Help with a damp problem

Bazrazmataz

Hi



I have a problem with some damp on my exterior wall which doesnt seem to be going away. Originally the pipe in the image was leaking when the washing maching was on making the brick work and surrounding soil very wet. This was stopped months ago. The wet mark on the bricks seems to dry quickly but then as soon as their is wet weather its back. One strange thing is it sometimes appears that it gets wet from a brick in the middle of the patch instead of rising up from the soil as i would expect.

Does anyone know what i can do to fix this or why it is still happening.??

cheers

orainsear

How exactly was the pipe leaking? Are you 100% sure that it is completely sealed?

Assuming that the pipe is not the cause of the problem; from your description that the patch becomes wet from it's midpoint in wet weather may suggest that the damp proof course has been bridged. There could be a small mound of detritus in the air gap behind the bricks allowing moisture to rise up from the ground across the damp proof membrane and penetrate the brickwork. Does the inner wall become damp in any way?

Bazrazmataz

the inner wall has mould growing in patches but its no where near as covered as the outside wall. the pipe leaked due to not being capped on the end its is now capped so their is no leak whatsoever.

Bazrazmataz

Any ideas how id stop this if this is happening in the air gap

orainsear

As far as I know, the only way is to open up the wall and clear away any debris. This would obviously involve removing and replacing bricks.

What is the age of your house?

Looking at your picture again it's not really possible to see where the damp proof course is (if a physical one is installed) - but have a look and see what level it is at - if you look closely at a cleaner part of the wall you may be able to make out a membrane embedded between the bricks.

If you aren't confident about doing this sort of work yourself, get someone out to have a look and clarify what the problem is - debris bridging the damp proof course is just one possible cause - the damp proof course in this section may be damaged and need replacing.

It's really best to try and get this sorted out sooner rather than later.

roswell

Looking at the picture I would dig the soil out some more clear the mud off the outside bricks and check the pointing of the lower bricks, Looking at the bottom row it looks like thsi may be the source of the problem,

Are you sure there isnt a leak inside the house or in the pipe coming from the interior to the exterior ?

kymrob

yer to much soil close to the house moving some might help

tartan_guru

Clearing away some of the soil and creating a simple french drain may help.
Just dig away the soil down to a depth of 6 inches and four inches wide and fill with pea single. The idea is to improve the drainage near the wall


I did this with one of my walls any it certainly helped.