I recently bought my house, knowing one wall is very damp; the survey acknowledged it was but couldn't say why for sure, as there was a big bush planted up against the wall. I've removed that now.
The drainpipe that runs down my house at this point runs into a little paved channel, which in turn runs under the pavement (and, I assume, into the drain under the road). It also runs down the side of my house; the garden is lower lying than the pavement, so the ground slopes. There's a fair bit of mess because I've had to get at the roots of the bush, but it looks as if whatever idiot planted it, planted it right in the middle of whatever drainage system there was. There is a drain in my garden that water could be channelled into. At the moment, there's just water pooling at the side of my house. Very little of it is going into the drain under the road (cos it's basically a flat channel), and some of it is trying to go down the slope into my garden, but not very efficiently.
Would you try to deal with this yourself, or is it something someone could come and do? This is my first house and I have no idea who you even get to do stuff like this.
If you've made it through this very boring post, thank you! 