Shed too close to wall? 11 December 2013 at 1:01PM in In my home (includes DIY) MoneySaving 24 replies 18.8K views

mightywhites29111971

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice regarding the situation I have now found myself in. I bought my house in January and in the survey it stated there was some damp on one of the walls in the living room. After settling in my wife and I decided the get a damp course done to treat the wall. This was done approx 3 months ago at the cost of nearly £1000, though we were given a 25 year guarantee.
A month after that was completed we decided to get a decorator in to redecorate the house. When he started to paint the wall that was treated the paint started to congeal and he advised us that the wall was damp again. We called the damp engineers out and they inspected the wall to confirm it was damp. The wall is an external wall and they looked round the back to see what could be causing the problem and they noticed a shed that has been built by our neighbours at the back of the house which is less than a foot away from our wall. The engineer stated that the shed was causing the damp and the guarantee will not cover this.
We have spoken to our neighbour who has stated that the previous owner of our house stated there was a damp problem, and our damp situation has got nothing to do with her shed. After spending quite a lot of money and with no resolution in sight I was wondering if anyone could shed any light on this. Sorry for the length of this OP.

Chris

mummyroysof3

Well I would think that if it was close then it would stop air from circulating. Same as we get damp in house if we have furniture up against external wall. I don't understand how its that close though unless your wall is on or very close to the boundry.

mightywhites29111971

mummyroysof3, our wall for the living room is on the boundary. It backs onto the back perimeter of our neighbours garden. They have built their shed at the end of their garden which then backs onto our wall.

jbainbridge

Is the shed new? I'd be hoping that when the treatment was done the exterior of the wall was checked!

1ft / 12in / 30cm doesn't sound too unreasonable, unless rain water from the roof is able to drip on to the wall.

mightywhites29111971

When he came round to check he assumed the wall was internal. It was only when I advised him that it was external did he look to what was behind it. He then saw the shed and stated that was the problem. He sent us a letter stating this was the problem as when it rained the water off the shed roof would come down the wall, no natural light or heat could get to our wall because of the proximity of the shed to our wall. This is what was causing the damp. I showed this letter to the neighbour via email and she ignored it. The shed has been there since we have lived here.

Vibrant

Couldn't you ask the lady if you could fix a run of gutter on the shed, to channel the rain away and solve the problem.

mightywhites29111971

The letter the damp company sent to us did suggest that but she seems to have ignored the letter completely

jkpd

Is the shed timber ? if so it should be at least 1 metre from your house, check with your local building control.

mightywhites29111971

The shed is made of timber. Where did you find that information? When looking online I was finding information about building encroachment but was not sure if it was applicable to sheds.

Old_Git

offer to pay to move the shed

mightywhites29111971

Looking at the lay of the land so to speak their garden appears to slope towards my property which I take from what you say Tony will not be good for my house. Old Git the shed is appox 10-15 feet in width and roughly 6 foot wide, I don't think there is anywhere else in their garden that it can go. Looking at Islington councils website I came across this:

Do I need building regulations approval to build a detached garage?
Yes, however a single storey garage at ground level, under 30sq.m. in floor area and with no sleeping accommodation, is exempt, provided it is built substantially of non-combustible material or when built it has a clear space of 1 metre from the boundary of the property.


This would apply to the shed would it not?