Water dribbling out of wall below the damp course.

[mrselnombre]

We live in an end terrace council house in Wales. Red brick , cavity wall filled with little white balls?

Currently going through the right to buy process, so I would appreciate some advice in regards to a problem that has been identified with the council and they are dragging their feet in fixing.

Basically at the front of the house there is water dribbling through the outside wall, about 2 courses below the Damp Course. There is a minor hole there, which I think has been caused by the water coming out. We only noticed this problem in the last 6 months, as we previously had a gravelled front yard, and it was only on pulling back the membrane that we noticed the water.

Current idea from the council is to dig a trench and fill with gravel to allow the water to seep away as they think it is ground water.
Now I'm not disputing that really, as I can appreciate the fact that we live in Wales, we do get plenty of rain and we've had some major rain these past 6 months.

My concern is whether or not this is indeed ground water, since I know very little about buildings and pipework.

If it is fixed by digging a trench and filling with gravel, then I can just push ahead with buying and sort it out myself.
My concern is that this is something worse.
We've had glorious weather the last few days and the water is still as steady as ever. No sign of damp inside, but the location isn't far from the stopcock which is basically on the other side of the wall.
There was also water seeping through the side of the house at a similar level but that stopped a few months ago, and so far hasn't returned.

I've put a picture up.

Untitled

• mrselnombre
• 24 May 2012
• 1

 

[merlin50]

turn the water off in the road over night then see what it is like in the morning. if its stoped then you have a leak.

 

[JohnD]

Agreed.

I can't see any reason ground water should be above ground level, unless you are on a hill.

If necessary your water company can test the water to see if it is chlorinated (tap water from main) soapy (from drains) or full of particles and life (ground water)

I would suspect a leaking pipe, perhaps from the CH radiators, which probably run under the floor. If you have tanks in the loft, go and see if one is running.

 

[mrselnombre]

Thanks, i'll test the stop tap tonight.
no tank in loft, we have a combi boiler.

if it is a leaky pipe i'm not going to be best pleased with the council. I did query that with them a month ago and they "poo poo'd" the idea.

to the best of my knowledge, downstairs no pipes run below the floor. the only ones would be the mains in, and sewerage out.

 

[Filo]

Thanks, i'll test the stop tap tonight.
no tank in loft, we have a combi boiler.

if it is a leaky pipe i'm not going to be best pleased with the council. I did query that with them a month ago and they "poo poo'd" the idea.

to the best of my knowledge, downstairs no pipes run below the floor. the only ones would be the mains in, and sewerage out.

Get the Water company out, tell them you suspect there`s a leak and they`ll come and listen to the pipes with a listening stick, if the council still own the property then they are legally bound to have that leak fixed, the water company will issue a notice for them to fix it, however most water companies offer 1 free leak repair any way

 

[mrselnombre]

Thank you.
I'll give them a ring tomorrow, even if the wall is still oozing after turning off the stoptap.

 

[mrselnombre]

I couldn't turn off the mains supply.

But the water company are coming out next week to test the water to see if there is Chlorine in it.

 

[mrselnombre]

For some reason the problem has got worse.

it's definitely household water, not figured out if it is in or out yet, but i suspect incoming as the water doesn't appear to be soapy.

I think it is occurring in the pipe on the way to the stop tap, though area around the stop tap seems to be dry inside the house.

Someone is supposedly coming from the council next week. So fingers crossed they can trace it quickly without too much disruption.

 

[WabbitPoo]

What stopped you turning off the supply to the house? Its a really important thing to be able to do in an emergency

 

[mrselnombre]

The tap was too far down for me to reach.
Water board are coming out on Weds to check it all out.

They weren't best pleased when i told them I reported this problem to the council months ago and they haven't even looked into and written it off as ground water.

I'm fairly confident this is waste water coming from the bathroom, but not 100% It's now oozing out faster, and seems to be connected to activity in the bathroom. Which is upstairs but directly above it.
I'm going to try dying the water to see what happens.

 

[JohnD]

The tap was too far down for me to reach.

http://www.diy.com/nav/fix/handtool...ck_keys/B-and-Q-Combination-Stock-Key-9370416

probably like mine

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