dpc

During the build of our extension the builder built the walls (outer and inner) before laying the slab. This means the DPM does not go under the course of blocks containing the DPC. Is this a normal practice these days? There is also a gap between the end of DPM in places and the DPC, can this...

I have a double garage sized outbuilding at the back of my property, no longer accessible by a vehicle and have partitioned it down the middle so one side can be used for storage but the other side can be 'kitted out' for office/ gym use. I've had the floor dug out and levelled with 100mm...

Hi I have a 600mm gas DPC bridging the cavity and I need to install a cavity tray with this. I started to use some polythene DPC as the cavity tray and mortared 20-30mm of this DPC cavity tray on top of the gas DPC of the external leaf. I'm worried in case any water seeps under the cavity...

Hi, We had a patio done over a year ago, but have started noticing some damp and some smells. Upon investigating one possible cause could be that the patio seems to be badly laid and not following standard rules e.g. butting up against external wall too high, no drain for rain water and fall...

Hi I am doing an extension and had a trial hole dug for the foundations which was to 1.4m (deep due to trying to find good ground - point 1 below). The water table was oily/contaminated and ground is obviously made up ground. My council building inspector came out and inspected the hole and...

Hi for my extension build I wanted to check what point I needed to build the engineering brickwork up to for DPC The back of the current house has DPC below the Internal Floor level - I think is because it is a timber floor with space for vent. For my new extension, I was going to brick up to...

Hi, I'm building an out-house - can the internal floor level be lower than the external DPC Level? i.e. Screed come to lower than the DPC brick? Looking to try and get some more internal height - will this cause any damp etc. issues?

hi, I have a garden that sits on top of an underground car park. In my garden there is a DPC membrane covering the entire surface area also coming up the side of the property. Previously this was covered by about 80 sq metres of decking. I’m now ripping up the decking which is rotten through...

We had a conservatory removed at the back of our house and are planning on replacing it with a patio. However, the concrete slab that was under the conservatory is only about 75mm below the DPC, so by the time we put the paving on it and factor in a fall away from the house, the ground level...

Hi I will be using periscope vents to air under a block and beam floor and wondered about the below ground cavity fill. All the regs say to fill the cavity to 225mm below DPC although this will partly encase the vents in said concrete; is that okay? Also when I am at DPC the building inspector...

Hi It seems i'm trying for the record of the longest time taken to do an extension! I am hitting so many problems! After much advice & discussion with several structural engineers and the recommendation of the building officer, I am having the foundations for my two storey extension piled...

To the left is the extension, on the right at 90deg to this is the original house wall. To the right of the patio door is next doors garden wall, running parallel with the extension. I have removed the existing concrete slab, which was less than 150mm below dcp level. We had no issues stepping...

Hi All, I have just bought an old 2 story singleskin (no cavity) mid-terraced house that has suspended wooden floors throughout. Ive been hacking away at the ungodly amount of renovations that need doing and come across one that has me stumped... A more recent extension has been built running...

Ramp to next door above my DPC.

Hi Folks, My bathroom floor has had problems with damp and thinking that it was just condensation I pulled the Lino back to reveal pipes in the floor had been leaking. What is worse is whoever installed these pipes had also cut a hole in the DPC for the waste for the bath and never sealed...

Hi, I had a minor disaster yesterday when I hired a power float. I was using the power float on a single garage slab which was surrounded by a double three course wall on three sides. On one of the walls the power float must have hit the wall too many times and shifted the wall out by 1cm...

There are gaps in the concrete floor just inside the front door of my house - and a pale blue sheet of plastic (which is, I suppose, a damp-proof course) is by no means intact. Here is an overview: The size of the gaps is shown by the two pound coin that can (just) be seen in the next three...

Hi, hope you can advise... i purchase my c1900 flat and during bathroom renovation i discovered low down damp which i presume if rising damp. I'm looking at DPC'ing this with DryZone, any good? Also from the pics, i've taken the plaster off down to the red bricks, they are quite brittle so is...

Hi, My son has just bought a new build home and moved-in in December. Since that time the bricks at the back of the house, only, have been permanently wet up to DPC level. The DPC appears to be holding the line and doing its job, though the bricks below are already looking very salty. My...

My late father had a conservatory built in may last year, I'm now the owner of the house my dpc level on the back of the conservatory goes well below 150mm I've been in contact with the company that built it and they said it's because of the flags and I need an aco drain. BUT they put the flags...