Damp where Virgin cable comes through the wall

LordMirg

Hi all,

I've just purchased a house and now that it's empty I've noticed some damp that wasn't picked up in my home-buyers report or damp and timber report - it was behind a TV unit and the bit where the cable goes into the wall is actually on the neighbours side.

The damp is next to the Virgin cable outlet:




Looking at the external wall, it's clear where the damp is coming in:




My question is concerning how I would go about getting this sorted out? Is it something I could do myself after a trip to B&Q or what sort of money am I looking at to get someone to come and fix it for me?

Any advice would be appreciated.

david39

From your photograph, the cable appears to come from somewhere higher, to the hole in the wall in a gentle curve.

Assuming that the cable is exposed to the elements, then what is happening is that rainwater is collecting on the cable and running downwards, along it, and entering the hole in the wall, where it is dispersing and causing your problem.

Good cabling practice is to leave sufficient cable available to allow it to be secured to the wall at a lower point than the point of entry to the house. As rainwater will not run uphill, it will drip off the bottom of the cable before it reaches your wall.

You should try to achieve sufficient slack in the cable to allow you to pin it to the wall at a level below its point of entry to the building.

phill99

It isn't obvious where it is coming from as the wall may have been damp before Virgin drilled a hole in the wall.

LordMirg

phill99 wrote: »

It isn't obvious where it is coming from as the wall may have been damp before Virgin drilled a hole in the wall.

I guess that is possible, however I have done some tests with a damp meter around the area and the parts registering as damp are only around the outlet box. If it was an existing damp problem, I would have thought I would have found additional damp in that wall?

david39

Lord Mirg :

Your comments about the results of the damp meter test support my theory that the dampness is coming from rainwater running down the outside of the cable. You need to make the lowest point of the cable to be below the entry point to the house.

phill99

Just fill the hole with silicon. Then the angle of the cable is irrelevant.

keystone

david39 wrote: »

You need to make the lowest point of the cable to be below the entry point to the house.

You hould rephrase that as although you know what you mean and I know what you mean as your've written it its very confusing unless the reader understands what you mean. In any case what you are suggesting is next to impossible with coax or fibre as you will exceed the MBR!

Cheers

keystone

OP

I'm not convinced that the internal stain is damp tbh.

In any case Phils solution is the right one for you because the cable entry should be waterproof anyway.

Cheers

LordMirg

It feels damp and the damp meter goes to red without even having to stick the prongs fully into the plaster.

Had a look at the cable when I was at the property today, and it runs horizontal from the external wall box, so the water running down the cable idea seems very plausible. The problem is the cable doesn't have much slack in it, so I'm not sure if I'd be able to secure it much lower than it already is.

I guess I could ask Virgin to install a longer cable? Filling with silicon sounds like a good idea in any case.

ian103

the cabling should be done properly, gobbing it up with silicone is only a temporary solution. the cable needs to be clipped to the wall and taken below the hole and then returned upto the hole as suggested by david39, the hole can then be sealed with silicone or from screwfix et al.

budgetdiyer

Thats quite a hole the installer made!

I think i'd be looking to patch repair the hole, touch up the paint and then fit one of the cable covers the post above recommended.