Damp coming up through cellar floor

[agh100]

Hi

I have an old (c.1900) terrace victorian house, with a cellar.
The cellar has always had damp walls at the front of the house and sometimes I see patches of damp rising up through the concrete floor.

However it is had been fairly dry outside for a couple of weeks now, but the last week or so I have suddenly seen the concrete floor showing much larger patches of damp. You can actually soak up the water that has come through with a towel.

I am confused where this water is coming from and why it would get worse in a dry period? Surely there would not be any pipes underneath a cellar?

The only thing I can think of is workmen were fixing a pot hole outside our house, which was surrounding the water main.. not sure this would have anything to do with it..

Any ideas?

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

i think you have answered your own question, regarding the workmen outside.
I would just sit tight for awhile and if it was due to work, providing they have not damaged the mains water pipe, whilst working, should clear up.

 

[agh100]

But all the workmen did was replace a 1m2 bit of tarmac around a water main, they did not touch the main itself.

I was thinking is it possible that in doing this they have somehow caused a leak somewhere. But it seems unlikely to me that if they have caused a leak it is going downwards through the front garden and up through the cellar..

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

It does sound like a problem should not have arisen from the work, unless the pipe has been damaged.
If a hole was dug to do the repair, it could well have changed the way any rain water dispersed over that period.
So for the moment, I would monitor the situation.

 

[agh100]

hmm, its very strange

i was expecting the cellar to dry out with the dryer weather no the other way round..