Opinions on stormdry/masonry cream

Doozergirl

tony3619 said:

stuart45 said:

Bricks absorb a certain amount of water, some more than others. Engineering bricks for example absorb a lot less than a Fletton. However the most likely place for water to get in is through the mortar joints, especially the small vertical joints.
BRE tested some walls years ago and found that in some cases driving rain got through a 4 inch brick wall in less than 20 minutes.

So if driving rain can get through in 20 minutes storm dry is a good thing right? Not ideal or a replacement for a cavity tray but if I physically can't get a builder to retro fit cavity trays...

No!  Stuart is saying it gets in the  cracks or holes in the mortar joins, not through the bricks themselves! 

 

Leave the Storm Dry.  Think properly about it.   Bricks are not porous to the extent that rain soaks into and through them, otherwise the story of the Three Little Pigs would have ended very differently.     

You've got visible holes in your wall.  You haven't shown us what is happening inside, but it will correlate with something.    If the cavity trays are the problem then that is what you should be seeking to fix.  I appreciate that you haven't found anyone to fix them, but that isn't reason to invest in a bodge.  

stuart45

The reason the moisture tends to get in mainly through the cross joints is that they are often only half filled. Also when the line is run in, when you get to the centre if the last joint is a bit big, a few of the previous ones are shunted along a bit and this weakens the joints slightly unless you pack them in.
Modern, hard burnt bricks like yours don't normally absorb too much moisture. It tends to soak into the mortar from the brickwork after a while.

donemedosh

Hi The original question is stormdry a fix for missing cavity trays. Simple answer is i do not know. But as i have had stormdry applied to my house( even though it was missold to me as a cure for penertrating damp that i didn't have which i am dealing with.) Yes it does stop water & it is approved by the BBA which would not approve it unless it does what it says on the tin. However Doozergirl is right unless you can get the cavity trays retro fitted anything else is a bit of a bodge.

stuart45

I know a few roofers who have stuck it on chimneys, because fitting a lead tray would require knocking the stack down. They seemed to think it helped in the short term.

tony3619

Doozergirl said:

tony3619 said:

stuart45 said:

Bricks absorb a certain amount of water, some more than others. Engineering bricks for example absorb a lot less than a Fletton. However the most likely place for water to get in is through the mortar joints, especially the small vertical joints.
BRE tested some walls years ago and found that in some cases driving rain got through a 4 inch brick wall in less than 20 minutes.

So if driving rain can get through in 20 minutes storm dry is a good thing right? Not ideal or a replacement for a cavity tray but if I physically can't get a builder to retro fit cavity trays...

No!  Stuart is saying it gets in the  cracks or holes in the mortar joins, not through the bricks themselves! 

 

Leave the Storm Dry.  Think properly about it.   Bricks are not porous to the extent that rain soaks into and through them, otherwise the story of the Three Little Pigs would have ended very differently.     

You've got visible holes in your wall.  You haven't shown us what is happening inside, but it will correlate with something.    If the cavity trays are the problem then that is what you should be seeking to fix.  I appreciate that you haven't found anyone to fix them, but that isn't reason to invest in a bodge.  

Hey, 

Dunno if this photo helps, that's the ceiling directly below that wall and the hole of missing ceiling is directly under the flashing and I have poured water on the flashing which drips through the hole so i definitely know the flashing needs repointing, I've shoved loads of sealant over it at the moment until I organise the lead flashing.
I  now agree with you about the stormdry being a bodge which is why I have decided not to use it. I'm not even sure if the cavity wall is leaking but I know this wall has missing cavity trays so every time it rains I know there is a chance it can come through which keeps me up at night. I'll have to keep searching for a competent builder to install the trays.