Damp Proofing

Doozergirl

No. Your ground is too close to the DPC. You're digging away to give it space to stop it from being breached by water. Stop talking about DPCs, there is nothing wrong with it. You have maintenance issues that are breaching it, you have condensation and potential rot in your cellar because it is a naturally damp environment (and so it should be) but no ventilation, meaning it is trapped and your guttering is blocked causing water to come straight down the walls.

Imagine a DPC being like a raincoat. If it's raining, you're going to be dry where you're covered. If someone was simply chucking buckets of water right at your face, you wouldn't need a new raincoat, you'd need the person to stop throwing water in your face. Raincoats are expensive and no number of raincoats is going to solve that problem.

Everything that freebear says is exactly what I was thinking.

You appear to have plants growing out of your guttering - get it cleared!

The airbricks are blocked - clear them!

They are basic maintenance issues and nearly always the culprit. Next time, don't leave it so long. A stitch in time saves nine.

People who sell DPCs are going to sell you a DPC. This is life. It doesn't matter if you need one. They've no interest in unblocking gutters or airbricks. They'll leave you with an injected DPC and a rendered walls to block the damp, not prevent it occuring in the first place. It's snake oil.

Semper

Hi Doozergirl. Thanks. I've actually not had the house for long and the circumstances by which it came into my possession are not wholly within my control but for the same reason, i'm trying to keep it up on a limited budget.

I've spoken to a friend to do the guttering (i'm not the biggest fan of heights and don't have the ladders, plus he'll do it for a pint) and i'm hoping they'll get onto that next weekend. As for the rest, i'll see what the independent surveyor says as they'll obviously be able to get there in person and inspect it all up close and personal but i'm quite trusting of yourself and Freebear as you've no stake in selling me some DPC and you've very kindly taken the time out to give me advice.

Thanks. I'll post an update when one comes.

FreeBear

Semper wrote: »

I've actually not had the house for long and the circumstances by which it came into my possession are not wholly within my control but for the same reason, i'm trying to keep it up on a limited budget.

I've spoken to a friend to do the guttering

Lemme guess - You inherited the property after a recent death in the family ?

If so, you are in the same boat as me trying to fix "stuff" after years of neglect and a zero budget. I'm also attempting to cure a damp wall, and after hacking out half a dozen bricks from the outside, have removed a wheelbarrow full of damp sand and building rubble - No amount of injected DPC and waterproof plaster would have fixed this. Cleaning out the cavity also gives me opportunity to fit a couple of air bricks to improve the underfloor ventilation. Cost so far - less than £50.

Cleaning out the gutters was a zero cost job for me. You will find it worthwhile taking the bends off to check that they are not blocked with moss, leaves, or dead birds.

Do the no cost & low cost tasks first, let things dry out, and then consider the more expensive works. Feel free to ask for advice, and we will steer you away from the snake oil & point you in the direction of long term fixes.

Dozergirl has already commented on the damp & mold in the cellar - Once the ventilation is fixed, the mold should disappear. It will never be totally bone dry down there, but still good enough to store wine

Semper

It was a sad situation whereby the property was in such a state the previous owner would have lost tens of thousands of the equity and I took it on to try and repair it as best possible to preserve as much of the equity as possible. So far the value has gone up twice what i've spent but it's a house that's been in the family for a while so we've no intention to sell in our lifetimes at least.

Update

Had an independent surveyor come round. They tested the area, looked into the cavity wall and gave me a fairly comprehensive history lesson on the construction of my home (or at least houses of its era), the materials used and the various things that meant.

His comments were:

- Get the gutter cleared to the side, near the alley

- Put the pipe bend in at the front of the house

- Get the airing bricks sorted out

- Tear down as much of the plaster ceiling in the cellar as possible to check for rot and to allow wood to breathe

- Get my own moisture reader and keep a check on the wood
- He said the stone slab was always going to have condensation on it and that unless i've very clear evidence of it leaking, I shouldn't take much action. He said it could be sealed on the base but that this would only be a weak stop-gap and probably wouldn't be worth the time/cost.

- If possible, make sure joists are not on any stone etc and on metal instead. He found some were already laid in this manner.

- He couldn't see anything he felt was dry rot at this stage and he gave me some ways to check anything I find (namely sending off samples to local labs). He did confirm the conditions were optimum for dry rot at present and that there was definitely wet rot in some of the wood but overall it was still in ok condition all things considered.

- He recommended using Boron supplements to assist with preserving the worst effected wood
- He gave some clear descriptions of the various rots

- He found signs of weavil infestation

- He recommended against having any of the walls injected
- He recommended against having the kitchen floor injected
- He recommended against injecting any of the walls in the cellar as they're below ground and it'd be largely useless, he said I could inject above the cellar walls as that may help but he said it wouldn't be the optimum use of the substance. He did say I could tank if I intended to use the cellar for anything substantial (I don't).





He said cellars in the area are often very damp and in some cases have laying water he will have to wade through but even if there's that level of water, it doesn't mean there'll be rot if there's still good ventilation.



In his opinion, due to the age of construction of the house, there's likely to be plenty of humidity and damp patches because it's semi-modernised but also retains it's original rear wall. He said if I wanted to fix it all properly, I needed to tear all the plaster off inside and put a membrane over the inner brick wall first before re-plastering and re-decorating. Then i'd need to render with lyme on the outside. He said that the leaks etc he's seen so far will be unsightly cosmetically but should not cause any major damage for several decades. He said if I have budget restraints, then airing the cellar, clearing it out and making sure the moisture in the wood drops should be my number 1 priority as everything else is fairly (if not cosmetically displeasing) and only a true threat to the decorating.

Doozergirl

Brilliant. You got the right person in!

All common sense once you understand how buildings work.

A bit of maintenance and a chance to breathe is what older houses need.

Great news that there's no major damage to rectify as well.

busbybuilders

Well that survey was going great guns until he mentioned a plastic membrane under the plaster. No, no no. No plastic in old houses PLEASE.
Doozergirl. I think I'm in 😍 😁

Robby1988

Enjoyed reading this thread.

The OP has saved themselves thousands of pounds in predictably pointless damp proofiing treatments (and vandalism to their property in the form of drill holes) just by doing their own bit of research and getting the right person in.

These damp proofing outfits could really do with some real high profile exposure, the extent of the fraud going on out there is a disgrace and our old housing stock is suffering for it.