Air bricks in bay window

[HuwT]

Hello

I'm after some advice on some external air bricks at the base of a bay window and whether I need to remove concrete around the base of the bay.

We've just bought the house and it needs quite a bit of improvement. There's a bit of damp coming through on the inside of the bay.

There are three vents - photos show the larger, central one.

The ground around the bay has all been concreted and is at the same level as the vents. There's also a gap under the main vent so nothing to stop water flowing in - there's a slight fall away from the bay but only very gentle.

I presume the vents are required - it's a 19th century terraced house with a cavity brick wall at the front elevation. The render is only around the bay and up to about 18" high - everything above is brickwork.

Would I be advised to remove the concrete covering the ground around the bay and make sure ground level is lower than vents?

Any other comments/suggestions much appreciated.

Thanks, Huw

 

[^woody^]

Leave everything as it is unless there is problem.

 

[bobasd]

why not stand back and show a pic of all external bay sides including air bricks - and a pic of the inside of the bay showing any damp signs?

unless the air brick has a Telescopic duct then the air brick appears to have been set too high to vent any suspended floor - can you show where the FFL would be on the outside of the bay?
if the lower panels of brickwork in the bay are indeed cavity wall - and the cavity is not bridged by rubble - then the high concrete ground, and the cracks in the render might not be too significant.
however, there is a crack in the stone sill which might be introducing water into the interior of the bay?
the silicone seal around the wood window frame is perished.



fwiw: there shouldn't be any ground contact with render - render should finish with a Bellcast leaving a small gap below from Bellcast to ground.

 

[mansea]

I'd be tempted to concrete half an inch to an inch from the bottom just to fill the gap and be sure ground water isn't pooring in.

I'm by no means an expert though just seems a lot easier and cheaper than raising the height of the air brick or lowering ground level or adjusting the fall in the ground.

 

[bobasd]

Seamanstains, its perhaps the best course that if you dont know what your talking about then to say nothing.
wild guesses cost you nothing but could be expensive for an OP.

 

[mansea]

Fair point I'm not am expert, that's why I pointed it out. That said I am experienced in a variety of trades and surely sharing knowledge and opinions is the whole point of this forum. Regardless it doesn't take a surveyor to work out that an air brick/vent at ground level will let water in to the fabric of the building. Whether that's foundations, cavity, under joists whatever, moisture inside is not good.

You've also got to bare in mind not everyone has a pot of gold, so yes you could knock down, start again, lay new dpc, etc or over engineer a solution to the problem, but if a bit of concrete will solve the problem for a few £s, why not try, it would be my first option anyway

 

[bobasd]

what you posted was not "knowledge" but ignorance - ignorance of how buildings work, and whats happening with the building on the page before you.

 

[bobasd]

ref. your edit at 7:36 today, stop digging your getting in deeper - now you are writing nonsense:

"yes you could knock down, start again, lay new dpc etc or over engineer a solution to the problem ... ".
"knock down" - what exactly would you propose to "knock down"?
"lay new dpc" - where did the "dpc" come from? where would it be going?
"over engineer" - we are basically talking about an air brick.

i think that you are a bit of a cut-and-paste artist. nothing wrong with that if you cut out the right stuff and paste it in an appropriate place.

 

[mansea]

I was already editing that before I had even seen your reply dumbass, that's why the edit was completed only 1 minute after your post and not 30 mins or so later!! FFS how can someone be so thick you utter wanqer!!

Anyway what's it got to do with you if or when I want to edit a post for grammatical errors or if I've forgotten something. GET A LIFE.

Thought this was a forum for builders and DIYers not bitching and whining about other peoples posts, think your looking for mumsnet...

 

[John D v2.0]

steady on seaman, maybe bob's reply was a bit blunt but you'll get far worse online than that!
For what it's worth, if I was the OP I would post a photo of the inside to show what kind of dampness it is, and In our case with damp wall base I just boshed a 3 inch wide gap next to the brickwork to stop the water splashing up or running towards the house. I wasn't worried about the look as we were getting an extension over the top of that area.

 

[mansea]

Point taken John just don't see the point in picking holes in peoples posts, bickering and trying to cause agro, we are all trying to help

Truce bobby baby x

 

[John D v2.0]

we are all trying to help

amen to that

 

[^woody^]

If all this emotion happens over a poxy airbrick, I can't wait for the OP to post about building an extension.

 

[JP_]

As somebody who has experience damp issues caused by concrete paths built up to and over air bricks, i vote to remove the concrete. If there is no cavity in the wall below ground level, any water in the ground will get through to the other side, and into the sub-floor space. Won't be much, but could well be enough to cause damp issues - rot, mould.

On one side of my house where a concrete path was built (in several layers) the sub-floor was permanently wet along the wall. Only started to dry out after removing the concrete and digging down. I still need to remove more soil and put in some gravel, but it really helped to take out that concrete and some of the soil too.

French drain might be all you need.

But, what I discovered after lifting my floors is that the sub-floor was full of dust and dirt - 85 accumulation. All this helps trap moisture too, and reduce air flow, so old floors are more prone to suffer damp issues for this reason too, if they are letter water in and not well ventilated.

Another thing - does that concrete render cover the damp course? Another potential way for water to get from ground into house.

 

[John D v2.0]

If all this emotion happens over a poxy airbrick,

Welcome to the internetyou'll get used to it once you've been here a few more years