Damp in house - report inside

stuart45

rash.m2k wrote: »

Pretty sure they are cavity

Sometimes a blocked cavity with cause problems.

Doozergirl

rash.m2k wrote: »

It's a 1930s bungalow and it does have damp, but only on one wall, I have followed the DPC layer which I can see from the bricks (or what I think is the DPC layer) and I can see that as it gets to the wall with the problem the ground level gets closer and closer because of the tarmac.

If that corresponds with your problem area inside then that is the issue.

Cut the tarmac back away from the house a bit - maybe a foot, and make sure the new ground level is two courses below your DPC.

Then wait for it to dry out. Job done.

rash.m2k

Doozergirl wrote: »

If that corresponds with your problem area inside then that is the issue.

Cut the tarmac back away from the house a bit - maybe a foot, and make sure the new ground level is two courses below your DPC.

Then wait for it to dry out. Job done.

two courses? I am pretty handy with DIY as I did all the internal work myself, but I'm guessing that means two bricks?

These are not small bricks either, they are strong accrington brick. The problem I had with this wall was that I would get crystals forming in the inside below the wallpaper so had to remove and re-decorate that section.

I'll try and get some pictures up of it.

rash.m2k

Ok this is the property in the image below. The road slopes down from left to right. Up is north and the wall with the problem is left hand side wall, towards the front.

Also the land is tilted as well, so the top corner of the house (based on the picture) has good distance between the DPC and ground level, the bottom corner where the drive is, the ground level is much closer to the DPC layer, almost touching. I'm sure if this makes sense, but it's tricky to explain in words, what I mean is there is a slope across the house (the road is going downhill) and also from the front garden to the rear garden diagonally from the start of the driveway.

dunroving

What happens when you have heavy rain (like we've been having recently)? Does it run down the concrete path, or pool against the house wall? Do you have any pooling anywhere?

I presume you don't have any pooling from your right-hand neighbour (the one who clearly doesn't like grass) ;-) ? If the land slopes left to right, I'd be more concerned if I was his other neighbour.

rash.m2k

dunroving wrote: »

What happens when you have heavy rain (like we've been having recently)? Does it run down the concrete path, or pool against the house wall? Do you have any pooling anywhere?

I presume you don't have any pooling from your right-hand neighbour (the one who clearly doesn't like grass) ;-) ? If the land slopes left to right, I'd be more concerned if I was his other neighbour.

The concrete path is the neighbors and they have a small wall on the edge of their drive - a mini partition wall, a couple of feet high. The water pools in a small section away from the house - but thats because the tarmac has dipped, other than that I haven't seen water pool anywhere.

rash.m2k

Just to report back the issue was obviously nothing to do with this stupid quote from a cowboy. There was a strong moldy smell from the room, and it turns out it was the roof leaking and water settling in the boarded up chimney breast - I couldn't see any water, but that was my best guess. Once the roof was fixed the smell seems to have gone away.