Damp

[Softus]

standerd practise is to install new damp course and take of the defected and contaminated plaster and reinstate

I know - that's why I asked you.

So, in "standard practise" cases, what evidence do you have that the damp problem was cured by installing a new DPC, rather than being cured by hacking off faulty render and replacing it?

and there has been cases where a new damp course has been installed and has dried out but it can be a long wait which is why its hacked off

How many cases? What addresses?

 

[markie]

Ohhhh dang. what have I started...

By doing what?

Talking about rising damp

But he didn't.

Not yet, but he has indicated that rising damp does exist

 

[dano1779]

what you're telling me is that all the houses that are built don't need a damp course because no water will rise up ?????? you tell me what the damp course is for

 

[Softus]

what you're telling me is that all the houses that are built don't need a damp course because no water will rise up ?

Where have I told you that?

you tell me what the damp course is for

I already have - did you not read the topic? Let me make it easier for you:

The DPC is a thin (around 2mm) layer embedded between two specific courses of bricks, that is contiguous with the DPM (damp proof memrane) installed inside the house. Some older houses don't have a DPC, and/or a DPM.

Some people believe that the DPC prevents damp from rising through the brickwork, but this is a myth. All damp problems at the base of a wall are caused by water falling/dripping/trickling from above or water bouncing off ground that is too high and/or too hard and/or too near.

So, I'll ask you again - what evidence do you have that your company's replacement of a DPC is what cures a damp problem, rather than the other work you do being the cure?

 

[dano1779]

bromley council has only a damp course put in and is reviewed 1 year later some of the jobs we go back some we don't

 

[Softus]

work for a dampproof company and can tell you there is such thing as rising damp...

Oh joy! The moment I've been waiting for!

Ohhhh dang. what have I started...

By doing what?

Talking about rising damp

But he didn't.

Not yet, but he has indicated that rising damp does exist

But that's just it - he didn't.

 

[Softus]

bromley council has only a damp course put in

Thank you for this information.

Now - which properties and which walls?

...some of the jobs we go back some we don't

I see. When you "go back", is it just to review, or to carry out further work?

 

[markie]

Give him time, he will

PS stop picking on me it's my B/day

 

[dano1779]

to review if has dried out or not and some casses it has dried out and some not but more not be their is casses belive it or not it has dried out

 

[Softus]

All I need in order to believe it is one solitary case where the only remedial work done was to insert a DPC, with no work on any surrounding render, or any change in ground level, or introduction of a French drain, or any repairs to guttering.

So far, despite repeated requests on the forum, and despite many people claiming to have seen examples, only one person has ever offered a real life example, and when he thought about it he was no longer sure.

Do you have an example, dano1779?

 

[Softus]

 

[markie]

You've been watching BOB AND VIC too much

Shooting stars, crazy show

 

[Softus]

You've been watching BOB AND VIC too much

Wha'd'ya mean? I invented tumbleweed - Bob n Vic just copied the idea.

 

[ColJack]

my brother bought a house which had a damp problem..

he had a chemical DPC put in to fix the old one..

no other remedial work was carried out, not drains installed, no gutters replaced or even cleared, no render replaced etc..

the only other work carried out was done a few weeks later once the walls had dried and several patches of plaster had to be replaced because the damp had caused them to blow..

what you're telling me is that all the houses that are built don't need a damp course because no water will rise up ?

Where have I told you that?

here..

Some people believe that the DPC prevents damp from rising through the brickwork, but this is a myth.

 

[Softus]

my brother bought a house which had a damp problem..

he had a chemical DPC put in to fix the old one..

no other remedial work was carried out, not drains installed, no gutters replaced or even cleared, no render replaced etc..

the only other work carried out was done a few weeks later once the walls had dried and several patches of plaster had to be replaced because the damp had caused them to blow.

OK - now we're getting somewhere. May I ask you some more questions about this, so that I can understand why your brother has the only house that someone is willing to put forward of an example of a property that had rising damp through the brickwork?

1. What was the ground level outside the damp wall, relative to the old DPC?
2. What was the ground level outside the damp wall, relative to the new DPC?
3. What was the internal floor level, relative to the old DPC?
4. What was the internal floor level, relative to the new DPC?
5. What type of ground was outside the damp wall?
6. Had the house been unoccupied for any period of time before he moved in?
7. If so, for how long, and at what time of year?
8. Which direction was the outside of damp wall facing?
9. What area of the country was this?
10. What was the construction of the damp wall?
11. Did it have a cavity?
12. Was the wall rendered, or covered by any means, on the outside?
13. If so, what was the state of repair of that covering?
14. Did it have any insulation in the cavity?
15. How old was the house?
16. What was the construction of the floor next to the damp wall?

what you're telling me is that all the houses that are built don't need a damp course because no water will rise up?

Where have I told you that?

here..

Some people believe that the DPC prevents damp from rising through the brickwork, but this is a myth.

You've misrepresented my post, possibly even deliberately. Preceding that statement was the following:

The DPC is a thin (around 2mm) layer embedded between two specific courses of bricks, that is contiguous with the DPM (damp proof memrane) installed inside the house. Some older houses don't have a DPC, and/or a DPM.

And you've also omitted the sentence that followed it, viz:

All damp problems at the base of a wall are caused by water falling/dripping/trickling from above or water bouncing off ground that is too high and/or too hard and/or too near.

To be clear on this point, a DPC is useful only when it's contiguous with the DPM. In theory it's possible for a badly installed, or unnecessarily installed, DPC to do more harm than good, by causing water to be retained in brickwork that would otherwise drain out, or by deflecting it to the inner surface of the wall.