Damp in garage

[sPoNiX]

I have a garage built from brick. The neighbour has built a patio that butts up to my garage wall. See my attempted ASCII drawing below.

When it rains heavilly the water runs off his patio, soaks through the wall of my garage and floods it to about 1/4" deep! (Yes, I have checked the roof etc for leaks)

Whilst I realise the neighbour should have left a drainage channel, the chances of him digging up his patio and fitting one is virtually nil.

I can buy liquid especially for waterproofing brickwork. Is it any good? If I were to apply it liberally to the bottom of the wall on the outside where the water is soaking through...would it work?

Alternatively, I was thinking of applying some sort of flashing/weather strip along the area where the patio meets the garage. Would that work?

I'm after the lowest cost/least effort solution possible.

sponix

| | | GARAGE | PATIO |_______________ |

-----------

Water runs from patio, through the brickwork and onto garage floor.

[Dave Fawthrop]

| I have a garage built from brick. The neighbour has built a patio that | butts up to my garage wall. See my attempted ASCII drawing below. | | When it rains heavilly the water runs off his patio, soaks through the | wall of my garage and floods it to about 1/4" deep! (Yes, I have | checked the roof etc for leaks) | | Whilst I realise the neighbour should have left a drainage channel, | the chances of him digging up his patio and fitting one is virtually | nil. | | I can buy liquid especially for waterproofing brickwork. Is it any | good? If I were to apply it liberally to the bottom of the wall on the | outside where the water is soaking through...would it work? | | Alternatively, I was thinking of applying some sort of | flashing/weather strip along the area where the patio meets the | garage. Would that work? | | I'm after the lowest cost/least effort solution possible. | | sponix | | | | | | | | | GARAGE | PATIO | |_______________ | | | ----------- | | Water runs from patio, through the brickwork and onto garage floor.

Your garage will be wholly on your land, as will any overhang of the roof, so your neighbour has put part of his patio on your land. This should give you leverage in discussions.

[sPoNiX]

The overhang is minimal (2" perhaps, it's a flat roof) and it would be impossible to determine where the boundary lies to that degree of accuracy.

What I'm looking for is a cheap and easy solution to the immediate problem, which is the penetrating damp..

sponix

[Brian Sharrock]

My 'deeds' state that I can't discharge water from my property onto either neighbours' property. It seem to be a standard clause in English property conveyance documents. Your deeds might contain an equivalent clause -as should your neighbours, Consult a solicitor.

[<me9]

Near neighbour had a similar problem. We observed very heated words on the completion of the drive, abutting a wall above the DPC. It now terminates short of the wall, and is at the correct level WRT the DPC at the wall. I would think the council would enforce compliance with building regs if required.

[sPoNiX]

Would brick sealer or perhaps a weatherstrip solve the problem?

sponix

[sPoNiX]

Anyone any ideas which bit of the building regs would cover this?

sponix

[RzB]

I posted a little while on a similar subject ... see..

all appears to be working superbly at the moment - time will tell ...

However none of it was cheap... Perhaps you should get your neighbour to pay...?

Roy

[sPoNiX]

The water is only getting through the bottom two courses of brickwork so is it worth painting them with bitumen/sealant?

sponix

[Chris Bacon]

You can bodge it by applying tanking as described in the recent "ancient garage" thread - the OP there used some sort of vertical DPC other than the bitumen emulsion/sand blinding that was another option - however, your neighbour is not within his rights to cause this problem, and simply asking him to remedy matters in view of this might resolve the situation. You can but try.

[sPoNiX]

I'll try getting him to remedy the situation but think it'll fall on deaf ears.

I could then sue but this will take time and money and obviously wish to avoid spending money if I don't have to.

sponix

[Chris Bacon]

Hang on, is it running through the courses, or are the bricks just damp?

[Dave Fawthrop]

| I'll try getting him to remedy the situation but think it'll fall on | deaf ears. | | I could then sue but this will take time and money and obviously wish | to avoid spending money if I don't have to.

I would take a large angle grinder to the two inches of patio on your land, after giving him 28 days notice of what you intend to do. This will allow drainage backwards under his patio and probably cure the problem.

[sPoNiX]

Access is the problem. Locked gate and big dog.

sponix

[Dave Fawthrop]

| On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 12:29:09 +0000, Dave Fawthrop | wrote: | | >On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 12:16:03 GMT, [e-mail] (sPoNiX) wrote: | >

| >

| >| I'll try getting him to remedy the situation but think it'll fall on | >| deaf ears. | >| | >| I could then sue but this will take time and money and obviously wish | >| to avoid spending money if I don't have to. | >

| >I would take a large angle grinder to the two inches of patio on your land, | >after giving him 28 days notice of what you intend to do. This will allow | >drainage backwards under his patio and probably cure the problem. | | Access is the problem. Locked gate and big dog.

They are denying you access to your own land.

[Chris Bacon]

Angle grinder.

Angle grinder.

Use a lawyer. Issue him with an angle grinder.

[RzB]

This surely breaks building regs ? Yes/no?

Is it perhaps worth talking to your local building inspectors office?

I'm sure they would advise the best approach...

Roy

[Another Dave]

ROFLOL

Another Dave

[Matt]

Its not your problem to rectify its clearly your neighbours (assuming the garage is in the right place) You'll really only get physical solutions here and while they may be useful the best place for a start would be uk.legal.

[sPoNiX]

Just emailed local BCO and he doesn't know if it's against regs or not! However, he does agree that it's bad practice.

Can anyone point me to the section of the building regs that advise on such matters? I could then email him back and say "look at section blahblah".

sponix