Outside ground level too high? Recommendations

NewtoDIY

SG27 wrote: »

We have an aco drain that runs around two sides of the house. It channels the water away into the drain. Which wouldn't be too hard to fit something similar there and channel it into your drain in the corner.

We have no DPC at all and no real damp.

That sounds impressive!

SG27

NewtoDIY wrote: »

That sounds impressive!

Lots of drafty doors and windows helps!

tony6403

Hard to tell from pics. but I don't think that you have a dpc. I could be wrong.
What seems more likely from the construction is that you have no cavity. I say this as there appears to be two courses of headers (bricks laid across the wall showing their ends) visible.This is from looking at the pic with the drainpipe ; they seem to be 5 courses up then another 5 above that.
In this situation you would be relying solely on the resistance to absorption (generally density) of the brick alone to stop moisture getting through the wall.
If it were my house I would , before thinking about digging up the surrounding path etc., clean up the brickwork with a stiff brush and spray the lower courses with Thompson's Ultra brick sealer to see if that deals with the problem. May be quite a long wait needed at this time of year to be sure of the outcome but not at all expensive to experiment. One 5 litre can should do it.

NewtoDIY

tony6403 wrote: »

Hard to tell from pics. but I don't think that you have a dpc. I could be wrong.
What seems more likely from the construction is that you have no cavity. I say this as there appears to be two courses of headers (bricks laid across the wall showing their ends) visible.This is from looking at the pic with the drainpipe ; they seem to be 5 courses up then another 5 above that.
In this situation you would be relying solely on the resistance to absorption (generally density) of the brick alone to stop moisture getting through the wall.
If it were my house I would , before thinking about digging up the surrounding path etc., clean up the brickwork with a stiff brush and spray the lower courses with Thompson's Ultra brick sealer to see if that deals with the problem. May be quite a long wait needed at this time of year to be sure of the outcome but not at all expensive to experiment. One 5 litre can should do it.

It is hard to tell because of the outside ground height. There is definitely a chemical dpc (done nearly 30 years ago) there as i can see the holes and have the documentation.


If this area was left to get saturated, would there be a danger that the foundations would become unstable? We have a cellar also which is very humid and I'm wondering whether reducing the outside ground level would help that to become more usable? Although there is good ventilation in the cellar and the front suspended wooden floors, the cellar humidity is usually 80% which means that everything becomes mouldy.

tony6403

Having been built around 1890 your house should have concrete footings. The footings should be unaffected by any saturation (dams and river training works use concrete)
Lowering the ground level would most probably reduce internal moisture as more of the brickwork would be dried by wind/sun.
This however is not really practical as you could not go low enough to ensure a fix.
Google "tanking a cellar" and look at those possibilities.

NewtoDIY

tony6403 wrote: »

Having been built around 1890 your house should have concrete footings. The footings should be unaffected by any saturation (dams and river training works use concrete)
Lowering the ground level would most probably reduce internal moisture as more of the brickwork would be dried by wind/sun.
This however is not really practical as you could not go low enough to ensure a fix.
Google "tanking a cellar" and look at those possibilities.

I didn't think whether these houses had a concrete foundation, just that they have shallow foundations. Come to think of it, the side of the house where the outside is too high, does have concrete flooring and is about 20cm lower than the front of the house (2 steps down).

Tanking isn't an option as it's so expensive to do correctly but I think lowering the outside perimeter is possible for us. And it would be great if those bricks dry out completely!