DPC anxiety

[RainbowLaura]

We have lived in our house for a good few years now with no obvious issues, but this has worried me since I noticed last year...

The house is on a slight slope and the driveway to the side is higher than the inside floor level. In the below (rubbish) pic, the red line shows where the DPC is on three sides of the house and where the front door threshold/floor level is inside. But as you can see, the driveway is three courses higher than this. The DPC along that side is also higher than on the other three walls, 2 courses above the driveway, so the DPC isn't breached yet it is higher than the floor level inside. Surely that can't be right? We did have a homebuyers survey which did not throw up any issues with this. We are the second owners and the house is 15 years old. Am I right to be concerned? And is this something that a more vigilant surveyor might pick up on when we eventually try to sell (probably in 5-10 years time)? It has been suggested to me that there could be a tray in there but I have no idea whether that's the case or not. It is really causing me a lot of worry so I would be so grateful if anyone could give me their thoughts on it

 

[Notch7]

Am I right to be concerned?

No

Its a modern house, so it has cavity construction.

The dpc prevent damp working its way vertically.

There is a cavity that stops damp working sideways and in general the cavity will extend down below dpc by 3 courses.

There will be a separate dpc on the internal blockwork, which may well be at a different level.

 

[bobasd]

are there any signs of damp or condensation on the interior of the driveway wall at low level?

 

[John D v2.0]

No there's no need to be concerned, if the drive was original and matches another house and there a visible dpc 2 bricks above then it's definitely designed to be like that. Not ideal design, but it's supposed to be like that.

 

[bobasd]

if there's damp inside then there would be much to be concerned about.

 

[^woody^]

Never mind DPC, try OCD.

 

[bobasd]

i think i'd be more inclined to have OCD if i was on DIYNOT 24/7 for 13 years straight.

 

[^woody^]

i think i'd be more inclined to have OCD if i was on DIYNOT 24/7 for 13 years straight.

Well, try not to think then and you'll be fine.

 

[RainbowLaura]

Yes sorry, I do have an anxiety problem which I think is probably more of an issue than the DPC thing!

Thanks so much for your replies, which have reassured me.

Nope there is no sign of damp at all inside the house. The house was all shut up when we were away during that very rainy period last week as well, and it didn't even smell damp anywhere when we got back.

I just worry we'll have issues if potential future buyers have a nit-picky surveyor who doesn't like the look of it, as I'm not sure much could be done about it.

 

[John D v2.0]

There are always nit pick things that come up when selling a house, but that depends on the person buying it s well. My advice would be don't worry about it until then, and even then it can be sorted out one way or another.

 

[RainbowLaura]

Thank you - I will try to put it to the back of my mind