Alley way floor possibly briding DPC

Hi,

We live in an end of terrace house. Its in the middle of the street, but on one side there is an alley way between us and the neighbour (hence end of terrace). The alley way provides access to the back of a number of properties on our street but there is no other access. It has a concrete floor that goes all the way to the back to the property.

When I purchased the house the surveyor told me there there seemed like damp present in the house, but only along the one wall on the alleyway side. Damp proofing has been done as I can see the plastic round caps all along entire the bottom of the house. I also have a certificate from the previous owner stating that fact, with a 25yr warranty

The surveyor said the floor level in the alley way was bridging the damp proof course (DPC), adding that the floor level should be 2 brick lines below the damp proof course but in fact it is the same level as the DPC. He said that this was the reason for the damp. Inside the house no plaster is loose or coming away on that wall, but since the DPC and remedial work was done 5yrs years ago, I can only assume the previous owner did not know about the alleyway floor level (or did not do the work)

There are air brick into my house along my wall in the alleyway, however as they are lower than the alleyway floor there are cut outs to allow air in. They were blocked with rubbish/stones but I have cleared them now.

The surveyor has offered 2 solutions.

1) lower the floor of the alley way so that it is 2 brick lines below the DPC. This would be alot of work, covering an area 1m wide x 10m approx. Or 2) Dig out a channel along my wall in the alleyway (he did not say how wide but I am guessing 6 inches or so?). Dig it out so that is is 2 brick lines lower that the DPC. Clean it out and then fill it will gravel.

What I need to know is, is the surveyor correct in identifiying the cause of the damp, and will his solutions work.

PS I know there is an issue of permission required to do the work in the alley. It is owned collectivley by the houses it provides access to. I would need permission from them all before I carry out any work. I am looking into this

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to get as much info over as possible

Thanks

Bhupesh

Reply to
bp
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Both solutions should work. The only issue is whether there is a problem at all. With good drainage of the path, so there is no standing water, and protection from the elements due to the nearby house, you may find that there isn't actually a damp problem.

Personally, I would wait until an actual damp problem presented itself (i.e. crumbling plaster, mould, peeling paint/wallpaper) until doing expensive remedial work that might only be theoretically required.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

OK, Thanks for the reply.

I can smell damp inn the house (and so could he). Also the walls are painted plaster (no paper). There is one small corner where it has gone black. Is this mould. No plaster is crumbling but there is white patches in a few places. Are these the signs I should be looking for.

Could the smell simply be the blocked air brick (which I have cleared now).

Thanks

Bhupesh

Reply to
bp

This could be the case. It could also be that the channels to the air bricks act as drains, so you get a layer of smelly stagnant water under your house. If this is the case, you should really be looking at either the original solution of dropping the entire path level (by far the best solution), or alternatively, preventing water entering the airbricks.

You could, for example, provide a sort of snorkel from the air brick to above ground level and then fill in the channels, so water drains away by another method. This solution will only work if the path is very well drained, as it won't prevent penetrating damp from any standing water on the path. It could also be combined with the French drain solution that you were offered to solve the standing water problem. However, this could only work if the French drain itself led to a soakaway or rainwater drainage system. Otherwise, the gravel pit will just fill up and solve nothing.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

PLEASE SORT OUT YOUR QUOTING!!!!

Very likely. It is likely to have been caused by condensation, though.

That could indicate that there's been damp in the past.. is the plaster pink?

How long ago did you clear the air-bricks?

Reply to
Chris Bacon

Hi,

I only cleared the bricks yesterday.

I shouldhave mentioned that I have just recently got the house.

The plaster wall has been painted over in red.The white patches look powdery more than anything else (i.e. pink).

Reply to
bp

The message from "bp" contains these words:

It sounds very likely. Both solutions would work, as far as I know, but the gravel solution would have to have somewhere for the water to go to, otherwise it'll just be gravel swimming in water.

Reply to
Guy King

Substantially I think he is spot on.

And so are his solutions.

Actually ripping up a slab of concrete like that is no big deal, if you get a skip to put it in, and hire a kanga or similar. And a concrete saw to rip through it to pull out a channel is no big deal either.

.
Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Not so. Rain splashing on the hard path will and does splash up the wall..in cases like this.

I got a patch of spalling simply because MY gravel had a bit of slate left lying on it over the winter.

That part of the wall lost its pain. Nowehre else did.

For sure heat and ventilation will do the trick, as will a waterproof shield a few inches up the wall.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Been there, drained that swamp.

Thats why the very best solution is to lower the ground level outside by ripping up the alleyway

Or as in my mates house, installing a sump, a pump, and a float valve...if it rains you her this chugging and a stream of piss colored water spouts out of a pipe into a gutter, I keep thinking he should disguise it with one of those little statues of little boys that teh Krauts are so addicted to..

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Hi,

Please can you explains whats involved in putting a water proof shield.

Thanks

Reply to
bp

OK a bit of an update.

I inspected the walls a bit more closely last night and a fair bit of the paint is flaking (about 1ft up the wall from the floor). I guess since it has been decorated recently it is hard to see.

The plaster is pinking a bit in places where it is flaking. Tapping it sounds loose.

Based on the replies I have a few questions.

If I choose to dig out a channel I need to create a soak away - please explain what is involved. I guess the channel needs to be at an angle to drain the water away - do I just need to get the water away from the house.

If Ilower the floor I will still need to create an incline for the water - can this be done by laying concrete or should I go for paving slabs

I a now going to ask some builder for quotes etc.

Thanks for the replies.

Bhupesh

Reply to
bp

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