Who do I need to get this checked out?
Sorry for long post.
House is 1910s / 1920s. Built on chalk hill, with a concrete path surrounding the sloping and down hill 3 sides the house. Cavity wall.
The sides of the house sloping downhill have had a plinth/cement join to the concrete base added at some point, I assume to direct rain water away from house
One sloping side of house has soil pipe and kitchen drain both connecting to an inspection chamber about 1.5m away.
The cement plinth has cracked through years of neglect and has had lots of plants growing through / breaking it. I've been doing regular treatments of Glyphosate and used today's sunny lunchbreak to dig them out and have a look
Ignore thee broken inspection cover, since been replaced. Just there to show the depth and type of drain. Private drain.
Anyhow under the removed plinth and around the soil pipe and sloping downhill its all rather wet soil and smelly. Not a sewerage smell but a rotten smell. It could just be the decomposing remnants of the plants I pulled (some stems as thick as cucumbers). Lots of woodlice.
I've lifted floorboards on the other side of this wall and no internal damp damage or rotten joists. Subfloor is very well ventilated. No smell internally underfloor.
So:
Is this likely a cracked drain, pooling water around the house? How do I confirm this/what trade do I need?
Is is possible its just ground water from rain? I dug a trial pit futher out in the garden. Soil at that depth was damp. Not as damp though.
Bonus question: should I reinstate the plinth? I guess this could be a divisive question. Accepted wisdom is to remove them. However, plenty of houses have render joined to a concrete base with no damp issues. There's no damp in this house.
Thank you
Sorry for long post.
House is 1910s / 1920s. Built on chalk hill, with a concrete path surrounding the sloping and down hill 3 sides the house. Cavity wall.
The sides of the house sloping downhill have had a plinth/cement join to the concrete base added at some point, I assume to direct rain water away from house
One sloping side of house has soil pipe and kitchen drain both connecting to an inspection chamber about 1.5m away.
The cement plinth has cracked through years of neglect and has had lots of plants growing through / breaking it. I've been doing regular treatments of Glyphosate and used today's sunny lunchbreak to dig them out and have a look
Ignore thee broken inspection cover, since been replaced. Just there to show the depth and type of drain. Private drain.
Anyhow under the removed plinth and around the soil pipe and sloping downhill its all rather wet soil and smelly. Not a sewerage smell but a rotten smell. It could just be the decomposing remnants of the plants I pulled (some stems as thick as cucumbers). Lots of woodlice.
I've lifted floorboards on the other side of this wall and no internal damp damage or rotten joists. Subfloor is very well ventilated. No smell internally underfloor.
So:
Is this likely a cracked drain, pooling water around the house? How do I confirm this/what trade do I need?
Is is possible its just ground water from rain? I dug a trial pit futher out in the garden. Soil at that depth was damp. Not as damp though.
Bonus question: should I reinstate the plinth? I guess this could be a divisive question. Accepted wisdom is to remove them. However, plenty of houses have render joined to a concrete base with no damp issues. There's no damp in this house.
Thank you