Damp issue - see illustration. What is the way forward

[platforminc]

Hi All.

I have got some damp issues that needs to be resolved. Based on the damp report the specialist created and my own understanding also. I am a little confused as to what the way forward is. I am always wary of damp companies and wanting to do unnecessary works. The house is a mid terrace Victorian building.

Here is the situation, the wall at the rear dinning section is always wet.

Let us look at outside.

Here we can see that as the road is hilly, the property is at the bottom of the hill. The next door property is about 700mm higher than this property in terms of ground level.

This is what the damp company is proposing.

My questions are as follows.

1) I have used damp sticks in the past and they work really well. So Will use that for the perimeter of the property, I assume this is what they mean by horizontal DPC.
2) Not sure about vertical DPC.
3) Cementitious tanking = tanking slurry ?.
4) What will I do about the bathroom and kitchen, I do not really want to rip them out.
5) Any general advice with works like this ?
6) My thoughts are that the high concrete at the back should be broken down and rear brick wall behind the damp room exposed. The problem with this approach is that, a drainage point will be needed to drain water away. How will I do that.

If 500mm of that concrete is broken away such that the brick wall is exposed externally, how can a drainage point be created for any water that gets trapped there. Will this also be required around the rear outrigger ?


No damp issue here in the kitchen, why do we need to tank it ?

 

[Mr Chibs]

Can you see any DPC in the property at the moment? Usually the ground level should be 2 course of brick under this (minimum).

Looking at your damp patch I'd be tempted to say, you may have leaking drain. The old glazed drainage parts are frequently cracked.
I'd investigate this before lashing out money on tanking etc.

Also looks like there is a rendered skirt at the bottom of the kitchen wall (outside), this could be around DPC level, render that goes down to ground level allows moisture to be bridged over DPC's .

Perhaps take some more outside photos, may get more replies.

 

[platforminc]

I will need to go back and take more pictures, a few things to note.
The gutter above the roof by the wall is filled up with sand, so bad that vegetation is growing inside it. This has led to the wall directly beneath having its internal render blown up due to penetrating damp, what I do not understand is why the downstairs is so revealing with the water stain.

Could this be a root cause ? The internal wall behind the red box has blown plaster which is understandable.

 

[Mr Chibs]

There looks like lots of pipework in the area you are getting problems.

If you can do the donkey work excavating the pipes and there is a problem, you might not need all the remedial works that have been offered.
Get a cheap concrete breaker from FB marketplace (cheaper than renting) and see what's what.


Yes overflowing gutters can wet a wall which can make it's way in to the internals on solid brick properties.

Gutter about kitchen window has a leek, you can see the staining on the gutter, this could be the/a cause.

 

[HERTS P&D]

You can see that the gutters are fully blocked, that would be the first thing to sort out.

Andy

 

[foxhole]

Staining around window would indicate you window frame is rotten and allowing rain penetration .None of the damp companies suggested measures will fix this , maybe just hide it until they cease trading and you still have a damp problem.

 

[RandomGrinch]

No damp issue here in the kitchen, why do we need to tank it ?

As that's a picture of the first floor kitchen, then yes, there really should be no need to tank it!

...and others may be able to confirm, but the flue for the ground floor kitchen boiler looks to me to be in a very dodgy position - too close to opening windows, and a plastic canopy directly overhead - has this been checked by a gas safe bod?

 

[jeds]

Did the damp company not say anything about clearing/repairing gutters, repairing/replacing window frames, clearing up the yard and altering external levels or drainage, etc? I would do all those things before any tanking or injecting. Secondly, I would look closely at the type of plaster used in any locations where the dampness is particularly visible. My guess would be that an incorrect type of plaster has been used and that may need to be hacked off and re-done with correct plaster. (not tanking!)

 

[platforminc]

Did the damp company not say anything about clearing/repairing gutters, repairing/replacing window frames, clearing up the yard and altering external levels or drainage, etc? I would do all those things before any tanking or injecting. Secondly, I would look closely at the type of plaster used in any locations where the dampness is particularly visible. My guess would be that an incorrect type of plaster has been used and that may need to be hacked off and re-done with correct plaster. (not tanking!)

They mentioned clearing the gutter, replacing timber lintels and like most damp companies they need to justify their high fees, and hence why they write scary reports with all sorts of things in it.

The issue right now is that the mortgage company has seen the report and are terrified, is it better to get a builder or another damp company to come in and write a common sense report, especially if I have warned them already that I know the root cause.

1) Blocked gutter and drain pipe (evidence in the water stain by the brick wall).
2) Rotten window frame letting in water once the water overflows from the

Nothing mentioned about reducing the level of the floor outside, they just want to mask the problem rather than fix the root cause.
In terms of plaster, what I have seen builders do is this, hack off the old plaster and expose the bricks, use a mixture of plastering sand + cement + 3 in 1 additive for a rough plaster, then finish off with multi finish. Is this the right approach ?

 

[jeds]

My advice would be a renovating plaster - Limelite or similar. There does appear to be some penetrating dampness but once the cause of that is dealt with everything else will be condensation dampness, which can only be made worse by cement render.

PS. once hacked off back to brick, you might also consider a thermal lining. That gives you the triple whammy of dealing with any residual dampness in the masonry, preventing any condensation and the energy benefit.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

What's the situation with the mortgage? Is this something you're in the process of buying? If you're already there then I'm not sure why you'd need to care about what they think.

Definitely stop the water getting in rather than trying to trap it within the wall, which appears to be the aim of the miracle wonder products.

I'm with you, it sounds like a company trying to sell snake oil rather than actually helping to fix the problem. Sadly banks seem to be taken in by these supposed experts though.

 

[platforminc]

Hi All.

What happened with the mortgage company is that they saw the report from the damp company, and insisted that the works had to be done before they could release the loan.

I have taken some more pictures.

Here we can see the build up of algae ont he floor which suggests that the water is not draining away.

The difference from the concrete floor seen above and the cill of the window is around 200mm.

Despite the fact that the last picture was taken over 2 months ago, as at last week the wall still shows sign of dampness which is not suprising, as the gutter issue has not gone away and the water ingress continues.

My thoughts are where the red line is on the picture beneath, break off the concrete such that it is not touching the wall, not sure how log to go. Is it better to fill with pea shingle or install Arco drain there such that it forms a barrier against the wall, and collects any water residue to dispose off in the drain nearby.

The picture below suggests that the bricks are stained due to water ingress, would I be correct in making this assumption ?