Sounds a good deal?

Bendy_House

Rising Damp? Is there such a thing?

Of course there bludy is!

I remember watching the QI episode where Fry claimed it had been shown to be a myth, and I suspect it was as a result of the report shown above.

A quick glance at that article will show how short-sighted it is. 'If you place a brick column in water, the water will only rise up a short distance, and not upwards like a sponge...' Fair do's - with modern bricks and fresh waterproofed mortar.

But the bricks in Victorian houses can be hugely pervious, and the ageing mortar even more so. And I've seen the result for myself. Yup - it bludy rises.

Pfffft

neilmcl

Bendy_House said:

Rising Damp? Is there such a thing?

Of course there bludy is!

I remember watching the QI episode where Fry claimed it had been shown to be a myth, and I suspect it was as a result of the report shown above.

A quick glance at that article will show how short-sighted it is. 'If you place a brick column in water, the water will only rise up a short distance, and not upwards like a sponge...' Fair do's - with modern bricks and fresh waterproofed mortar.

But the bricks in Victorian houses can be hugely pervious, and the ageing mortar even more so. And I've seen the result for myself. Yup - it bludy rises.

Pfffft

It's a wonder how all those Victorian sewers and canals have managed survive for all those years, let alone all the major Victorian engineered structures with all their poor, ageing mortar and pervious brickwork 😉

Doozergirl

neilmcl said:

Bendy_House said:

Rising Damp? Is there such a thing?

Of course there bludy is!

I remember watching the QI episode where Fry claimed it had been shown to be a myth, and I suspect it was as a result of the report shown above.

A quick glance at that article will show how short-sighted it is. 'If you place a brick column in water, the water will only rise up a short distance, and not upwards like a sponge...' Fair do's - with modern bricks and fresh waterproofed mortar.

But the bricks in Victorian houses can be hugely pervious, and the ageing mortar even more so. And I've seen the result for myself. Yup - it bludy rises.

Pfffft

It's a wonder how all those Victorian sewers and canals have managed survive for all those years, let alone all the major Victorian engineered structures with all their poor, ageing mortar and pervious brickwork 😉

Indeed. 

Is there such a thing as damp?  Of course. 

Is there such a thing as spontaneous rising damp that occurs for no reason other than bricks being porous? No.   There is always a diagnosable reason for it.  Some cases are more complicated than others but it's usually some questionable building work that has occurred since being built, an inappropriate intervention or a lack of maintenance.  

There is never a good reason to slap waterproof render on a wall and pretend it's dry because you can't detect it on the inside.  

Bendy_House

Doozergirl said:

Indeed. 

Is there such a thing as damp?  Of course. 

Is there such a thing as spontaneous rising damp that occurs for no reason other than bricks being porous? No.   There is always a diagnosable reason for it.  Some cases are more complicated than others but it's usually some questionable building work that has occurred since being built, an inappropriate intervention or a lack of maintenance.  

There is never a good reason to slap waterproof render on a wall and pretend it's dry because you can't detect it on the inside.  

Absolutely.

So, with the OP's row of Victorian Town houses, either there's likely always been some level of rising damp - which the house itself takes care of in a natural way ('breathing'/evaporation) - or something else has been done to the property in order to expose the RD.

Strictly speaking, I can't see how either would warrant a claim on the OP's policy.

Damp will only rise up through porous bricks and mortar to a limited height, so, yes, underground drains are fine. But if the ground level surrounding a typical Victorian house isn't low enough - and I suspect many aren't - then you will experience 'rising'.

Yes, of course you can lower the ground level. Or you can install a DPC. Which is easier?

stuart45

Not all Victorian bricks were soft and porous. Accrington Noris were really hard. Hydraulic lime mortar can also be really strong, similar to OPC mortar. OPC was also around in Victorian times.