Wet Patch at the Bottom of the House

newbieni

Hi Al,

Is the wet line at the bottom of this house normal?

Also, what is the fluff on the wall in the third picture?

subjecttocontract

• It looks like your garden is particularly waterlogged with all the rain we've been having lately.
• It also looks like someone has repointed some of the brickwork in places, you can see the different colour mortar.
• Id normally not put hard surfaces right up to a wall, id leave a small gap, 50-70mm and fill it with gravel so the water can drain away.
• Your path may run towards the house, it should be slightly angled way so the water run towards the lawn.,
• The path is below the level of the garden so not surprising that it's showing damp patches.

newbieni

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81921691#Comment_81921691

Is there anything that I should do?

casper_gutman

I wouldn't be worrying about the ground being wet after it rains. Even if the path did have a slight slope away from the house I wouldn't be surprised if a strip of the surface adjacent to the wall took longer to dry out after a shower, just because the air will circulate less well there.

The time to worry would be if there were signs that damp at the base of the wall is causing damage, either inside (mould, bubbling paint, flaking plaster) or outside (spalling brickwork).

Barring any problems you haven't mentioned, in your position I'd just make a mental note to think about the considerations @subjecttocontract mentioned if and when you have the outside relandscaped.

bjorn_toby_wilde

I can’t really see anything concerning in those photos.

The “white fluffy stuff” looks like efflorescence. It’s mineral salts that emerge from bricks and mortar when they’ve been wet and are now drying out. You’ll see this a lot on new build properties for a few years after they’ve been built, as well as on bits of repointing like yours. Normally nothing to worry about and we’ve had a lot of wet weather recently.

Your path looks like it is two bricks depth below the damp course. If that’s the case then it should be fine. Theoretically if the path is higher than this then rain can bounce off the path and soak the wall, causing damp problems. Do you have any damp patches adjacent to this inside the house?