Rain water drain possibly causing damp

[Sal99939]

Hi,

Hope you and your loved ones are well.

See pictures below.

This is a family rental property. The tenants are complaining of rising damp, which there is clear signs of inside the property. In the front room downstairs there is damp along part of the walls which has ruined about 6-7 meters of plaster along the walls at a height of about 30cm.

I am a competent DIYer and know that there is a cause for this damp it doesn't just appear and not to go all guns blazing to find damp proofers without looking for the cause first.

I could be wrong but from investigating I think I have found the source. See pictures below.

This is the rain water gutter outside the property:




Caught this on a rainy day, as you can see drain was replaced at some point and not connected to the old steel pipework. The rainwater is going down the side of the pipework.




The old pipework is broken and cracked, the picture doesn't highlight this properly.






I just wanted so guidance as to how best rectify this. My thoughts are to cap off the pipe in the ground with a rubber or plastic cap, then use mortar to seal up the around hole and around the pipe.

What are your thoughts? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[JohnD]

looking at the wall around the downpipe, it appears to be wet, between the windows, up to a height of about six feet.

is water escaping from a joint or hole in the downpipe?

it would be interesting to dig up the paving where the downpipe and the gulley are. The clay gulley is pretty sure to be broken and leaking in the ground. In which case it needs to be dug out and replaced with new.

You will notice that the surrounding paving has been patched. This is typical where a leak has caused the ground to sink.

Don't fill anything up with concrete.

I see an airbrick so I surmise you have a suspended wooden floor with a (should be) ventilated void. You need to look under the floorboards, too.

 

[Sal99939]

I

looking at the wall around the downpipe, it appears to be wet, between the windows, up to a height of about six feet.

is water escaping from a joint or hole in the downpipe?

it would be interesting to dig up the paving where the downpipe and the gulley are. The clay gulley is pretty sure to be broken and leaking in the ground. In which case it needs to be dug out and replaced with new.

You will notice that the surrounding paving has been patched. This is typical where a leak has caused the ground to sink.

Don't fill anything up with concrete.

I see an airbrick so I surmise you have a suspended wooden floor with a (should be) ventilated void. You need to look under the floorboards, too.

Thank you for your response.

I was taking pictures when it was raining and didn't notice any leak on to the wall, from the down pipe or gutter above, but will keep an eye out for this. It may have been historical.

downstairs is all solid floor, no wood or suspended floor.

This maybe a little out of my league.