Is this rising damp?

[Soggyhouse]

After a bit of advice if anyone can help please.

I can't remember if my house has always been like this but it seems to be all the way round outside (hopefully the photo loads) No obvious damp issues downstairs internally but we do have a damp upstairs bedroom that smells damp and often has bad condensation/ and some of DCs soft and wooden toys have gone mouldy.

Who do you get in to check the house over without trying to push sales of work? Is there an independent expert who could help me? We don't want to stay here for much longer as we've outgrown the house but the damp is concerning me.

Thanks

Sorry no idea but following as have some similar issues in my own house

@Coffeaddict it's rubbish isn't it. I used to love my house but it's made me fall out of love.

I'll wager 25p that the original dpc has been bridged by the new tarmac raising the surface height

Kneel down and see if you can photograph the DPC at any point. Might be visible at or under a doorstep

If you have no damp issues downstairs then the damp proof course is probably ok. Are you gutters in food working order? Have they been cleared recently? Is there a chimney near the damp wall?

I can see green moss or algae or something on the bottom few courses of brickwork.

If the guttering is blocked it could be overflowing and splashing back on the bricks maybe?

I've actually got someone coming to clean the gutters next week to make sure it's not that causing it in the bedroom. There is a leak over the other side of the house by the chimney so the lead flashing is being repaired too.

I can't see the damp course which makes me suspect the tarmac is too high. Guessing that's not an easy thing to get fixed?

"I can't see the damp course which makes me suspect the tarmac is too high. Guessing that's not an easy thing to get fixed?"

It is very annoying that there are still contractors causing this basic defect and damaging houses with avoidable damp.

The gutters suggest they knew they were doing it and didn't care.

Start with a hose and see if the slope takes water towards the house or away.

Really it should be dug out so the finished level is about nine inches below the dpc.

You may get away with digging a trench about a foot wide and at least as deep round the house. Expose and clean tbe DPC, remove any render or paint and repair the pointing. You may discover drain faults while digging. For example the trench may fill with rain, bathwater or sewage. When any sources of water have been corrected, you should be able to see the bricks visibly getting drier as the water can evaporate out. Line the trench with landscape fabric to prevent mud washing in, and refill it with clean cobbles or large pebbles, which do not support damp capillarity due to the large and irregular pores, and are free draining. Do not add gravel, shingle, sand or earth. The purpose of the stones is just to fill the trench so you don't fall in it.

When you dig the trench you may find old concrete paving beneath. The previous contractors couldn't be arsed to dig it out so just covered it up. This is quite common.

P.s.

Do not allow anybody who sells silicone injections near your house.

If there are no problems with damp inside the house,then there is no problem?
we get a bit of green algae like yours around the bottom of our house after winter , a bit of a stiff brush and hose down in spring and job done.

Thank you @PigletJohn I will definitely avoid the silicon injections. Weirdly the side of the house is lower than the drive, slopes away and still has the damp signs on it so maybe it's just cosmetic. I guess the heavy rain were having and time will tell 😬

Thanks for your help everyone.

The inside floors should definitely be above DPC. The DPC will be either a heavy duty plastic or in some cases a slate layer, fairly low down, but above the outside ground level.

OOI, a very nice example of a hundred-year old slate DPC still doing its job on

www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/4712715-how-much-for-a-damp-proof-course?page=2&reply=122913096

You have to enlarge the pics to see that the efflorescence occurs below the DPC but not above it.

The ground level has been raised but the DPC is not yet bridged.

At the front of the house I think it has been bridged, and silicone injected.

Thanks for the link @PigletJohn thats an interesting read.

I've just been on the hunt for our dpc and can't see it. I'm sure I've seen it in the past and remember it being low to the ground. I've attached some photos. Definitely needs repointing. The back of the house is heavily concreted (ex council house) and the front is tarmac, laid a couple of years ago, with the old layer dug out.

Guessing the ground levels on both are higher than the dpc.

Photos hopefully attached.

Sorry to derail, but how can you see a DPC? What do you need to look for?

Scrap that question, just googled it 😄

I’d guess the widest cement course just above the ground is the DPC.
You can chisel or screwdriver some of the mortar out to see is that’s it.
If so, that ground level is way too high.
Impossible to tell on the first 2 photos.

It is sometimes visible under or beside a doorstep or airbrick. If you photograph drain gullies or pipes going into the ground they may show clues.

Hi first of all sorry for jumping on the post, first time post here but could you please offer me some advice on damp in my property, 2 years ago I had my walls tanked and bricks injected this was throughout my whole down stairs kitchen passage and sitting room, 1 year later it’s all back exterior is affected way more then my interior but plaster is starting to bubble with salts and paper is peeling at the bottom again
thank you so much in advance

@Smiths2509

Best to start your own thread, because if you start putting your photos and descriptions on this one, they will get confused with the house here.

Gloomily, I will say your experience confirms that chemical treatments do not repair leaks or building defects.

So sorry to who posted this, for jumping on this post I thought I made a new thread