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Damp Proofing
Water coming through floor or wall.
When the weather is bad we get water seeping In our bathroom against the gable end wall. We first noticed it a year ago when we walked in and found water coming through the tiles near the wall. I've ripped the bathroom out, taken the floor up and pulled the internal studed wall down but can't see where it's coming in. At first I thought it was either toilet leak or radiator but that is all ok. As far as I can see it can only be floor, wall or roof. That wall takes all the weather and there's a gully against it on the outside where water runs down to the rear garden.
ok could it be the damp proofing? the house is wood frame with stone outer wall.
It's a bungalow roughly 25 years old with a solid floor. The gulley is clear but the wall it runs against is constantly wet through the winter. We live high up in the countryside and the weather hits that wall hard.
I have taken the tiles up. And the floor was dry through the summer early winter but now we've had consistent wet weather it's started to get wet again. I'm pretty sure there is no pipe work in that area.
I think the house was built in a shop and assembled on site then the stone outer wall built on site.
What you say about the water table rising does fit with what I have been thinking.
The inside of the outer wall seems dry but I can't get to it all as some of that wall leads into the bedroom and there is a studed wall between plus the floor steps up onto some sort of concrete in blue plastic sheeting about 8 inches thick?
The wood at the bottom of the frame is wet through and rotting.
Should I call a builder out or damp course specialist? Cheers Simon.
Thanks Nat been a great help.
3 Answers from MyBuilder Damp Proofing Specialists
Best Answer
A little more information would be useful , age of house roughly , construction type , is the floor solid or suspended ? All I can offer in way if advice given the information you have supplied , is to check the outside gulley is clear and running ? OK , thanks for the extra info . I am assuming it is a modular timber frame home , built in a workshop then assembled on site . In this case the damp proof courses should be OK with a house of that age . If ground levels have been maintained to at least 150mm below dpc and you are not showing water coming through the stonework on removal of the internal timber wall and you have eliminated leaking pipework , I have a couple of suggestions . When you say you have taken the floor up , do you mean the floor covering or have you dug the floor out ? The reason I ask this is because I have worked on properties of exactly the same age and have seen Un insulated copper pipework laid in the floor screed ! This is a no no as the screed rots the pipes and causes leaks ! Another inherent construction problem with houses of that age is that the damp proof membrane under the subfloor was often not linked to the damp proof course of the building . This means that after periods of heavy rain the water table can rise and water can push between the wall and floor . I have witnessed water spraying 150mm up from behind skirting boards due to this !
There is nothing that can't be fixed once a diagnosis of the problem has been made and if walls are dry further up and all pipes have been traced and checked then for now I can only assume the problem is coming from below ! Hope this helps ?
Not much I'm afraid , but with more information a better diagnosis could be made ! OK gozzo , from what you add it does seem likely that you have a failure somewhere in the damp proof membrane , dpm. Especially as this seems to be a lower part of the house from your description of a step . The blue plastic you mention will be part of the dpm . The problem as you describe it only appears after long periods of wet weather , which again adds credence to this especially if the ground is clay or other slow draining subsoil ! I would recommend a reputable old school builder as opposed to a damp proof specialist as they would know more about the construction and would likely have seen and rectified this kind of problem before just as I have on many occasions . Not meaning to take anything away from damp proof company's , as there are some good ones out there ! Hope I have been of some help in what I know to be a vexing problem ? Good luck. Regards, Nat.
Answered 4th Feb 2015
Hi Gozzo,
It sounds like damp proofing (ie. a damp proof course just above ground level) is unlikely to be the issue. If you have actual pools of water I would suggest possible sources as:
1. penetrating (as you've mentioned ie. wall/roof)
2. plumbing (as you've mentioned)
3. condensation
If you have a stone outer wall I doubt driving rain would penetrate that much unless the pointing is very poor.
Condensation forming on a vapour check or similar?
Let us know how you get on.
Answered 3rd Feb 2015
I think you was supposed to ask a question?
我看到的是你做的事情的列表ne.
Answered 1st Feb 2015
