Brickwork below/around slate DPC damaged/damp!

[Helpmediy101]

To the rear of my 1930s property, the brickwork below and around the slate DPC is very weathered, damaged and parts have moss growing on it. The slate DPC feels loose in some areas and parts of it flaked off (not loads). The render above is darker - damp possibly?

We only bought the house a few weeks ago and so haven't had any major rainfall yet, but I suspect part of the issue is dodgy guttering/drain (survey didn't pick this up as was done on a clear day). The picture of the white render looks like it's been damaged due to water (possibly leaking from gutter above) and that is just above the mossy brick. The floor feels very cold too.

What is the best thing to do here? I think sort wherever the water is coming from (if at all), repoint the damaged bricks and mortar over the DPC? Have read so much stuff about pointless DPC creams/injections so trying to just do what is necessary.

Cheers!!

 

[Helpmediy101]

Anything help with this at all?

 

[Mr Chibs]

Firstly I think I wouldn’t worry over this.

Is there any damp actually coming into the house?

The Dpc looks like bitumen, yes a bit flaky but probably doing it’s job.

You could point-up the visible bricks, it will make it look better, but not much else.

I’ve lived in houses older than your current one with brickwork in worse condition.

you could remove the brick paving that butts up to the house and replace with largish pebbles (Bigger than 20mm!)
This may help stop bridging moisture to the brickwork.



is it cavity or solid brick construction?
Should be cavity on that age I think.

 

[Helpmediy101]

Firstly I think I wouldn’t worry over this.

Is there any damp actually coming into the house?

The Dpc looks like bitumen, yes a bit flaky but probably doing it’s job.

You could point-up the visible bricks, it will make it look better, but not much else.

I’ve lived in houses older than your current one with brickwork in worse condition.

you could remove the brick paving that butts up to the house and replace with largish pebbles (Bigger than 20mm!)
This may help stop bridging moisture to the brickwork.



is it cavity or solid brick construction?
Should be cavity on that age I think.

Thank you! There's no actual damp coming in - paint is starting to flake off the walls by the area somewhat and the floor feels very cold. I'm not sure if that damaged corner brick needs to come out as it is very rotten - most are near the ground.

Do you think a drain (French drain) would be suitable around the base of the wall?

It is a cavity wall.

 

[Mr Chibs]

The floors will feel cold, if they are suspended, doubt there will be any insulation in them... same for and old concrete floor. They really suck all the heat out.

You can chop out any bad brick and replace... Will probably be easy to remove if the mortar is crumbly.

French drain shouldn’t be needed unless you’ve got a fair bit of water to deal with.

As mentioned previously take the paving back a brick and pebble to start with.
if you fill with 20mm gravel within a year or so, it will compact and become solid again... defeating the objective.

The flaky paint, is this externally (hard to see on pic) or internal?

 

[tell80]

Can you please post pics of the skirting level inside the lean-to and inside the bay and where you say the paint is flaking?
You have suspended floors - if theres enough room someone needs to go under the floors and inspect the condition of the joists where they sit in pockets in the walls - or lift boards for a sight.
You have a slate DPC thats a bit flaky especially where the corner has dropped but it seems to be doing its job?

The render looks poor - the outside corner bead on the lean-to has rusted and expanded so its beginning to burst the render. The outside corner bead on the bay is patched up due to failure or during the install of the doors.
V. poor making good after the install of door and window frames - same with the lean-to flashing.
Its best to always finish render with a Bellcast but maybe a bit late in the day for your render unless its all renewed?

For long term repairs you could replace all damaged bricks 2 or 3 at a time and rake out and repoint all the remaining exposed pointing.
If any bricks are removed have a look to see if the cavity has any DPC bridging rubble inside.
Theres no need for a French drain.

 

[tudors]

Never known a house built in the 30s to have Cavity walls , if you measure wall thickness at window and door openings i think you will see 9" not 13" .

 

[Mr Chibs]

Looked on a bigger screen, yes it’s slate dpc, apologies.

 

[jacko555]

Never known a house built in the 30s to have Cavity walls

Mine is early 20s with a cavity. They're out there

 

[tell80]

google/wikpedia says cavity walls have been built since the late 19thC

 

[mrrusty]

Never known a house built in the 30s to have Cavity walls

Mine is 1902 with a cavity. We have the architects original drawings and all external walls are shown as 11" - i.e.with 2" cavity.

 

[Mr Chibs]

Mine is 1904, solid wall construction with bitumen DPC.

 

[elisa123]

We have lived in old houses (1920s and 30s) which had cavity walls. What did the surveyor recommend regarding the brick work/render?

 

[Helpmediy101]

The floors will feel cold, if they are suspended, doubt there will be any insulation in them... same for and old concrete floor. They really suck all the heat out.

You can chop out any bad brick and replace... Will probably be easy to remove if the mortar is crumbly.

French drain shouldn’t be needed unless you’ve got a fair bit of water to deal with.

As mentioned previously take the paving back a brick and pebble to start with.
if you fill with 20mm gravel within a year or so, it will compact and become solid again... defeating the objective.

The flaky paint, is this externally (hard to see on pic) or internal?

This is great advice - thank you. I'll look into the pebble solution to prevent any further damage, and potentially getting some insulation in at a later stage. The floor there isn't even level anyway, so will need to go down there.

The paint is just flaking internally, basically to the walls where that damaged brickwork is.

Can you please post pics of the skirting level inside the lean-to and inside the bay and where you say the paint is flaking?
You have suspended floors - if theres enough room someone needs to go under the floors and inspect the condition of the joists where they sit in pockets in the walls - or lift boards for a sight.
You have a slate DPC thats a bit flaky especially where the corner has dropped but it seems to be doing its job?

The render looks poor - the outside corner bead on the lean-to has rusted and expanded so its beginning to burst the render. The outside corner bead on the bay is patched up due to failure or during the install of the doors.
V. poor making good after the install of door and window frames - same with the lean-to flashing.
Its best to always finish render with a Bellcast but maybe a bit late in the day for your render unless its all renewed?

For long term repairs you could replace all damaged bricks 2 or 3 at a time and rake out and repoint all the remaining exposed pointing.
If any bricks are removed have a look to see if the cavity has any DPC bridging rubble inside.
Theres no need for a French drain.

Thanks for this mate! The slate DPC is working I think - there's no hallmarks of the classic "rising damp". The only possible thing might be flaking paint/cracking skirting boards to the area in the kitchen above those bricks (pics on this comment). The floor in the kitchen isn't even level so we'd probably need to get under there in any case anyway and have a look.

The render hasn't been redone for a long time (I think) and our surveyor mentioned it probably just needs redoing fully soon anyway. Hopefully the brickwork underneath the render is fine!

 

[tell80]

As i mentioned above, from the pics you have a cavity wall, and unless the cavity is blocked and bridging from the outer skin to the inner skin, then any moisture getting into the outer skin cant cross the cavity - so no French type drains are needed.

The slate DPC we can see in the outer skin is maybe working in the outer skin.
But we dont know whats happening with any DPC in the inner skin?
In fact, your new pics show obvious damp conditions in the inner skin - it could be rising damp or penetrating damp or both.
No pics so i dont know whats happening in the bay?

What do you mean by redone render - maybe all the render on the lean-to needs knocking off.
I cant see to much of the house render.