Worried about external brickwork...

Kevinmcd01 · 2 Feb 2021

Hi All - first post on here, so hope I'm in the right place.

I think I have a few issues with my external brickwork. I've been back to the contractor a few times on possible damp issues (see pics with damp line/green moss along bottom of brickwork), but I'm also seeing issues with white staining from the mortar. The new one tonight is I'm seeing some very random wet spot circle dot patterns on the brickwork.

Anyone seen any of these before and know if I should be worried?

Thanks

Mobo_14 · 3 Feb 2021

Is your house in Scotland as it looks like a pretty common house we have up here.

Presume it’s a timber frame?

The green patch on the bottom pic is below the DPC which is designed to be wet so no worries there.

above it the white staining is what’s called efflorescence which is a build up of salts releasing from a wet brick. Also no cause for concern.

And an educated guess as to why your corner is wet would have me looking at the join between the gutter and the rain water pipe. Might not be but that’s where I’d look first

Kevinmcd01 · 3 Feb 2021

Hey - yeah, spot on. Scotland and timber frame. Persimmon build, which we've not had a lot of success with so far

For the corners, it was more the random circle patches I was worried about. Seemed a very odd pattern that I'd not seen before....

^woody^ · 3 Feb 2021

Was the other side of that corner soaked, of does it have the patches too? It looks like it gets driven rain

^woody^ · 3 Feb 2021

For the efflorescence under the window cill, check that the cill as a proper drip detail (groove) to allow water to drip off the wall not down it. Also check cill joints to make sure rain is not going through the joints - it looks like it is

Mobo_14 · 3 Feb 2021

Kevinmcd01 said:
Hey - yeah, spot on. Scotland and timber frame. Persimmon build, which we've not had a lot of success with so far

For the corners, it was more the random circle patches I was worried about. Seemed a very odd pattern that I'd not seen before....

Yeah don’t hear many people too happy with there persimmon houses up and down the country.

It’s been particularly wet up here last few weeks aswel with high winds which probably hasn’t helped

Kevinmcd01 · 4 Feb 2021

^woody^ said:
Was the other side of that corner soaked, of does it have the patches too? It looks like it gets driven rain

The damp up and down the side was rain. It was more the circle patches which is never seen before. Was worried this me be something coming from the inside out...?

Kevinmcd01 · 4 Feb 2021

^woody^ said:
For the efflorescence under the window cill, check that the cill as a proper drip detail (groove) to allow water to drip off the wall not down it. Also check cill joints to make sure rain is not going through the joints - it looks like it is

There is a drip under the cill, but the wall under the window after rain is usually soaked. Would that possibly mean the cill has been set too close or too far away from the wall?

Kevinmcd01 · 4 Feb 2021

Mobo_14 said:
Yeah don’t hear many people too happy with there persimmon houses up and down the country.

It’s been particularly wet up here last few weeks aswel with high winds which probably hasn’t helped

Yeah - they get hammering. 5 years down the line, the houses will be great houses, but so much snagging to work through, and not all persimmon take responsibility for!

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Worried about external brickwork...

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