Sympathetic rising damp solutions
By: admin | Posted on: October 29, 2020
First of all lets just agree that rising damp occurs. It might get mis-diagnosed by damp surveyors, and it also might not get resolved first time.
It isn’t unusual for people to have spent a few thousand on surveys and damp repairs and still have damp issues. Elimination of all potential causes before coming to a conclusion is essential to ensure the correct diagnosis, and move forward with options of repairs.
High external ground levels are a common issue when it comes to rising damp. High ground levels contribute to the height of which rising damp can rise, as it will restrict evaporation at the base of the wall.
General external basic defects like guttering leaks, and drip detailing also need to be rectified. It is always advisable for you to monitor your building during heavy rain to see how your building is dealing with rainwater. It is easy to spot guttering defects, and possibly a blocked drain.
French drains, or French moats as many people call them actually cause more of an issue in regards to damp. This is because they never get maintained, they can’t get inspected unless a CCTV drain camera is used. If a drain blocks, and surcharges these often get filled with silt etc, and even tissues if connected to a foul drain.
The pictures below from a recent damp survey highlight the above issues with flooded French drains, silt build up, along with root infiltration.
Drains are perhaps one of the biggest contributors to rising damp issues. These rarely get inspected as generally most surveyors don’t own any drain surveying equipment.
The picture below shows a CCTV drain survey picked up the cause of this long term rising damp issue in Wiltshire. As you can see there is a damage to the drain pipe that is connected to the toilet. This cause of rising damp and a rotten suspended timber floor couldn’t of been found without a CCTV drain survey.
We understand how to find and diagnose all types of damp issues, and also have the experience, and know how on how to repair any defects.
If you need a damp survey to help locate potential causes to offer a long term solution, please give us a shout.