Damp Walls

[Jamie]

Hi all,

I have an old cottage, one of the external walls seems to be quite damp, esentially the next door neibours drive runs along my external wall and by the time it gets to the kitchen at the back is about a foot or so above the floor in my kitchen, almost a cellar as such!!

This wall has been really damp along the skirting boards and about a foot up the wall. There is also a wall that divides my living room and my kitchen that seems pretty damp. The floors are stone so I can along assume that it is creating the dampness!

I have this evening chipped all the plaster off from the floor to about 4 foot up where the wlls become alot dryer. What do people suggest to teat these damp walls befor ethey are skimmed again? Someone has mentioned tanking but I don't really know what this entails.

Any ideas?

Thanks Jamie

[Codswallop]

Neighbours drive sounds like it's the problem. Tanking is usually done in cellars/basements so it may apply in your case.

[the_constructor]

Firstly, I would have a word with your neighbour and show him what the problem is so that he is fully aware of the situation, then I would suggest to him that the only way to cure the problem is to dig a 1 foot wide trench down the side of the wall affected deep enough so that it goes below you kitchen floor, this is assuming of course that it would not prevent him from using his drive. Then I would paint the outside wall with Aquaproof in order to tank it and fill trench with at least 6" of 10mm pea gravel, so that it is well below drive level. Get some steel grating to bridge the void. On the inside, I would paint the wall again with Aquaproof. Follow instructions on tin. When it is dry, then you can dot and dab paperboard it, then skim and everything should be ok. It would be in your best interests to emphasize to your neighbour that you do not expect him to pay for anything. That way he may be more willing for you to dig his drive up.

I used the Aquaproof on my last house where the kitchen floor was way below the back yard and it worked a treat.