Airbrick in six year old house

[Emma1975]

Hello

Please advise if this question belongs in another category. We live in a six year old house. No problems in the year we’ve been here. It’s a detached timber frame house. We’ve recently noticed the air bricks are damp. It looks like condensation rather than water coming up from below, but I’m not sure. Is it normal for there to be some condensation when it’s cold outside and warm inside? I’ve attached some pictures

Thanks

 

[John D v2.0]

not really.

Those look like weep vents over the air bricks, which would collect any weather than penetrates the cladding/brickwork and direct it outside. Although having them directly above the air bricks isn't the best idea.
However condensation would only occur on the warmer side of a relatively less permeable layer which is outside the thermal insulation, so that seems unlikely (unless there's a big cock up in your building structure)

 

[^woody^]

After six years the house should be toilet trained by now surely.

It might be the weep holes above the air brick doing the weeping, but that appears to be too much for weeping.

Normally those air bricks would be venting under the floor so go down on the inside not straight across or into the cavity, so no water or condensation would be coming out - unless there is an improperly fitted cavity tray above the air brick.

Where is the DPC in the wall - above or below the air brick?

Is it every air brick or just that one? If just one, which direction does the wall face?

 

[Emma1975]

Thank you for your responses. It’s been raining a lot so it’s difficult for me to check the others. I can see a little bit of condensation looking water on a couple of the other air bricks but it’s not as bad. The wall faces south. There is a radiator on the inside which we’ve turned off to check if it’s that? I’m not sure about the DPC? How would I know? Here are some other pictures from this morning which might show more... the wall is dry where you can see the colour change in the pic. As I said, no sign or smell of water damage anywhere. We have NHBC if needed?

 

[Emma1975]

Anyone able to help? Or can someone give me an idea of which tradesman I need to get round to look at it? Wondering if I should contact the builder?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

We have NHBC if needed?

 

[wessex101]

I cannot see how it could be condensation. It would have to be something like a bathroom extract outlet to cause that damp patch on the external paving.

Could it be something simple like a drip from the gutter above? or a boiler vent? just coincidence that it is splashing next to the airbrick.

 

[Doggit]

Do you know when the paving was added outside, it's pretty high in relation to the door, and suggests that it's been raised above the DPC, but I'm not sure if that would cause the problems you've got, but you're very likely going to have to install a channel drain around the house to play safe.

You might need to monitor the situation, and determine where the water is coming from; maybe wedge a plate under the weep hole to see if that'll isolate the area. There appears to be a gap at the bottom of the render and the tiles, and another gap under the tiles above the dwarf wall, so these need investigating to make sure water isn't getting in.

Once you've isolated where the waters coming from, then you can contact the NHBC, and after they prove to be useless, then you can call a few builders, and then come back with their comments.

 

[^woody^]

Close up of that air brick shows water trickling down it. In that case it's most likely that the water is seeping off the cavity tray that appears to be above the air brick. It will stain there in that location, as in other parts of the wall the condensate will soak in to the brick and mortar instead and not be visible, but as that is plastic the moisture will run down the surface and then soak into the slab instead.

If this is the case, then it's normal.

 

[Emma1975]

Thank you for your help everyone!

 

[Tigercubrider]

Look at a neighbour's house as the airbrick seem s too close to the paving