Rising Damp in walls, Blocked air bricks - Part 1, The Problem
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- Опубликовано: 12 ноя 2013
- Part 2 - • Rising Damp in walls, ...
The so called 'professionals' of the damp proofing companies had suggested drilling 2 holes in each brick around the perimeter and injecting - WRONG !!!
This would have cost a couple of thousand pounds, been totally useless and in fact damaged the building even more. DONOT apply any so called 'damp proof paint', 'taking flurry', 'cement render/morter/plaster - THIS WILL TRAP MOISTURE AND MAKE IT WORSE - although all will look well until after the idiots have taken your money and run !!!
The simple solution, lower the ground levels - so simple in fact that when the inner wall subsided, all the builder did was simply jack up the joists without identifying and curing the real problem - Muppets!!!
1. THERE IS ALWAYS A REASON FOR DAMP
2. LET A BUILDING BREATH
Just seen this video - what a breath of fresh air to see a professional explaining the REAL reasons for a problem instead of us having to listen to damp industry propaganda. Congratulations on a sensible, honest and unbiased approach. I recommend the British Standard - BS7913: 2013 - Guide to the Conservation of Historic Buildings, as a really good standard that backs up everything said in the video - namely, that damp proofing is not needed, that timber treatment isn't either - dry timber never gets affected by beetle or rot. Breathability is the key - allow a building to breathe, and don't go using gypsum plaster and cement which both trap moisture into the fabric. Congrats again on a really good video..
As Peter would say: It's the nonsensical landscaping by local authorities paving according to the plans, blocking up ventilation, and not using common sense !
Ivan's help has been invaluable. He has an in depth knowledge and understanding of how a building is put together - particularly old buildings - and the importance of caring for them correctly. After months spent seaking advice , it was wonderful to find Ivan who was able to offer a helpful analysis of the situation and a comprehensive report on remedying the problems with detailed instructions on the work to be carried out. Furthermore, his ongoing help and advice has been fantastic whilst I have been carrying out the works. He clearly is passionate about what he does and offers a wonderful service at a very reasonable price. Thank you Ivan, it is rare to find someone who cares about their customers and what they do as much as you!
It was such a huge relief to find Ivan, he came recommended by others he had helped. His expert, sensible and honest advice on our damp problem was so appreciated, his on site visit and comprehensive report was incredibly reasonable and more than that he has been available for all my (at times no doubt silly) follow up queries and never complained (yet!). THANK YOU! Clem
How did you contact him
Ivan has been a godsend for us. As first time buyers, we were naive to damp problems and were told by multiple companies we needed very expensive works done to rectify our issues. We found Ivan as we wanted to ensure we were advised correctly and immediately he was so helpful. He spoke to me on the phone for a while initially just allaying my fears that our problems really weren't that bad and explaining the concepts relating to damp in buildings like ours clearly. He then came round to do his report where he was very thorough and gave us an opinion which is invaluable for getting the necessary works done properly. We feel so much better about the situation and are glad that Ivan will continue to support us when we get the works done. Thanks so much Ivan!
Max and Rachel
Just to say what a joy it was to find Ivan and be able to have a sensible, practical conversation about the issues I was facing with my house. I went from thinking my house was going to fall down around me to actually understanding what was happening, the reasons for it and the simple solutions that were not going to break the bank. He has been very helpful and clear throughout the process from first telephone contact to actually coming to my house to do a complete assessment of the issues with which I needed guidance. He was able to answer all the questions that I had even the ones that I thought were very silly. His skill is also using his experience to translate technical information to non-building experts like me. It was a pleasure. Very happy to recommend his services.
We were originally quoted around £6,000 by a 'damp proof' company, who were happy to inject a load of silicone into the walls. They didn't even go outside the house to see what was causing the damp in the first place. We politely told them where to go !
After watching this video, I contacted Ivan regarding the issue. The outside concrete ground level had been built up too high, by the previous owners, therefore blocking an air brick.
After emailing him, he was happy to travel over and look at the problem in depth. He was very professional and helpful. Ivan gave good advise and recommended what work needed doing.
Thank you for the comment Dan. You were certainly on the right track with your thinking and I'm glad we managed to bottom the root cause and recommend some extra measures to compensate for the 'real world' where it wasn't possible to completely roll back the building to its original build state. Good luck and thanks again for the comment.
Great to see some common sense amongst all of the misinformation in the damp industry. We've spoken to Ivan and he's surveyed two of our properties, the reports are extensive and Ivan's always at the end of the phone if we have any questions. Looking forward to finally getting these issues sorted once and for all!
Ivan is incredibly knowledgeable and was kind enough to help us after we received a confusing report from another vendor. Ivan is a straight shooter and we are very grateful for the time he took to look into our situation and for the helpful suggestions he offered! Thanks Ivan!
I have just had these guys come and assess my damp problem, I have known I have had a problem for over 10 years but did not want a damp proof company to drill my walls as felt it was not needed, but really did not know what other options were available. I now have a full report listing what needs to be done to correct the problem and it is all minor work that I can do myself. I am absolutely delighted! THANK YOU!
I cannot thank you enough for the service you are doing for these buildings. The time you took explaining the issues and really breaking it down for us will be invaluable over the many years we hope to stay in our home. These types of videos need to be more widely publicized so people don't fall for the injection rubbish ruining the beautiful history of British architecture!
I have worked on hundreds of houses large and small and I have never seen rising damp. Its a pity some surveyors don't know this. Physics experiment build two walls one with damp course one without. put both in water then check the damp each level on each level. The same amount will be found. Your a credit to your trade. Keep it up Bob
Robert Amy Thanks Rob, interesting that the President of RICS is on record as saying "Rising damp is a myth"....shame his 'church' didnt read that sermon!!....as you guessed, the title 'rising damp' is there to capture a key word search only.
Ivan was so helpful and helped to diagnose the issue causing damp in my walls after I'd been given a lot of bad advice elsewhere. Simple and common sense - there is an ingress of water, which needs to be stopped, no chemical solutions or witchcraft. He's given me a very clear report and guidance on solutions and I'm looking forward to implementing them and having a dry home!
I have a problem where the previous owner had put a concrete drive on top of the old drive and has caused problems with water getting in to the air bricks causing the joists to rot.
Ivan replied to my emails with great advice.
I spoke with Ivan on the phone as I was still worried about what route to take and he was great, he took his time to speak to me and give me great advice free of charge.
He’s a very knowledgeable guy when it comes to damp issues.
I hope I can rectify my problem with the advice given as it will save me £££
Many thanks Ivan, really appreciate it.
Best regards
Kaiser
Great advice from Ivan. Genuine bloke, extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Highly recommend using his services 👍
To echo the comments below, I recently spoke to Ivan RE: damp/airflow issues in my property. He gave some fantastic advice, and really put my mind at ease. The previous owners had commissioned a 'specialist' report that was riddled with errors, which Ivan was able to highlight and explain. We now know what to do to make sure our property lasts another 100 years (hopefully!) Thanks again for your time Ivan - it's so rare to get straightforward advice from someone without a vested interest.
This is professionalism! The source of the problem instead of fake miracle products.
The house should be demolished, full stop!
I've just been on a painting project and noticed damp in a bay window area. Path outside is level with two air bricks and both vents have a build up of sludge in front of them. The lady has had a few expensive quotes and dry zone plugs drilled and installed! Ten year guarantee they said. Thanks for your help with this reference video. And part 2.
I've got the same problem with my house, drive has been concreted half way up an air brick. Surprised it has caused so much damp as the drive runs away from the air brick at a reasonable angle. Shall have the groundworkers start lowering the level in spring. For now I have chased out the plaster on the internal wall back to the brick behind the skirting to help it breathe a bit, seems to have reduced the extent of reoccurring rising damp patches up the internal plaster. As many others have said, it is refreshing to hear your factual diagnosis instead of all the others that push their con tricks.
Thank Adam, if you want to email me info @ squareconductservices.co.uk (without the spaces around '@') i will send you a few photos of things to check that might not be obvious, but it does seem like your on it, well done
Nice video. Thank you Ivan for your great advice on my sub-floor ventilation issue. Much appreciated!
Hi Wentao, yes absolutely key. You should have much of an issue now, glad the advice helped to get to the root cause, rather than just another victim of a 'cover-it-up' proposal by others.
Thank you, again for your reply again , you are really good and honest person to find in this day and age who wants to give good advice with nothing in return . I hope with your advice we will be able to solve our problem with damp.
Thankyou once again.
Hi, it looks like we are getting there, see latest email today. Basically a standard bodge covered up before and a failure to understand the root cause. Simple low cost permanent solution. Keep sending the photos through. Happy to help ;-)
How utterly terrible. Whoever did that tarmac is so unprofessional. The homeowners are lucky to have found you.
cracking video on the subject! I see this all the time working on empty properties. even people who have block paved drives and water running straight inside the air bricks as the drive level is far too high!
thanks for this, I've been binging on Peter Wards videos and it's nice to hear the same concepts from another person. Looks like good work. Can't believe someone thought the right way to fix a collapsed wall was by installing a few shims...
Hi Bruce, slate shims certainly have their limitations and this is one of them!!! There are lots of people out there snake oil salesmen out there, it seems Peter and i have found out their game and try our best to educate. All the best, Ivan
Easy money for the cowboys
So rare to find such decent people. Thank you Ivan for all your advice so far it has been a great help in starting to get the damp issues sorted.
What is amazing is that the floor joists shown which appear to be the house original have not rotted.
Thanks so much for your advice when I contacted you Ivan. I'll let you know how I get on.
Really friendly and top advice.
I've seen this time and time again whilst working as a technician in the damp proofing industry, surveyors NOT uplifting the flooring to gain access to the damp area for a proper surveillance. It's easier for them to stick in their 'damp meter', recommend hacking off the wall fabric, putting on a membrane, or cementitious tanking or dpc injection...as they make more money from it!!
+George McKnight HOW TRUE !!!....you have summed up the money making scam very well. Thanks for you comment
Some clients of mine have a stunning Georgian house that has major damp issues. To the point the condensation has now killed the lovely sash’s hence my job to repair them. They have had all the usually damp dicks in there rip off the lime plaster, membrane, tanking slurry, gypsum four feet up the wall. Now tide mark coming through the plastic paint above the shit damp job. When I pointed out the cracked plastic masonry paint over the cement pebble dashing might be to blame outside the thought I was nuts. Since the have started to investigate this though.
Great video man vents are build in for a reason but I think most people think block it up its ugly or it lets in the cold no knowing they are damaging the building Thumbs up
+macplastering Thanks - the trouble with common sense, is its not common! They are there for a reason, people make the mistake that the Victorians )etc) were rubbish builders and they know better, they weren't and they don't !
Square Conduct Services Limited I agree most times these things can happen from things being changed and changed wrong/lazy as in the yard made from concrete but to high as it should have been dug out lower. Then done with nice run of to drains away from build but you more than cover all the great points on the vid :)
Great video. Am educating myself as we've noticed the air bricks are a little low on a place we're buying and there was some damp registered in one of the walls, so am planning to rectify the problem as soon as possible. Really good commentary 👍
Part 2 'the solution' uploaded, sorry for the delay.......ruclips.net/video/tp_f0XsNbtE/видео.html
Brilliant! Here in Canada we have to vent crawl spaces well and I mean extremely well in the summer time or we have massive problems with moisture. I forgot to take my covers off for a months after winter ended, the joists were dripping when I opened it up, a week later all was well again. Shoddy contractors not paying mind to the vents and con artists trying to sell them a bandaid fix for more money is disgusting
That's the mistake i made.. Painting one coat seal on the damp patches and it then spread even more. I've had to scrape the paint off back to plaster.
Thank you, very helpful 👍👍👍
Been in contact with Ivan over a few concerns I had...all I can say is a really genuine great guy, very professional and helpful without asking for anything in return - rare to come by these days! knows his stuff that's for sure... Thank you Ivan!
+Carly Higgs Thank you for your kind comments. Always ready to fight the good fight against noddy-builder, idiot-injectors, muppet-mud slingers & twonk-tankers.......they are only doing harm and a very high price!!!
We learned a hard an expensive lesson in our house. The surface of the ground outside should be 6 inches (150mm) lower than the damp proof course.
That is a horrible gas or water bonding installation! Clipped direct not in any conduit! Great video thanks. Hopefully able to fix my damp issue. Thanks
This is an excellent post by this lad well done and very helpful
Thank Russ, best of luck with whatever your working on, drop me a line if i can help further, Best regards, Ivan
Really refreshing to see this. It's so nice to see good honest advice where you get to the root of the problem! Just a couple questions, Is a perforated pipe needed (french drain?) also, can this be done if there is a cellar? So the internal ground level floor is lower than outside floor. Towards front of house there is a cellar. Thanks!
Hi thanks for getting in touch. The idea of the drain is to keep water way from the wall, this included damp, so the drain must be free flowing, other than that, providing the principle is maintained, it doesn’t matter how you do it in reality.
The second part of your question is HUGE and I could write several volumes on it, but the solution would be TOTALLY specific to your circumstance, there is not ‘one size fits all’ and don’t let idiot injecting companies say there is!!!! drop me a line to my email with a few photos and I can narrow down the items you need to consider. All the best, Ivan
Thanks for your reply Ivan! Once the house purchase goes through I'll show you some pictures. What you say makes such obvious sense, identify water source and redirect / eliminate it. "Damp Wally" awareness course v2.1 :)
Thanks so much for your visit and detailed report last week. We are going to implement your recommendations soon. Ivan is professional, helpful and great knowledge around damp issues. I highly recommend him if you have damp issue in your property. I will keep you posted on progress Ivan!
Excellent video. This shows how important it is to look for the cause of damp. We have a similar problem in our house and I am glad that I will now steer clear of the companies who simply drill into each brick, inject a magic liquid and then re-plaster. The guy in this video is much smarter and has actually bothered to look for the cause.
Thank you for the comment. At best these idiots will simply mask or cover up the issue. Mostly though they just make matters worse and your wasting your money.
I have a couple of air vents on my two up two down terraced house, they are about a foot off the floor but weirdly vent to no where as the inside wall is bricked and plastered. I have been in there, they are not venting a cavity or any such thing, literally a two brock thick wall with no gap in between them but at some point someone seems to have bricked them up on the inside then skimmed over them, many yrs ago mind but it explains the black mould and damp brickwork as there is sod all airflow beyond that. Such is the trouble with these old two up two downers especially with no central heating, very difficult to keep warm in winter so people would block up vents with all sorts to stop the draft but then you get yr condensation and damp issues being discovered 20yrs later.
There are three, if not four or five, separate problems here.
First, as identified, the problem of the pavings draining towards the wall and being set too high, letting surface water run into the airbricks. Whilst this creates a damp atmosphere in the subfloor and risks rot developing to adjacent timbers, it could not have caused the area of penetrating damp on the plasterwork. The uppermost damp patch is too high to be caused by rising damp. And the two courses of blue brick will act as a primitive form of DPC, albeit with the mortar joints possibly allowing small amounts of moisture to pass.
The second and central problem is shown at 1:05 on the video. The wall of the outrigger has not been properly bonded to the rear wall of the main part of the house. The coursing is out of alignment, indicating there is a butt joint just filled with mortar at this point. This aligns with the main damp spot inside (which is too high to be related to any rising damp, and has a pattern typical of penetrating damp, and not the 'tide' mark typical of rising damp).
Third the walls have a type of bond that is indicative of solid wall construction (i.e. not a cavity wall) and appear to be only 9" thick. That type of construction often leads to penetrating damp issues, especially when you have poor pointing (again the video shows some areas of such above the level of the blue bricks). And where combined with less breathable materials, like modern plaster and paint, and more hermetically sealed houses (blocked up chimneys, upvc draft proof windows & doors, etc.).
Fourth, difficult to make out on the video, but it appears that the second line of blue brick (stretchers) is only on the outside. Inside looks to be ordinary red commons, which might be allowing a degree of rising damp to pass.
Fifth, a least two of the joists have been too deeply notched for services, seriously weakening them, and these need to be replaced or strengthened. And they have no noggins or herringbone strutting to resist twisting forces, especially needed when the flooring is a weak material like chipboard.
Spot on
We were so grateful to come across these videos and to get some honest and practical advice from Ivan. We are on the way to solving the problem in our house rather than just hiding it with a new injected DPC. Thank you 😊
Good to talk through the issues with you, you are definitely now on the right track. let me know if i can help further, best regards, Ivan
I contacted Ivan at Square Conduct for advice regarding a few concerns I had with my property. I had been very impressed with Ivan’s videos which I found helpful and made perfect sense.
Ivan was extremely supportive and he took the time to listen to my concerns and offered his advice free of charge and without obligation.
I did not want to contact a “Specialist” as I am aware they invariably identify expensive and often unnecessary work that often do more harm than good, preferring an impartial and honest view of the issue and guidance as to what will put it right. Ivan was able to offer this and agreed to visit my property where he carried out the necessary investigations. He talked my wife and I through everything he was doing both inside and outside of the property and thoroughly explained his thoughts and findings clearly and without any jargon.
Ivan has produced a detailed report with clear and in-depth recommendations which I now intend to follow. Ivan continues to be available through on-going email/phone support whilst I undertake this work.
I was reassured by Ivan from our very first discussion and have found him to be trustworthy and professional offering clear, impartial and concise advise.
I would recommend Ivan and Square Conduct Services without any hesitation whatsoever.
Thanks again Ivan and your help Is very much appreciated indeed. Rod
Once the ground Is lowered, would you recommend a French drain incase the lowered ground floods? Thanks
So should I just dig a trench 250mm deep by 250mm wide?
I literally have the problem regarding the air bricks and damp course
Excellent video thank you
Thank you....nearly 9 years old and the principles are still current!
what a useful video! anyone got any suggestions on what type of company I should be looking for to come pull up some floor boards and check for this on a house I am looking to buy (in NE London)? I don't know where to start with a google search
Hi i hope you are doing well i don't expect a reply being this video is do old but i am having a terrible problem with my chimney breast it is sealed up all the lower breast snd floor boards and soacking wet i had a roofer out who repointed my chimney breast then i had someone out who pulled up my flooring found the bricks and wood joists dry around the hearth then nocked out 5 bricks and cleared 2ft of soot and soil then left it to dry. It never did when it rains i cant see any water or hail making it to the bottom i seem stuck with a mess and don't know what to do. Any possible ideas 1930s 2 bed semi uk
After watching these videos and establishing we had similar issues at our new home, we enlisted the help of square conduct services who came down and assessed the house for us. Extremely worthwhile as we'd received two quotes previously, both in the thousands, and they didn't even identify the same solutions. The report we got from square conduct has saved us thousands and we fully understand the source of the problem and what we can do to resolve it. Thoroughly recommend getting in touch with these guys if you have damp issues at all. Well worth it!
+Jon White Thank Jon, glad it helped, less a slight difference from £50 parts and a few hours of simply labour by you, to the £9,000-£14,500 quoted by others. Keep sending me the photos as you go along, i will continue to support you endeavours ;-))
Nice one, brother. 😉💂♂️🏴
Like your video, you are no fool like the rest of those a holes in the damp industry con. could you give me a little advice? I I've in an 80 year old house that used to have timber floors, over the years they took them out and replaced with solid floors throughout with air bricks covered over with new plaster outside, with extension to back possibly higher than the older house's damp course, i have damp rising up internal walls which i have stripped back and treated with salt inhibitor then re-plastered using tanking cement and the re-skimmed, why would the damp be on internal walls?
Please make more video's!!!
This video was so helpful. I’ve been having damp problems in my property for years. After watching this video I reached out to this company who gave me some brilliant advice. I was very impressed. Thanks Ivan for your time 🙏🏽
Are you available in the north west england
Though you are correct on the sub floor vent issue the cause of the damp on the wall is too high to be rising damp & is likely penetrating damp caused by a failed butt joint on the connected wall outside which appears to be directly in line with the staining on the inside
Hello Stu, thanks for getting in touch. Always difficult to judge these things from video as you can't capture and show everything, unfortunately though, in this case, I'm not sure i can agree with your conclusion, As you will see from my Part 2 video (and everything to date over the years) the problem was cured without work on the butt joint - HOWEVER, you raise an excellent point and I'm sure everyone watching this and reading the comments will thank you for adding this point to their understanding of any issues they may have. In general you are correct, butt joints can be an issue. Thanks for getting in touch. Ivan
Hey, Brilliant video.I'm looking for some advice. A 1920's house we have recently purchased, has a 'rising damp' issue as brought up in the building survey. We intend to clear the air bricks which have become overgrown with weeds inside them. Also we have fireplaces that have been blocked up by gas fires, do you think this may also be causing a damp issue. We intend to get a gas specialist to remove these gas fires and open the fireplaces back up and let the house breathe for a while. Are there any other methods you suggest? We will be going back to the brick to see what the damp looks like, should we just let the house breathe once we do that, also what do we re-plaster with?Jodie xxx
Hi Jodie, thanks for getting in touch. Chances are you don't have rising damp at all is the first thing to note. If you paid for this survey I'm happy to look over it and Comment.......your certainly doing the right things but there may be some obvious other ones that can be simply identified . Email a fee photos over and I'm happy to look at them, no charge. Use ..... info (at) squareconductservices (dot) co (dot) uk best regards, ivan
problem with these "PROFESSIONALS" is they aren't professional at all. they get a franchise to sell a product, and a book to read and wham bam, thank you maam, instant professionals. i have worked all my life in the building industry, and do as you do, before i even measure for damp removal. i see people tank a wall like that, causing even more problems. i live in South Australia, where salt damp is a blight. problems like the one you have pointed out usually leads to the complete destruction of the wall base in my area. I have seen salt crystals only rivaled by placing a stone on the surface of a salt lake!
how does one contact this guy, i i have a similar issue would love to email him some pictures
I contact Ivan about problems related to those described in his video. He got back promptly with plently of advice which will hopefully lead to getting damp problems sorted - many thanks!
The big con that I have come across in 40 years as a building surveyor is the 25 yr rising damp guarantees that so -called damp prevention companies give out. Rising damp is as rare as hens teeth so when a client makes a claim they say Ah this is not rising damp, but penetrating damp now so our warranty does not apply. Terrible.
Hi Albion, very true, thanks for adding this. The term 'rising damp' seems to be used for everything, mainly because people don't understand damp, it looks scary when your trying to con people into work and its something most people have heard of. Damp does 'rise', thats a scientific fact, but your shouldn't see it on properties with a DPC. Those building designed & built WITHOUT DPC's (typically period properties), completely, totally and designed to have ground water drawn up and expelled through the walls. Then some idiot with a so called 'moisture meter' says "oh, you have rising damp, lets inject a DPC and sling a load of cement on the wall" and the reply should be "you idiot, get out of my house, you don't understand what you'r talking about!!"......best of luck to you and your correct views, thanks again.
Hi Peter, a wonderful video, how much would you charge for your services to correct my rising damp?
Morning, thanks for the kind comment. Its almost impossible to give a cost without more information. Feel free to contact me using the email or phone number on the website www (dot) squareconductservices (dot) co (dot) uk
We are a fee based consultancy for the inspection report, we do not offer so called "free" surveys that then talk you into a whole load of costly work that is either near useless or will make the matter worse. We do not undertake the recommended remedial work ourselves as this allows us to remain independent as we don't profit from any recommended work.
As important, is the fact that once a root cause has been identified, the solution is always low skill and wouldn't be cost effective. At least half of our clients undertake the work themselves from the check list in the report. The others just use a local general builder.
So important to keep air flow beneath floors. Dampness, the absence of drying air and the presence of wooden joists leads inevitably to dry rot and expensive repair bills. The cheap prevention is to keep soil levels below the bottom of the air bricks.
Hello Joseph, thanks for the comment - very true!!! We had two more properties in December with just that (along with a number of other related issues), one client was just about to spend £7,600 with a so called damp proof company which would have made it worse. Thanks again for your comment, it all helps to educate people. Happy New Year
From April onwards what is the approximate time you would allow for drying? Are we talking months or a year or more? And is there anything you can do to speed up the drying process naturally? Thanks.
acechadwick Hi, give me a call sometime, we can chat over, but need a few more details. Number is on the website. ........FYI for above site, you will see from part 2 that there was massive improvement sub-floor in less than a week. The wall you can see (with the electrical socket) took about 6 months just left with on its own for the last of the salts to come out, now happily repainted. Regards, Ivan
Square Conduct Services Cheers Ivan I will. I have put a cash offer in for the house but as yet haven't heard back. I know from my own experience that if you get a damp 'expert' out the next thing is someone is hacking out your walls to the tune of 1500 quid! All smoke and mirrors if you ask me. In this house they have a raised garden bed butted up against the back wall and to me this is the obvious cause so I shall remove and if you have any further suggestions (maybe air vent?) I shall be grateful. Alexis x
Can you inject from your neighbours house , so you don’t have to do it in your house , jus had a new kitchen fit ?
I had same problem... got a damp.specialiat out an said i need damp injection doin at a big price... so i decided to do things my self... i opened every brick vent and took out every brick on the end of every wall so i cud see the cavity... i then took out all the dirt out of the cavities i mean lots of dirt came out... 4 years later not even a drop of rising damp
Fantastic!! But thats how these idiots make money, selling 'smoke & mirrors'. They aren't going to keep their job long when you go back and tell the sales manager you simply said to the house owner to do it himself for a few £££
There are a lot of conmen out there you need to do your homework and try to educate yourself
Can partially covered air bricks lead to subsidence over time? We have one very large crack in the supporting wall upstairs in our property and several smaller cracks appearing throughout the house. Before the lockdown we had our gutters cleaned, and a camera put down the drains beneath the house/garden to see if there’s any blockages or leaks I believe however we were told it is fine. We were also supposed to be getting a monitoring device fixed to the crack to see if the house is still moving but his cannot be installed right now due to the ongoing situation. Just last week though I noticed that two air bricks are partially covered by the previous owners of the property who built up the steps from the back door/back of the house into the garden. They do slightly tilt downwards away from the house which allows the water to run off. We don’t appear to have any rising damp in that area where the air brick is partially covered however I am wondering if water getting down there beneath the house could possible contribute to any subsidence. We’ve mostly been told that the reasons of the subsidence are possibly due to a large tree that is just beyond the bottom of our garden, and we also were told it could be as we live on a busy road too.
Hi louise, a very interesting question. The main walls (front, back side), will be of solid construction at the footings and the wall itself. As such there won’t be anything to rot as such and cause the problems you mention. Small internal stud walls may be different but I’m not convinced. What may be happening is, should there be damp over a long period of time (leaving aside the root cause of this for now), th floor joist could rot at the wall, causing a sort of floor bounce, with the forces associated on bouncing, being transferred to a good joist. This could cause localised cracking but not any real subsidence so again, my money is not on that. Your drains may be clear and intact but adjacent and or upstream may not. You won’t know until the subsoil is inspected around the cracking. You don’t mention the age of the house, or relative location of said tree. Do feel free to send me a few photos on email and I can comment further. All the best and thank you for raising an interesting point. Regards, Ivan
How is damp in patches further up on the wall tho? If you don’t mind me asking?
Hi, i took maybe 6-8 months before all the salts had come to the surface and the EMUSHION (do not EVR use so called 'Damp proof paint') stoped going to a powder. during this time, a simple wipe with emission after a light brush off of the salt dust was all that was needed. A few years on now and there is absolutely no sign whatsoever. Hope that answers the question, if not, please do get back in touch. Best regards, Ivan
Hi Peter Ward
I’m Eric from France
I’m looking at your videos since a while with big interest, because I look for a solution for my humid study in our old beautiful house.
I would like to ask for your advice, I think I have a problem of ventilation under the oak floor. Can I send you some photos and have your comment on it ?
That would be great !
Blessings from the Vendée (West France)
Eric D.
Bonjour Eric, en quelque sorte j'ai manqué votre commentaire, mes sincères excuses. Oui, envoyez ce que vous voulez. Utilisez l'e-mail sur la vidéo.
Efflorescence there as well
So does the injection treatment actually work if it's not coming from the outside?
Hi, thanks for getting in touch. The simple answer is if you believe all the companies that sell this service , yes....but those that understand the science and identify the root cause, no.
Firstly, you are turning a brick that was meant to be pourus/ breathable into one that isn't this leads to all sorts of secondary issues. Next it's the position of the injecting, normally higher up (1 course or several) from the original DPC, meaning that every course in between the injecting company are now prepared to be wet, when they were designed to be dry - everything BELOW a DPC is wet. So even if the injecting does in fact make an acceptable DPC (and there is lots of evidence it doesn't!> the position of the injecting and the effect of injecting means your either going to see no positive benefit for your money, or make it worse.
Square Conduct Services brilliant. Thanks for the reply. I have emailed you some pics of my property to see what you think. And I don't want to rush into this if you say it's not going to help me. Thanks in advance
What happens with the brickwork underground which is in contact with damp soil? How do you stop bricks absorbing this moisture and damaging mortar?
GOOD QUESTION ;-) Lets assume the building has a damp proof course (DPC), the everything below it (in or above soil) will be 'wet' and is designed to be so. putting aside specialist brick, the ones below the DPC should be Class A or Class B and are designed for this 'wet' environment, also known as Engineering brick. You will see a lot of 'blue brick' (actually near black in colour) which are Class A, used as a DPC they are that good and not adsorbing water. In answer to your second question, the mortar, depending on type/mix/material, will either be harder or softer than the brick. If designed to be softer, it will be 'sacrificial', designed to wear ahead of the brick and hence you need to re-point. Hope that helps, come back to me if you need more info. Best regards, Ivan
@@squareconductservices And what mortar mix would you use with the engineering bricks? Sand and cement? sand and lime? hydraulic lime? quick lime? We know that Peter Ward hates cement because it traps moisture - so many questions.
@@lameduck3630 Hi, Peters comments taken slightly out of context. We both agree there is nothing wrong with cement, if the building is designed/built/used in a way that was planned. It where people substitute lime for cement (mixing old and new techniques) in the name of 'maintenance' that causes the problem....or just basically getting the design/build/use wrong at the front end, or though this is rare, but don't rule it out. Certainly things like repointing old stone building with no DPC, raking our lime and then stuffing in cement, is a total no-no, likewise cement rendering inside. You even sadly see people (aka; idiots trying to make a quick few rip of quid, or people who simply don't know better), putting cement into holes in oak frames then painting over. The wood rots, the cement bung falls out, so what do they do....put an even bigger bung of cement in.!!! Personally i think they should be bunged up with cement, but thats just me ;-)
Im a fan of NHL3.5 as a good starter for your thinking where lime needs to be used. But that is very much a blanket statement and not in anyway designed to be a capture all, silver bullet. One size does NOT fit all when dealing with historic assets.
Bottom line, does it need lime? = replace with lime. Does it need cement? = replace with cement.
email me with photos of you have a specific issue and i can comment in accurate terms hopefully.
All the best
Ivan
My house was similar when i moved in, why are people so thick 2 cover air bricks etc
A classic one for killing your house.......Never underestimate stupidity!
OUCH!Did they re-tarmac the homeowner's hard drive as well?
am i right in thinking that the pea shingle is acting as drainage,unlike the soil that was retaining water
+karl bardsley Hi karl, the idea is to have AT LEAST one brick depth below the DPC as dry to prevent any breach (directly by debris build up, or indirectly by rainwater splash). In an ideal world you would lower the s the is often impractical, so creating a free draining (dry) section towards the wall is the next best thing. You ca use pea shine or 20mm or whatever, the things to look are, 1) It must be free draining, not fill up like a swimming poo and 2) the space in-between the backfill doesn't fill with dust/soil or whatever and thus hold water. Anytime you want to send me some photos, please do so : info @ squarecondustservices(dot)co(dot)uk
I agree with the comment below. Damp proofing companies will take £1000’s off you and leave the problem to continue.
Have you got a video of actually putting the problem right, I seem to see a lot of people talking about the damp issues , but not showing how they did actually solve it.
Where was the DPC - above or below the air bricks?
I thought the DPC was the blue engineering bricks and the air bricks were part of this course of engineering bricks?
Hi
Please can you reply to me
I have just bought a house and there is groundwater and nobody knows what to do 😩😩😩
It’s u see the floor and the have rotted too
Please reply back
Thank you
Hi Sam, I'm sure we can help, please drop me an email to: info (at) squareconductservices (dot) co (dot (uk) or use the phone number on our website. Many thanks and look forward to hearing from you. All the best, Ivan
hi how can I get in contact with you? I am from East London
Hi,
info @ squareconductservices . co . uk
without the spaces.
or via the phone numbers listed on our website
My rim joist have all rotated away 😬
Hi Ivan . Thanks for what you’re doing helping people around! I was wandering if you don’t mind to send you some photographs and discuss with you the issues I have with damp in my house. I’m not after a free survey and I’m more than happy to pay for the time you’ll spend dealing with my problems . Thanks
Hi Hristo, thanks for the enquiry - of course you can - phone and e advice is free, if we can sort you out and avoid you going through the long painful, expensive encounters with the cowboys, thats great by me and we will have saved another building (yes its a passion of mine). Use the email on the website info (at) followed by the web address or better still there is also a phone number if you would like to chat. Best regards and stay safe, Ivan
@@squareconductservices Thank you so much Ivan! I’ll send you what I’m talking about today
Kind regards
Hristo
@@ChandlerDrywall hi, all recd, thanks, i have replied, please check spam folder just in case, best regards, ivan
@@squareconductservices Thank you for the time you spent about my damp issues Ivan!
Highly recommend this top guy to anyone who wants to receive opinion different to most common ones, dealing only with the very well known methods such as a injection DPC, hack off render , tanking slurry.. etc without going deep into the problem ! He spent from his time helping me with his knowledge with no any charge. Wish you all the best Ivan , best regards to you and your family and merry Christmas :)
Outside levels raised too high, classic cause.
Hi
I can’t find your website
Hi Sam, web site is www.squareconductservices.co.uk. There is a direct line phone number on the site if you need it. Best regards, Ivan
@@squareconductservices hello how do I contact you?ive tried emailing
@@squareconductservices
Hi tried calling the number and txting no response
I really need your help pls
Yes I got same my socket is damp
Hi, not uncommon in these situations, if you have galvanised capping over the wires and/or galvanised edge beading for the plaster work you will eventually see the galvanise breakdown and what is rust, coming through the wall, expect salt build up too....if you need any help, please do get in touch, phone number on the website www . squareconductservices . co . uk (without the spaces), thanks, Ivan
See Venice how cope with raising damp?
Hi Antonio, i spent some time in Venice studying their damp issues. Despite some very different issues there are also some common mistakes we see in the UK regarding remedial work. In short, good design, ruined by idiots later on. Thanks for getting in touch. All the best, Ivan
Hi Peter, I will call you tomorrow morning, hope that's OK.
Highly recommend this top guy to anyone who wants to receive opinion different to most common ones, dealing only with the very well known methods such as a injection DPC, hack off render , tanking slurry.. etc without going deep into the problem ! He spent from his time helping me with his knowledge with no any charge. Wish you all the best Ivan , best regards to you and your family and merry Christmas :)
Thanks Hristo I'm glad we were able to sort things out or you with a few photos and emails exchanges. You will be absolutely fine now, damp free for years to come!. Best regards, Ivan
😊👍
Cowboys strike again
I guess you like Peter ward!
Unbelievable. The airblocks are below grade! I've never seen such a poor design. You have an actual drain into the house.
Those that say rising damp is a myth are wrong. In certain circumstances there is no question that rising damp does occur. See it regularly.
Hi Slashley, correct indeed, unfortunately the term has been highjacked by the injecting/rendering mob as a capture all term to frighten people into spending ££Thousands when they don't need to. In its purest definition within the building context, its 'capillary action' and for anyone reading this, see ruclips.net/video/aGlRDZo2_Eo/видео.html
Not all damp companies want to drill and fill and walk away . Some of us what to rectify the problem probably and professionally, Don't tar us all with the same brush....
Damp wallys will soon need to find a new job i think.
Not when I've been doing my job right for 8 years now lowering outside driveway gardens flower beds opening up floors to take out all the rubbish that's been washed in over the years air bricks and opening up the caivitys to take out the rubbish that's course's the walls to go wet with some wall the plaster has to come of so I can get of the tanking crap some wankers put on to allow the walls to breath again to replaster I use 8 to 1 sand and cement and no waterproofer never had any problems with any job that I've done I'm now close to 12 hundred houses that I've fixed for several estate agents in my area
With regards to your video.
You have half the problem identified, the groundworkers have raised ground levels and compromised the airbricks which are now far too low, however you failed to explain how the damp has reached the electrical socket and left that damp mark if there is an effective damp proof course?. The water ingress areas you pointed out are below DPC level and whilst this will contribute directly to sub floor humidity and also place the floor timbers at risk, this should not affect the walls at socket level (or above) if an effective DPC is present. Another sign of defective DPC is the spalled brickwork - this has elevated damp content (above the DPC) which has frozen fracturing the brick face.
Your recommendations alone will not be enough to solve these problems and if your advice is to allow this to dry naturally, I fear the client will have a long wait.
M Davison cssw - independent surveyor.
Hi we suffer from damp it's not bad comes and goes and there's a damp smell in the basement. Our hour needs pointing as the last person who did it did a shocking job and only half got the old grout out so the new grout as fallen out if we get our house pointed will this help with the damp.
imanishay send me some photos (inside & out) of the walls concerned, more than happy to have a chat about it free over the phone, use info@squareconductservices.co.uk
The damp up the wall and around the socket is caused by condensation. Once the sub floor has dried out the wall will too. It's definitely not caused by rising damp because of a faulty DPC. This house doesn't need a DPC.
Hello Kevin, though i recognised your name from another comment earlier. You are however wrong in your first point. If you watch the video and part 2, you will see this. Correct on the DPC not being 'faulty', but i don't understand your last comment, it does have a DPC, perhaps you meant to say it doesn't need {another} doc, i.e. injected or akin. Best of luck with your own business but please no more 'self-promotion' comments.
+Square Conduct Services Limited no more self promotion? I'm not promoting myself I'm just answering the previous question because you hadn't answered it. Do you really think those blue bricks are preventing rising damp? Rising damp is a myth. That's what I meant.
On RUclips anyone is allowed to leave comments and reply to other comments.
Needing to understand the root cause of a damp problem we decided to contact Ivan at Square Contact Services for professional advice and he kindly agreed to visit us and give his assessment. After looking around the property inside and outside Ivan took the time to clearly explain his findings and identified a solution that made perfect sense.
We are really pleased we decided to contact Ivan and are happy to recommend Square Conduct Services to anyone needing professional and impartial advice relating to damp.
Mark b.... That's the first problem, very good chance it ISNT a moisture meter (they are conductivity meters, measuring resistances ), you can get a great reading off the scale on old lead paint over tinder dry wood !!!! send me the report I will punch a few holes in it for free !!!! Check out Peter Wards videos on this, we speak the same language but he has more online stuff. Best of luck, fight the good fight and all that