Hi,
I recently purchased what has turned out to be a very damp Victorian semi detached.
Running along the whole of the extenal wall is about 6 inches of concrete plinth which was easily removed in places to reveal the dpc which is 2 bricks above the external concrete path. As you can see in the first photo some of the bricks underneath are so wet they are literally disintergrating. The rest of the plinth is firmly attached covering the dpc and looks to have been there years.
So I am looking for any suggestions/advice on:
1) If this is one potential source of the damp and therefore it is worth the time and effort to remove the plinth.
2) Is the best way to remove it by hand with Hammer and Bolster
3) Is it easy to replace any bricks that are damaged
The damp is also not helped by the suspended timber floor having been removed at some point and replaced with a concrete floor throughout, hence why the original airbricks (2nd photo) have been filled in and also much of the old lime plaster replaced with modern gypsum - but that will be the subect of another post!
Thanks for any help
I recently purchased what has turned out to be a very damp Victorian semi detached.
Running along the whole of the extenal wall is about 6 inches of concrete plinth which was easily removed in places to reveal the dpc which is 2 bricks above the external concrete path. As you can see in the first photo some of the bricks underneath are so wet they are literally disintergrating. The rest of the plinth is firmly attached covering the dpc and looks to have been there years.
So I am looking for any suggestions/advice on:
1) If this is one potential source of the damp and therefore it is worth the time and effort to remove the plinth.
2) Is the best way to remove it by hand with Hammer and Bolster
3) Is it easy to replace any bricks that are damaged
The damp is also not helped by the suspended timber floor having been removed at some point and replaced with a concrete floor throughout, hence why the original airbricks (2nd photo) have been filled in and also much of the old lime plaster replaced with modern gypsum - but that will be the subect of another post!
Thanks for any help