Damp - anyone know anything about Schrijver System?

[BoBoo]

Saw something about this in the paper and lack of replastering etc is appealing. Can't find any prices on the website though, which is a bit scary and am a sceptic by nature. Does anyone have any experience of using this?

Thanks

I've heard rumours that it is a bit of a con and they never pay out on their guarantees. Like alternative medicines, the techniques that actually work get absorbed into the mainstream, and those that don't linger on the fringes.

Where is the damp that you are concerned about? Which rooms, and which part of the wall? How old is the house, and how thick are the walls (measure at a window or doorframe) and made of what? Where are you?

Does anybody drape wet washing around the house or over radiators?

I think the house is around 1930's (terraced), and the walls are brick, approx 25cm thick. We're in SE London. It's only downstairs, in a corner of a room at the front and at the back. There are drains relatively near each patch outside - do you think that could be an issue? - although they don't seem to be blocked.

Not guilty of hanging washing around the house.

corner at the bottom or at the top? Are there radiators nearby?

is one of the damp rooms the kitchen? has it got a solid floor? if wooden floors, how may airbricks have you got, and are any of them buried or blocked with cobwebs and dirt? Do you know where the water main comes in, and is it iron, lead or plastic? (iron water mains tend to rust through at the elbows after about 50 years).

1930's houses will have underground drains made of glazed clay (earthenware) with iron above ground. Both of these will crack if there is any movement in the ground, as happens seasonally with clay soils, and in cities during the 1939/45 Unpleasantness due to bomb damage.

poke around round the drains and see if the soil seems unusually damp or smells. If it is concreted knock on it and see if it sounds hollow or looks like it has been repaired (leaks wash away the soil and leave a gap)

if there are downpipes near the wet patches, look at them during heavy rain and see if water is spilling from the gutters, hoppers or joints (this will happen if there is e.g. a leaf blockage) or if iron pipes are cracked or rusted.

250mm walls are solid brick (no cavity) being 9 inches plus an inch of plaster. Cavity walls are about 325mm thick. Cavity walls are damp resistant if they are properly built and the cavity does not have rubble and dropped mortar down it.

Corner at the bottom. Radiator nearish one, not really near the other. Not the kitchen.

Wooden floor, maybe two airbricks at the front, long weird one under patio doors at the back and another that I don't remember what state it's it, but definitely not buried. Maybe drag the Dyson outside and have a go at them with that? Or is that a ridiculous idea?

Damp course has been suggested, but just doesn't feel right to me although couldn't give a reason. If it is damp/smelly around the drains, what's the answer going to be? Is it and expensive answer?

Thank you Piglet - I really appreciate you taking the time to answer me.

Oh - no idea where the water comes in...

in a terraced house, it is usually in a straight line from the stopcock that's next to where the front gate used to be, and the corner of the kitchen where the sink used to be. Might be visible under the hall floor or a loose board under the stairs

occasionally it comes in through the back garden to the kitchen sink point.

you need to know where the stop cock is, for when you have a burst. Some of your neighours will know (houses in terraces are likely to all be the same)

broken drains need digging out and renewing in plastic. the break is usually within a metre of the house, on a bend or trap. Digging out is hard work but not complicated. There are various modern connectors to join onto clay pipes.

As you have wooden floors you need to take a board up and have a look. Luckily if there is a leaking pipe it will be easier than digging up a solid concrete floor. But if the wet patches are next to old drains then a pound to a penny (etc)

cleaning out air bricks can be done with a long thin brush for the cobwebs and dust, and a prodder for any rubble. Again it may be necessary to lift floorboards to remove rubble, this can be done when looking foe leaks or wet under the floor. If it is a 1930's house you should be able to see a dpc two brick-courses above where the ground level used to be, it will be a thick mortar joint with a black line in it.