Can anyone tell me what causes this?

[Paulturbo83]

It's been like that for two years,never got any worse or better,the air bricks are not blocked up either. We are due to put the house on the market soon and is a worry to look at but there is no damp patches anywhere inside the house.

Yesterday my hallway started smelling of damp but no signs of it anywhere so I thought it might be the fire wood I have stacked up against the wall in the porch?

Advise,ideas would be grate,the other side of the wall the flooring is all real wood.

 

[footprints]

Nothing to worry about, the ground is very wet at the moment so the bricks in the ground get soaked.
The dry line is where your damp proof barrier is doing it's job and preventing rising damp, keeping the damp just below floor level.

 

[Paulturbo83]

That's what I thought,with the amount of rain we have had would that explain the musky smell in the hallway?where the damp air is moving through the air bricks under the floor and up?

The wall never dries out even in the summer,but my driveway slopes down from the main road.

 

[footprints]

There may be a local problem in the porch, many are poorly constructed add-ons. Like you my brick layer under the DPC never really dries out, unless we have a drought and hose ban!

 

[anobium]

Nothing to worry about, the ground is very wet at the moment so the bricks in the ground get soaked.
The dry line is where your damp proof barrier is doing it's job and preventing rising damp, keeping the damp just below floor level.

I have it on good authority from Softus that there is no such thing as rising damp.

 

[JohnD]

There is, or has been, a significant plumbing leak out of shot above and to the left of your picture. See the lime bloom. Has it been fixed yet? The shape of water marks to the right of the picture make me think there may be water in the cavity.

Also, it looks like rainwater pools or puddles on that black path against the wall. Can it be drained away from the house? Does the gutter leak?

 

[footprints]

Nothing to worry about, the ground is very wet at the moment so the bricks in the ground get soaked.
The dry line is where your damp proof barrier is doing it's job and preventing rising damp, keeping the damp just below floor level.

I have it on good authority from Softus that there is no such thing as rising damp.

Ah I see, so it's lack of falling dry instead!

 

[Dave54]

There is, or has been, a significant plumbing leak out of shot above and to the left of your picture. See the lime bloom. Has it been fixed yet? The shape of water marks to the right of the picture make me think there may be water in the cavity.

Also, it looks like rainwater pools or puddles on that black path against the wall. Can it be drained away from the house? Does the gutter leak?

I thought it looked like water in the cavity too. It looks as if it's running down from the dpc, rather than up to it. Looks wetter at the area under the window. kitchen sink inside there? Leaks somewhere?

 

[footprints]

There is, or has been, a significant plumbing leak out of shot above and to the left of your picture. See the lime bloom. Has it been fixed yet? The shape of water marks to the right of the picture make me think there may be water in the cavity.

Also, it looks like rainwater pools or puddles on that black path against the wall. Can it be drained away from the house? Does the gutter leak?

I thought it looked like water in the cavity too. It looks as if it's running down from the dpc, rather than up to it. Looks wetter at the area under the window. kitchen sink inside there? Leaks somewhere?

I can see your point but if water was laying on the DPC pretty sure there would be some soaking up the brickwork too.

 

[Paulturbo83]

It's dry as a bone inside,the other side of the wall is the living room and the stairs.

The white marks on the wall are where the old overflow was on the old water tank,that's now upstairs.

It confuses me as it does look like the water is flowing out of the wall.

The water pools there on the drive as the slope comes down from the main road.

 

[Dave54]

You'd think so (Footprints), but could be just enough to keep the wall wet? I'm only guessing though. Be interesting to see if it was wet inside the cavity.

 

[Dave54]

It's dry as a bone inside,the other side of the wall is the living room and the stairs.

The white marks on the wall are where the old overflow was on the old water tank,that's now upstairs.

It confuses me as it does look like the water is flowing out of the wall.

The water pools there on the drive as the slope comes down from the main road.

Dry inside the house or inside the cavity?

 

[JohnD]

when was the plumbing leak fixed?

please show us that part of the wall.

 

[Paulturbo83]

The leak was fixed around 6-8 years ago.dry inside the house,can't tell if the cavity is.no way of telling?

 

[EFLImpudence]

I have seen similar where it is completely dry in the cavity - just always very wet on the ground outside as in this case.