Damp proof course below driveway

rev229

Our house we bought new 8 years ago so still under NHBC cover. We noticed the the morter on the brickwork 2 bricks deep along the driveway has eroded completely on the vertical spaces:eek: . It is a timber frame house, so only bricks on the outside. We had someone to gives us a quote for repointing, however he was quite surprised to see that the damproof course is in some parts of the drive is actually below the driveway:eek: . This is the driveway the develpers tarmaced. The drive is a very slight incline and the damp prove is only 1 brick up, level or just below the drive. You can see the water mark on the bricks, but nothing inside the house as it is behind the kitchen units. The detached garage is the same but the bricks are quite wet up to 3 ft at the back. The garage is only one layer of bricks thick so is always quite damp. First question is this normal ie damp course and will the NHBC actually be bothered? What should we do? We have already has to have the whole roof retiled (all the houses in developement) as the ridge tiles in most cases just lifted off due to the wrong morter being used . Any advice?

Doozergirl

No its not normal! Your damp proof course should be visible a few inches above ground level - all ground levels! If that is the developer's doing then it's time to call the NHBC.

03022242

DPCs are normally 150mm MINIMUM above ground level...so yes it hasnt been constructed properly

not too sure if the NHBC will be bothered especially as there is no damp on the inside wall...but worth a chance obviously

and as for the single skin garage.. theyre still built like that

swstevewil

If NHBC contest this then you could get a report done by an independent damp specialist.
I had a problem with my mortgage company a few years ago and had to do this it cost me £150 but as they couldnt argue against his qualifications
i got what i wanted and saved a fortune.

jimexbox

I would try and sort this out ASAP. What you describe is very poor workmanship, like others have said their should be a minimum height between the DPC and the ground. Otherwise 'bridging' will occur where water bypasses the DPC entirely causing water ingress into your property.

If you try and sell your property any decent survey will pick this up immediately, so any potential house buyer will run a mile. I would check with your neighbours too, this maybe a common fault on the estate that needs serious work.

macduf

There could be a tray dpc on the inside to combat potential bridging problems as high as 18inches to combat this. If there is no sign of damp on the inside or smell it maybe just a cosmetic problem on the outside if you go to a builders merchants they could give you a clear damp proof liquid which will last over 5 years. You could treat the inside of the garage as well up to 3ft.