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atk
Sorry yeah, I'm leaving out details just to try to avoid a full life story post. I hadn't noticed the signs of damp on multiple viewings. Our surveyor highlighted the issue and did use a damp meter. He said to me verbally that if it were his home he wouldn't bother even to do anything with it. He said he'd just live there for a few years and see if anything gets worse before making a decision if it were him.
I had a builder come round to quote on a garage wall that has subsided, and he pointed out that the mortar is crumbling externally around where 2 of the 3 damp patches are. I suspect that's part of the issue.
Is there a way to fairly easily check if the plaster is modern gypsum or period lime based plaster? I suspect you're right about it being modern stuff.
We plan to live here a long time - 20 years minimum, so if the issue is that someone in the past used modern mortar, plaster, and paints, we will want to get that addressed. However that feels expensive, so we would definitely want to save for that over the coming 5+ years, and therefore will just crack on with painting using something relatively cheap in the meantime.