Damp help

[Tony Hayes]

Hi just wondering if anyone can help. I recently had a patio laid. It backs right up to the garage wall, which is single brick in width. The patio is below the DPC, but above the garage floor.

I have noticed the bricks below the DPC are damp during rain on the outside, and they are also damp on the inside on the bricks below the patio. This has caused wet patches on the run along the wall on the garage floor too. You can see this in the picture. Is this a problem? Not sure if this happened before the patio was laid.

 

[Doggit]

Call them back, and point out how they've screwed up. Not sure what they've done outside the garage door, but they've put white stones down along the wall, but these will get clogged with dust, and the water will track across. You need either 1" stones, or a channel drain along the wall.

 

[Tony Hayes]

What do you mean by 1" stones. Thankyou for such a quick reply. Will the dampness at the bottom of the bricks and in the garage cause a problem?

 

[Doggit]

You've just got white gravel along the wall outside, and the gaps are so small, they'll soon fill with dust and dirt. A channel about 3 inches wide, and maybe 6" deep should have been left between the patio and the house, and then filled with stones about an inch wide; the gaps are larger, and won't fill so quickly, and any water will drain down into the earth at the bottom of the channel. In front of the garage, it's across the patio, soaking into the bricks, and then into the garage - which I suspect it wasn'tdoing before.

 

[^woody^]

Bricks below DPC will be damp. Single skins of brick like that will also get damp on the back soon after they get rained on the front.

It won't be the fault of the patio.

A big problem there is that that door does not have a cill overhang. Rain will be running down the door and then straight under the frame through the bricks.

 

[Tony Hayes]

Woody, this is really helpful. I have noticed water stains on both sides of the garage floor near the walls. Is this something to worry about? Should I worry about the damp bricks? Again thank you for replying.

 

[Doggit]

Post a picture from outside tomorrow. When was the patio done, and did you get the damp problems before it.

 

[Tony Hayes]

Will do. We had the patio done recently, but moved in not long before. So it is not something I can say in regards to the past. Will post more pictures tomorrow. Thanks again.