Instafoam cavity insulation

On Thursday 26 September 2013 21:44 Maurice wrote in uk.d-i-y:

My DPC is 2" above ground - unless yopu get a lot of water splashing up or major floods in rain, that alone should not be a problem.

Is it really damp? And no - sticking a damp meter in tells you exactly nothing in masonry.

Any mould or discolouration of the inside wall in the region?

That is a very good question. However it may be trumped by the building society making it a condition of the mortgage that the damp is dealt with.

Another possible cause is condensation on a cold wall - if the cavity fill missed a bit, that bit would be cold, and, hey-presto, condensation and damp.

There is no such thing. They will all find some problem or other which only they can (expensively) fix. I wouldn't worry. When you get some heat on the place it will likely disappear. Probably a bit of condensation. Rising damp is not as common as is touted. Buy an el-cheapo damp meter and you can play around with it. The damp will likely disappear in a month or so spontaneously.

For once harry's mostly right. Damp specialists are mostly... well, think of Arthur Daley.

If there's a damp problem there will be symptoms you can tell us. Otherwise there is no problem.

You forgot to tell us the age of the building

NT

We've found the cause: The owners had built up the ground by the wall so that the damp course was only 75-100mm above ground level (instead of the regulation 150mm), AND had placed plants all around the outside walls, AND had a sprinkler system that watered the plants!!!