Dampproofing neighbour's garage

[WaterproofingAdvice]

Hi, hope someone can help me as I'm really stuck! Our garden is higher than our neightbour's, so our soil is up against his garage to a depth of 3 to 4 feet and the wall is getting damp. We need to do something to prevent this, I've arranged to have a ditch dug out so that we can paint the wall with waterproofing paint such as Dryseal or Stormguard, but then he says if the soil goes back in it won't work. He's suggested a gap and a retaining wall, but I can't see how we can do this without digging out half the garden to enable the builders to get in to build a wall as it's quite deep! Can anyone advise if having soil or drainage materials such as gravel against the Dryseal would work or not, or recommend any way of building a retaining barrier without digging half the garden up! Thank you so much.

 

[r896neo]

How long has it been like this? Its totally unreasonable to pile soil up against a wall that does not belong to you so I'm assuming this was done before your time.

Your neighbour is right, digging it out and painting on a few coats of something is not adequate and will quickly fail. It is perfectly reasonable for him to insist on a proper solution.

You have 3 options;

1. tank the wall externally which will involving digging out and applying membranes and drainage.

2. Tank internally which is possibly not feasible or fair on him as it will require installing drainage channels in the floor and a fair bit of disruption.

3. Build a retaining wall as suggested. The retaining wall is the best option but will be costly. There is also a safety element to it as 3/4 feet is a serious amount of pressure on a garage wall which is probably 9". If the wall is only single skin you should go for the retaining wall as a 4" wall with that sort of pressure on it is not very safe structurally.

How has this arrangement come about? Long standing? Are other houses in the street like this too?

 

[WaterproofingAdvice]

Yes, its been like this since the house was built in the 1960's so nothing to do with us! I'm just after some friendly advice as I know nothing about building. I'm not trying to dodge my responsibilities! Thanks for your reply.

 

[r896neo]

No problem. I'll ask the moderators to move this to the building section as you will get more opinions and advice there for an issue like this.

 

[Tigercubrider]

Not a builder but some kind of French drain?

 

[Diver Fred]

Can you post some 'photo's please?

A view of the general perspective showing the difference in heights; maybe one of the inside of the neighbours garage wall; certainly one of the outside of the garage wall along your property.

Has your neighbour just raised this with you? If you have moved in recently can you find out if he was asking the previous owners to do the same job?.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Can you post some 'photo's please?

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Has your neighbour just raised this with you? If you have moved in recently can you find out if he was asking the previous owners to do the same job?.

Yeah that- this is all costing, who is paying for it? All very well being neighbourly but there are limits (especially if the soil has been there since the 60s). Plus re the structural issues, once you start doing things is the neighbour going to come back with 'oh look, my garage wall is bowing thanks to your french drain/whatever, you'll have to pay to fix that' (me being cynical here and wondering, like wgt52, whether this is a long standing gripe that he's being trying to drop onto your house for a while)

 

[WaterproofingAdvice]

We're actually trying to sell the house at the moment so we need to get it done so he doesn't cause problems with that. We're not living there any more so I can't take any photos just now. And it seems to be us paying for it, which is why I want to scope out alternatives!

 

[JohnD]

How much do you hope to sell the house for?

If you paid a couple of thou for a proper job, would you lose money on the house? Or would it aid the sale?

 

[Diver Fred]

OK - some more questions then...

Was it like it is today when you moved in? Has the neighbour moved in after you? Was there an expectation that the work would be done as part of your (or his) moving in contract?

Just a thought - when was the garage built and is a copy of the plans available from the council?

Another thought is when you go and take photo's for us to comment on, once you've taken the pictures do a little digging along the wall, say a spit deep and to about a foot away and see if there is a retaining wall and gap that has been filled in or covered up...

 

[WaterproofingAdvice]

I think it'll need to be done before we can sell as he claims to have lodged a complaint with the agent, though they don't have a record of it. I think he would kick off though so I'd rather sort it out. We moved in before him, though his grandparents had the house for many years before that so he's known what its like for a long time. Thanks everyone for your help, I'm going down tomorrow so will see what the situation is then!

 

[^woody^]

It's not your responsibility if it was constructed like that, rather it is his responibility to deal with.

Also, as its a garage, and not a habitable space then its up to him as to the extent of any work he wants to carry out - ie it's not supposed to be a waterproof garage, and it will get wet internally when it rains regardless of the soil level.