Please help an idiot! Damp proof stuff outside...

[charliecat]

...erm, I have no idea about what im talking about here but you know how on the bottom of your house theres something i think is called damp proofing, well ive heard you have to not go above that with compost or turf or stuff like that...is that true and could you explain please

well a damp course is there to stop water leaking through your walls.

if the course only comes up a certain amount then putting soil/turn above that point may allow water to seep through

right, so, what if the bit that i think is damp proofed looks wet on the outside ...compared to the other bricks?

hmmm... no idea! lol

damp proof is normally on the inside though... so what may be happening is that water from the ground is soaking up the bricks on the outside iyswim? but it won't get in the house

Oh my...i thought the funny sort of sticky out bit of grey stuff outsude was the dampproofing stuff?

There is a waterproof membrane at least 2 bricks higher than the ground, which should always be 2 bricks so should be kept clear as they say rain can't bounce back higher than that. This stops the water/damp comming up through the floor. If you look closly, at the bricks you might be able to see a black line - that is the damp proof.

if you are talking about the grey/black bit that may stick out - it's exactly how Furball described.

You would expect (if it was working) that under that line the bricks may be wet but above that line, you'd hope they weren't!

yep, i can see that ..phew, thought i was going mad there...thanks

The damp proof course is on both side of the wall to stop water rising up the wall and is often a visible membrane. So the ground level shouldn't be higher than the damp proof layer. Otherwise you'll get rising damp.

Dp has just put a load of paving slabs ON TOP of turf, followed by a tarpalin and was planning on throwing some bark over it...this was making it up to under 1 brick to the damp proofing.......just had to go and tell him to undo it....all to save a few trips to the tip wiht the slabs/left over turf....bodge job