What to do about a damp leak through external wall

LucyMort

Hello,

If anyone can help with advice on what sort of expert we may need to call we'd be grateful for your thoughts!

We had a problem 10 days ago with a blocked external drain, which caused a pool of water (we think from the off take pipes connected to the sink/dishwasher in the kitchen) to seep through the external wall at the point where the external pipes outside connected to the drain. It wasn't a huge amount of water (maybe 1 pint?) and when we dried it and unblocked the drain outside it hasn't happened again. It seemed to be coming through from the standing water downpipe which was blocked, through a small crack/hole in the mortar between the brickwork and under the skirting board (we have uneven terracotta tiles so there is a gap between the tiles and the bottom of the skirting).

However, there is a really bad smell of damp in our house now and we are really worried that there is a bigger problem that needs fixing, that we don't know about!

Do we need to call someone (and who - what sort of trade?) to fix the crack in the mortar in the brickwork, or is this something we can do ourselves? I'm happy to call someone but no idea who would do this small job (when we've tried to get small jobs done before it seems impossible to get anyone to come out as no-one wants to do small jobs).

And, how best to get rid of the damp smell? Is this likely to be caused by the initial leak or do you think it is a bigger problem if the smell is still here 10 days later?

Thanks for any advice!

Lucy

FreeBear

A photo or two of the drain and crack would help.

Depending on the extent of the leak, it could take a month or two to dry out. Might be worth scrubbing the affected area inside with a weak solution of bleach. The smell should fade in time.