Soil like substance in cavity wall

[jedi]

Hi I have this soil like substance at the bottom of my cavity walls.. It's damp black and smells very very earthy.... It s also under the floor boards in the hallway.. I've got as much of it out as possible... My concern is that this soil has breached the damp proof course...

What is it?

And what should I do about it?

 

[Nige F]

I can't see the dpc but you should be able to

 

[jedi]

Is the dpc just fitted to the internal walls?

 

[Nige F]

DPC should be @ same level in both inner and outer walls - if it's an old house it could be made of slate ( like on roofs)

 

[JohnD]

It is strangely black. Builders rubbish is usually sand, bits of brick, and mortar snots. Has there been a sewage leak?

You say you've got a lot of it out, so what do you think it is? Soot? Fine earth? Congealed rat droppings? Wood rot?

Sometimes you can rake it out by removing a brick, and I have removed some using a steel pipe on the hose of a builder's canister vac.

 

[jedi]

DPC should be @ same level in both inner and outer walls - if it's an old house it could be made of slate ( like on roofs)

So when a builder repoints the house, they must cut out some of the dpc? I've never seen them put any back in?

On the outside of course..

 

[jedi]

It is strangely black. Builders rubbish is usually sand, bits of brick, and mortar snots. Has there been a sewage leak?

You say you've got a lot of it out, so what do you think it is? Soot? Fine earth? Congealed rat droppings? Wood rot?

Sometimes you can rake it out by removing a brick, and I have removed some using a steel pipe on the hose of a builder's canister vac.

I think it could be the mortar they used? The mortar in between the old bricks seems the same...It must have decayed? If you wet it, it falls out in places..

It smells like really strong earthy soil and is very black and fine and very damp. I not a gardener so don't know my soils..

I have Dysoned as much as I can out.. I too attached a pipe to the end..

 

[gregers]

and if there is/was a power station near by you will find debris very much like this within your cavities.
an area where i live there used to be a small power station in the 40s-60s and a lot of the houses had problems like this.

 

[jedi]

We did have a lot of birds nests in the old wooden eves... Now plastic and sealed.

Could it be years of bird **** that's dropped down and composted in the cavity.

It's the best soil I've ever smelt.. IT must be great for growing stuff....

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

Could just be grot (dust?) blown in down the cavity over the years. Once it gets into the cavity, its out of the air flow so just drops down under the force of gravity. One job to do is to stuff the open tops of the cavity with glass fibre, it stops this and more importantly it slows the passage of air and heat, so you save money.
Frank