and again. Does anyone have any ideas?

For reference, here's an ASCII drawing of the corner:

        ___          |  ____________
        | |          | |
 Side   | | Outside  | |
 Of     | | Store    | |
 House  | |          / |
        | |________/  /
        | __________/
        | |
        | | \
        | |  The problem area
        | |  (Inside kitchen)
        | |___
        |  ___|
        | |
        | |

Any help or suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Answer 1

It sounds like the dampness is still a problem in that particular area because it is a corner adjoining the external wall and the store area. Is this part of the house in shadow for a lot of the day?

1. Check the external ground area surrounding the outside store. If the ground is clay or compacted it might not be helping in that it is storing water. Perhaps better drainage there.

2. Some form of heating in the store area to keep it at a similar temperature to the kitchen e.g. condensation happens in that part of the kitchen because of the cold store area on the other side of that particular wall.

3. Perhaps a better seal on the door and windows in the store to keep it warmer in general.

4. Put a faux wall in the back of the store to buffer the cold air away from the wall that is adjoining the kitchen.

5. A robust kitchen extractor to remove as much steam as possible from cooking.