Hi,
I've got a funny situation here. There appears to be a damp patch 2'0" in size on the gable end side of the brick house plinth. My house is a 1980s Wimpey No Fines house and is built into the side of a hill. The plinth is shallowest at the party wall side and then the hill falls away towards the gable end where the plinth is approximately 4'0" high. The wierd thing is the damp seems to originate from the top of the plinth where the concrete wall meets the brick plinth, about 4'0" above the ground! There is a lot of salt deposited on the face of the bricks. It seems this has occurred since the winter and I don't feel it is down to rainwater running down the outside of the wall. The damp patch is approx 3'0" along the gable end from the front corner of the house and the kitchen, bathroom and all feeds and wastes are at the front of the house.
I've looked under the kitchen cabinets in that corner of the house and cannot see any evidence of damp in the screed nor of leaks fom any pipework above the screed floor. The internal soil pipe and feed boxing is on the other side of the kitchen towards the party wall approx 14'0" away from the damp plinth face and there is nothing on any walls,internal or external, at that point.
Is it possible that a pipe could have fractured under or within the plinth and is draining across 14'0" till it meets the brick plinth wall? Is it possible that the pebbledash render could have failed and any rainwater running down that face of the house is entering the concrete and draining out the underside of the concrete, down into the brick plinth or onto the face of the bricks?
Who would I consult, a plumber, structural engineer?
Cheers,
Douche.
I've got a funny situation here. There appears to be a damp patch 2'0" in size on the gable end side of the brick house plinth. My house is a 1980s Wimpey No Fines house and is built into the side of a hill. The plinth is shallowest at the party wall side and then the hill falls away towards the gable end where the plinth is approximately 4'0" high. The wierd thing is the damp seems to originate from the top of the plinth where the concrete wall meets the brick plinth, about 4'0" above the ground! There is a lot of salt deposited on the face of the bricks. It seems this has occurred since the winter and I don't feel it is down to rainwater running down the outside of the wall. The damp patch is approx 3'0" along the gable end from the front corner of the house and the kitchen, bathroom and all feeds and wastes are at the front of the house.
I've looked under the kitchen cabinets in that corner of the house and cannot see any evidence of damp in the screed nor of leaks fom any pipework above the screed floor. The internal soil pipe and feed boxing is on the other side of the kitchen towards the party wall approx 14'0" away from the damp plinth face and there is nothing on any walls,internal or external, at that point.
Is it possible that a pipe could have fractured under or within the plinth and is draining across 14'0" till it meets the brick plinth wall? Is it possible that the pebbledash render could have failed and any rainwater running down that face of the house is entering the concrete and draining out the underside of the concrete, down into the brick plinth or onto the face of the bricks?
Who would I consult, a plumber, structural engineer?
Cheers,
Douche.
