Damp courses of bricks

[mattj1985]

Hi all,

First time poster! I've recently moved into an older property and dealing with a few gremlins. First issue I came across was damp in one of the living rooms which ive hopefully now resolved be opening up an old blocked fireplace and taking all the old fireplace out. Now I've tackled the internal issue (hopefully!) I'm looking to deal with external damp.

As you can see from the pictures about 3 courses up from the DPC there's a band of horizontal damp. I'm not entirely sure what the issue could be, using a moisture meter the bottom courses of brick are dryer that the ones higher up. Could it be historical damage to the bricks that has turned them porous and it's just a case of sealing them or is there anything else I should be investigating. There was a ton of salt on the bricks which I've cleaned off as I assume that will have been drawing moisture in. Where im pointing on the pics is where the DPC is. I'd also like to repoint the wall but unsure what the best mortar mix would be? Thanks Matt

 

[foxhole]

Why are you using that useless meter outside , pointless .
Can’t see any evidence of damp .

 

[mattj1985]

Why are you using that useless meter outside , pointless .
Can’t see any evidence of damp .

Why is it useless? It has a setting for bricks and you can see from the pictures that the readings change where to brick faces are damaged. There was also lots of salt build up which indicates there's a damp issue.

 

[Koolpc]

They are useless. Period.

Let the inside dry out. If it stays dry then i wouldnt worry about the bricks outside.

 

[mattj1985]

They are useless. Period.

Let the inside dry out. If it stays dry then i wouldnt worry about the bricks outside.

Again why are they useless? Some statement as to why would be useful.

I just didn't want the bricks getting damaged further once we have frost.

 

[Deluks]

The outside of your house is allowed to be wet. Because it's outside.

Does that shed roof discharge water onto the wall when it rains?

 

[Burnerman]

Avoid any water splash from the ground, including leaking gutters, downcomers or whatever, then check out Permagard products for treatment.
I was getting a similar issue and the bricks were starting to spall, but a Permagard brush on cream sorted it completely.
Naturally enough, it has no effect whatsoever on faulty pointing but for genuine porosity problems it works well.
John

 

[mattj1985]

The outside of your house is allowed to be wet. Because it's outside.

Does that shed roof discharge water onto the wall when it rains?

There's guttering on the shed which will catch light rain but not doubt if it's bouncing it down some rain will bounce off the roof and onto the wall. I'm going to clean the guttering out when I get a minute.

 

[mattj1985]

Avoid any water splash from the ground, including leaking gutters, downcomers or whatever, then check out Permagard products for treatment.
I was getting a similar issue and the bricks were starting to spall, but a Permagard brush on cream sorted it completely.
Naturally enough, it has no effect whatsoever on faulty pointing but for genuine porosity problems it works well.
John

Thanks John, the ground level is very close to the damp proof courses in places so I do need to address that. However if it was raising damp I'd have expected the lower courses of bricks to be damaged. I think a coat of masonry cream and some repointing seems to be the best bet at the minute.

 

[accelerator]

That silver grill thing, is that letting water in?

Any pipes inside the wall that might be leaking?

 

[mattj1985]

That silver grill thing, is that letting water in?

Any pipes inside the wall that might be leaking?

Doesn't seem to be, it seems dry round that area. There are some pipes that come through the wall into the log cabin, I've inspected them and can't see any leaks.