Filling small holes on DPC

anna.bloom

Hello

We have someone who has put in a damp proof course for us, and there are loads of little holes around the outside of the house. He says he is going to fill them with Decorators Caulk. Is this going to keep the rain and wet out of the cavity? I would prefer he filled them with render, but i dont have any basis on which to ask that.

The_Wall

I have no idea what is normally used to fill the holes after a chemical DPC has been put in. But Decorators caulk is not, as far as I'm aware, waterproof, so certainly should not be used.

dampdaveski

Anna,
tell him he's an mindless idiot who should be dragged out and whipped within an inch of his life.
On a more constructive note, he should be repointing the holes with a sand / cement mix that is roughly equivalent to what your house was built out of.
If he drilled the bricks then he should get some brick colouring to 'blend' the pointing into the colour of the bricks.
you can buy plastic plugs to use instead of sand and cement however I think they look unsightly, though that is just my opinion based on the 'aesthetics'.

hope this helps
DD

anna.bloom

Thanks for your replies, I thought it didnt sound right. Im worried he has messed up other things now. He is also doing our wall ties.

We will have lots of holes all over the house.

It has a render coat so he does not need to match it in with the bricks, it will be painted white like the rest of the house.

I need to bring this up with him now, embarrasing:eek:

Tom_Jones

You have to ask how good is the DPC, if the installer wants to fill the holes with caulk. I would guess it's not done properly

frank.hopper

Decorators caulk is water based, and won't last a minute outside, I heard the holes should not be filled immediately after drilling, although that could be wrong...



over to dampdaveski for the answer?

dampdaveski

frank.hopper wrote: »

Decorators caulk is water based, and won't last a minute outside, I heard the holes should not be filled immediately after drilling, although that could be wrong...



over to dampdaveski for the answer?

you can repoint pretty much straight away
unless he has used a spirit based pressure injection fluid,, then you should let the spirit evaporate as it would 'buggar up' the cement and it would turn to dust.
tbh i don't think anyone uses spirit dpc fluid now, unless it's been bought from a tool hire shop

anna.bloom

I asked him not to use decorators caulk and he has!

He has filled the old holes, the isolated ones with sand and cement, but the new ties, he has filled with decorators caulk. What should I do, he has done it now? It is a white house.