damp patches on the inner wall of my outhouse...

Anna Bonaddio · 2020-01-21T15:03:12+00:00

I would be very grateful for some advice on this. We bought a house from a developer two years ago, the house included what we thought was a useful outhouse that could become a mancave at some point... simple construction, built with breeze blocks, but when we read up on the planning permission we realised it was a way of getting round planning permission for them as our car parking space is on top of it (there were protected trees in the way of the space that was on the original plans). I know it sounds eccentric that we park on top of it... that part of our garden is a storey below street level. We've had constant damp patches ever since we moved in. The parking space is on a slope and we seem to get all the rain seeping into side of the outhouse that is at the lowest point. Everything in there is has mould on it and there is constant condensation inside the glass door. I have an electrician here today installing a fan, he has noticed there are two layers of the breeze blocks in the wall with a gap in between and he can see the bricks are damp in between the gap. Next to our car parking space there is a narrow gutter leading to a drainpipe, that is also very narrow, but I can also see dark patches of damp and mould all over the ceiling of the outhouse (which is wooden struts supporting plywood and then whatever the builders put above that. We did manage to get the developer to put some leading around the edge of the car parking paving, but it hasn't had any affect on the damp as far as I can see. Our neighbour shares the other half of this outhouse (he parks his car next to us) and he says there is no point in pursuing the developer, we just have to work out our own fixes. If anyone has some advice I would be really grateful, I'm worried the outhouse will collapse under the weight of our cars as much as anything!

Jan 21, 2020 Last reply: 6 years ago 23 Replies

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Andrew 6 years ago

And totally inadequate for parking a car in top too !.

The side-to-side slope is very obvious from the outside and inside photos, so even if that plywood decking was actually used as shuttering to support a poured concrete deck, laying a poured concrete slab with a slope like that would be difficult, if not impossible. Those beams would never have supported the weight of a wet poured concrete deck on their own (one that is strong enough to support the weight of two cars). They are only suitable for internal domestic flooring.

You need to find out what is between that plywood deck and the paving blocks that you park your car on.

Something substantial like a Range Rover could go through that, hopefully while no-one is in the space below.

Did you get a proper survey done before buying the property ?. If so, what did it say ?.

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tabbypurr 6 years ago

Good point about the slope. A closer look at the exterior photo that shows the slope also shows the amount of felt foldover, and I don't believe there's any space there for a concrete slab. It looks like it can only be joists, plywood, felt and paviours. I'd regard parking on there as dangerous until proven otherwise.

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alan_m 6 years ago

That's not felt but the lead flashing that the OP said had been fitted later (?)

I too missed the slope in the photo. The OP would get most of the water. If the neighbour has similar problems with damp on on the underside of the roof on his side of the structure it suggests the roof underneath the brick paving is leaking

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tabbypurr 6 years ago

OK. I'm going to assume they didn't fix boarding to the concrete slab, if it exists, since it would be unnecessary and difficult. But the wood cladding extends too close ot the top for there to be any space for a concrete slab. There's really only room there for plywood, felt & paviours. Also the difficulty of pouring a sloped slab - it's not impossible but I don't remember ever seeing it done, as it's difficult.

which is bound to occur given the load on it. OK for parking bicycles on I guess, not cars.

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