DIY Damp Proof Course

[lumley1]

I have recently bought a house, the seller had a damp proof course fitted to some of the walls, however I do not think that the damp has gone? I do have a garentee for the work but fear the supplier will try to get out of it. Any Ideas?

Also some of the other walls also appear to be damp. I was thinging about trying to install a damp proof course myself, either by injection or some other method. Do you think this will be successful? Any sites/ideas on how I can do it? Will I have to chip the plaster away from the bottom meter of the wall and have someone re-plaster it?

Thanks for your time.

 

[Percy Vere]

I have recently bought a house, the seller had a damp proof course fitted to some of the walls, however I do not think that the damp has gone? I do have a garentee for the work but fear the supplier will try to get out of it. Any Ideas?

Also some of the other walls also appear to be damp. I was thinging about trying to install a damp proof course myself, either by injection or some other method. Do you think this will be successful? Any sites/ideas on how I can do it? Will I have to chip the plaster away from the bottom meter of the wall and have someone re-plaster it?

Thanks for your time.

Read http://www.dampbuster.com/index.html first before you do anything.

 

[TexMex]

Read http://www.dampbuster.com/index.html first before you do anything.

A man after my own heart.

The myth that surrounds rising damp continues. Mike Parrett has not found a true case of rising damp due to the failure of an existing physical damp proof course in walls.

The crucial part here, though is "failure of an existing" You'd be surprised at how often older houses simply didn't have adequate DPCs fitted in the first place. I've said it before and I'll say it again: failure of a DPC is very rare, but having a deficient DPC (ie. one that has never worked in it's entire life), is much more common.

Where a house suffers from extensive damp problems, you can bet your bottom dollar, that it has always been so. It's just the nature of the building. Sure if you just have a bit of damp in one area, it's likely to be a local cause, but where damp problems exist throughout, it's likely to be a feature of the way the thing was constructed in the first place.

You may get an entire wall suffering from damp, due to some idiot raising the garden above the DPC, or you may get large areas of damp due to a leaky pipe that has been left neglected for years. If you find an obvious cause like this, keep it to yourself, get the house for a bargain and sort it out.

Where the cause is less obvious it could well be that it's a solid wall construction of soft bricks, that just allows water to penetrate every time it rains. It could be a cavity wall construction where the bricklayers were sloppy enough to leave masses of mortar breaching the DPC and the cavity. It could be due to a solid floor that has no DPM installed.

Houses are not like cars. If you have an unreliable car, it could be simply one dodgy connection that makes the entire car difficult to start in the morning. If your house seems to have a damp problem throughout the house, chances are it's an fundamental problem with the way it was built.

 

[greengrass]

1. You just bought the property then what's your survey report say about the damp?
YOUR FIRST MOVE SHOULD BE TO CHECK THIS REPORT FOR REFERENCES TO DAMP.

To my knowledge a damp search is included even in the basic survey, so I can assume that if your report shows nothing about the damp you say you have then get back to them and ask if your survey included a search for damp. If the answer comes back YES then ask why damp you have discovered is not mentioned in the report. If they are in the wrong the least you should be entitled to is a refund plus inconvenience.

The other is if you suspect the walls that have been treated then telephone the company and get them out to see it.

Other outside faults that COULD / MAY cause damp

No part of the groundwork or paths around you property are bridging the DPC level. if they are those areas should be lowered if possible.

If you find any areas that can't be lowered then dig a trench at the house wall along the area bridging the DPC make it about a spades width wide and at least one coarse of bricks below the DPC level. Then place slate/tile against the wall angle the bottom out to the edge of the trench place the next slate/tile [assuming they are 9" wide] 7" away from the first and again angle to the edge of the trench lay the third slate/tile over the gap between the two and so on until the trench is closed in with the slate/tiles. Back fill between the slate/tiles and edge of the trench with ballast or pea shingle USE NO CEMENT, this will facilitate drainage and may cure the damp problem.

Check

If the wall is plain brick check the pointing *

If the wall has been smooth rendered check it's condition and fill cracks seen.

If the wall has been pebbledashed check its condition

Some cure can be afforded by damp proofing liquid painted on the walls but it's not a long term cure. *Repoint and let dry before coating with DProofing.

 

[KonradFischer]

if you notice the missing of damp proof course, the dampness in your walls have nothing to do with them. If they are there or not - they will not work anything because there is no capillarity between fine pored bricks and stones and rough pored mortar in the joints. So the damp in parts of your building must have other sources: Condensation of warm, damp air in colder surfaces, a burden of hygroscopic salts in the walls, pressing water from the soil or from leaky pipes, water from the roof, rain spraying etc.

Good luck!

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