Hi,
Any help appreciated please - photos attached. Our house has a concrete channel around it which was previsouly filled with gravel. From the photos you can see that the bottom of the house is below the level of the garden. The wall is rendered around the bottom and painted black. The render was crumbling and we have damp and white salts appearing on the interior walls. Where the render was crumbling, we have removed the render and repaired some of the gaps in the mortar around the bricks. We ware intending to put some damp rods in the walls as the bottom layer of bricks are very damp so we assume the damp proof course has failed. Our questions are:
1. Should we replace the render around the bottom?
2. If no render is needed, should we paint the bricks with black paint?
3. What sort of black paint should be used? BItumen? Masonry paint?
4. We were intending to lower the level of the ground around the house so that the bottom of the house is in line with the garden around it. Should we incorporate a trench of gravel or similar around the house once the ground is lowered?
We would be most grateful for any advice!
Many thanks!
Any help appreciated please - photos attached. Our house has a concrete channel around it which was previsouly filled with gravel. From the photos you can see that the bottom of the house is below the level of the garden. The wall is rendered around the bottom and painted black. The render was crumbling and we have damp and white salts appearing on the interior walls. Where the render was crumbling, we have removed the render and repaired some of the gaps in the mortar around the bricks. We ware intending to put some damp rods in the walls as the bottom layer of bricks are very damp so we assume the damp proof course has failed. Our questions are:
1. Should we replace the render around the bottom?
2. If no render is needed, should we paint the bricks with black paint?
3. What sort of black paint should be used? BItumen? Masonry paint?
4. We were intending to lower the level of the ground around the house so that the bottom of the house is in line with the garden around it. Should we incorporate a trench of gravel or similar around the house once the ground is lowered?
We would be most grateful for any advice!
Many thanks!
