Damp (Rain) penetrating garage wall

[Em]

I have a single skin, brick-built garage. One of the walls of the garage acts as a 'retaining' wall for my next-door neighbour's garden to a depth of @ 2 feet. Consequently, when it rains particularly heavily, water penetrates the brickwork where it supports their garden and fills my garage with a considerable amount of water. I was advised to apply a bitumen based waterproofer on the inside of the wall. I applied 4 coats of 'Aquaprufe' to hold back the water. It helped for a while but after 9 months or so I'm back to square one and water is seeping through the wall. It is not an option to access the neghbour's side of the wall for various reasons. I have been told that rendering the inside of the garage with a sand/cement plinth over the bitumen exceeding the height of the damp problem could solve this. Has anyone any ideas or suggestions? Thanks.....

[stuart noble]

Try a web search for Bondaglas G4, which is a pretty serious waterproofer. IIRC it can be added to mortar, even though it's based on some ghastly solvent like xylene.

[Dave Baker]

You are entitled to access to a neighbour's land for essential repairs and you can get a court order if necessary to enforce this. The act is called - rather conveniently - The Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992. Google will elucidate further. I would have thought your only long term solution is to stop the water getting into the wall from outside rather than trying to prevent it seeping through when it's already gained access.

Dave Baker - Puma Race Engines

I'm not at all sure why women like men. We're argumentative, childish, unsociable and extremely unappealing naked. I'm quite grateful they do though.

[Lurch]

You really need to get to the outside of the wall, if you seal the inside the water will still penetrate the wall and structurally you're not really doing any good trapping the damp in the walls. ..

SJW A.C.S. Ltd.

[Dave Plowman]

Was it built like this, or did they subsequently bank up the earth? IMHO, an earth retaining wall should be built from engineering bricks which aren't porous and are designed for this sort of thing.

[Mark]

Single brick I doubt, if it is it will Never be damp-proof. No amount of Sealer *your side* will *EVER* fix this. Im presently renovating a house with serious damp problems, the URLs below give some useful info.

[Parish]

What's the legal situation here? If the wall wasn't built as a retaining wall (the neighbour has used it as a convenient way to create a raised bed) is the neighbour not obliged to keep the ground level below the garage DPC?

I ask because two adjacent walls of a neighbours (detached) garage form part of the boundary of my garden. I have ensured that the soil level is below the garage DPC (although not necessarily the 150mm applied to a house DPC) which meant me sloping the lawn more than I would have liked. This year we will be making changes to layout of the garden since the extension has swallowed up a good chunk of it. One of the plans we're considering includes a garden shed next to this garage. Is there a legal requirement for the shed to be a minimum distance from the garage, e.g. sufficient to permit the owner to access the wall or is it just down to common sense and being a good neighbour?

[Lurch]

I couldn't comment on the exact legalities of it all, but i'm sure someone will. However, if the damp problem problem has been caused by your neighbour not taking sufficient steps to prevent damage to your property I don't see why it should be a problem to ask your neighbour to remove the bed and ensure there is proper damp proofing before re-establishing, or, a better solution is to remove it altogether. I would say damage to your property caused by your neighbour could be classed as illegal, or something similar. I think it comes down, as you rightly say, to being a good neighbour with common courtesy and respect for others property. ..

SJW A.C.S. Ltd.

[rob]

I'm sure I read a leaflet giving guidance about party walls from the planning office. It was mostly to do with building, your neighbour is not allowed to stop your builders from getting access to the wall, and I'm sure this law can be used when it comes to maintenance issues as well. You really need to dig out this soil and place a damproof membrane against the wall. It will also have to go into the mortar a couple of bricks above the soil level. check with your local council. rob

[Em]

Thanks for the replies.... Yes...the houses were built like this! The estate is on a hill and most of the garages are built this way. What makes it even more lousy is that the 'retaining' wall of the garage has a bitumen DPC situated about 20" under the soil level. I thought that retaining walls should never have this type of DPC because they can 'slide' and become unstable. Still, that doesn't help my current situation. I know that I can gain access to the neighbours to carry out essential repairs etc but aren't some damp treatments designed for application on the 'negative' side of the wall? After all, how do old cellars get sealed off? Is it always necessary to access the 'soil' or positive side of the wall? If I do have to do that, then what treatment should I use? Mark G