Damp soaking down a wall

Dec 05, 2015 8 Replies

My daughter has bought a house with a rather nice 7 foot wall along one side of the garden. It is in good condition but others in the development have some badly spalled bricks along the top. Her wall looks very damp from the top down. (Built 1988)



I am wondering if there is anyhthing I could paint on to reduce water penetration and the likelyhood of damage when the frosts come (probably too late this year - perhaps a summer job it anyhting is suitable.



DerbyBorn scribbled

Is the wall capped? If not, cap it.

Frost resistant bricks are recommended for garden walls. With engineering bricks in the low levels to stop damp rising

If they are spalling, it indicates they haven't been used. There's no permanent fix, at some point things will get so bad the wall will have to be demolished and rebuilt.

formatting link

+1. Then this maybe?

+1, and it needs to be an overhanging cap with drip lip.

Don't use a sealant, as that stops the water getting out of the wall too, making the problem worse. You might try a non-sealing water repellent, but there doesn't seem to be much evidence they make any difference, and they're not cheap.

Brick walls are often built with same bricks as the house, but as they're exposed on both sides and there's no heat leaking out to dry them off, their life will be much less than the house bricks. To last anywhere near same time as house bricks, brick walls need to be built with much lower absorabancy bricks (more expensive), and that's rarely done. They also need the overhaning cap (same role as the soffits on the house), to reduce exposure.

snipped-for-privacy@cucumber.demon.co.uk (Andrew Gabriel) wrote in news:n413g9$pnh$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

I guess capping is the solution then.

Built of house bricks.Brick length across the width of the wall.

It might be the complete solution if the rain comes down in a perfectly vertical fashion but, if it blows against the wall, you might still need a water repellent. I agree they don't do much on old masonry but your bricks are relatively new, so might be worth a shot

illogical

illogical

NT

Verbally constipated again are we?

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required