If more people were like Ivan, the world would be a better place. I dug myself into a Google rabbit hole with worries about a crack in the render of my home... I sent Ivan some photos of the issue and a description and he took the time to talk it through over the phone with me, and reassured it was a fixable issue and nothing major. Made world of difference and hope to be able to work with his team to fix the issue.
I had Ivan round today to look at my damp issues. He is a damp genius and has saved me thousands of pounds by coming up with cheap/free solutions rather than making things even worse by getting damp proofing. Ivan spent hours throughly investigating the problem areas and talked me through everything clearly explaining what is happening. He will write up a thorough report but has explained what needs to be done.. which I'm happy to tackle myself, so all easy stuff! Ivan was a total gent and pleasure to have in the house. I'm so glad I stumbled across him on here! Very much recommended!
Ivan is a true gent, we have been in communication about my house - and even though i am miles away and not going to be a customer (now at least) he has been an amazing help, very knowledgable and patient. If his communication with me (purely voluntary and free) is anything to go by then i would imagine that Square Conduct Services would be a very trustworthy and professional company. Thanks again Ivan, Dan
Thanks so much Ivan - your videos and time on the phone have been a great help! Intelligent diagnosis and solving of issues rather than just patching over.
Came across Ivan's videos and thought I would give him a try. I have recently had a new driveway built and I had some concerns about the way they built around my airbricks and whether I would get any problems in regards to rain water and restriction of airflow. I decided to email Ivan and to my surprise he got back to me straight away as anybody else would Take the piss!!!!Ivan was very very helpful and put my mind at ease and also provided some recommendations along with to do and not to do tips. I would highly recommend Ivan and square conduct services and I believe he is one of a very few trustworthy people outthere. Thanks again mate.
Thanks for the video! Glad to see a contractor who goes the extra mile and has identified the problems. Not to appear too picky, but 225mm vents installed every linear metre. Where ever possible, it is important to ensure *cross ventilation* to remove moist air from the sub floor
Morning, thank you for your kind words. Your are TOTALLY correct regarding the ventilation, the actual need for size of vent and frequency, is perhaps debatable. I have given the 'official' line below for NEW build, but we are dealing hear with older property and there has to be a good reason to go away from 'as built'. As well as altering the cosmetics, additional vents may well interrupt, not assist, air flow due to the sub-floor baffles (bit of wood!!) that direct the air to what would otherwise be dead spaces. Im not disagreeing with you, just saying a word of caution and know what your doing on a case-by-case basis rather than a rule of thumb. Once again, thanks for comments and getting in touch, all the best, Ivan Building Controls Approval Document - C :Site preparation and resistance to contaminates and moisture (inc 2013 amend)) recommends under 4.14(b) & Diag 5, "1500mm2/m run of wall, or 500mm2/m2 of floor area, whichever is greater" A standard 229 x 76mm, has c. 6500mm2 of free flow. To comply with Part C, you would need one only c.4.3M of run, however if you take a new build (semi) typical house 5M x 10M with front to back airflow (along 5M sides), floor area 50M2 which is 1per 3.8M, so basically 2 on the front, two on the back
I have been unable to find any information on older properties on what is correct. However experience tells me that 1930’s houses (quality build) seem to follow that methodology. I have yet to see dampness to the walls or sub floor problems as a result of poor ventilation. My own house is bone dry. I have not considered that it could be counter productive. I thought 💭 that the priority is to have a strong air flow to take the moisture away. Thanks 😊 for the response. If you can provide further info on a situation where it would be counter productive I would be very grateful All the best
Forgive the previous waffle! I am falling into the trap of not fully reading your response. I worry that the dead space is the problem: no air flow - high moisture leading to rot - thanks for your advice I hope that you can help me crystallise my approach.👍 I look forward to more videos
Can’t recommend Ivan enough. He’s been amazing in diagnosing and proposing solutions to the ‘rising damp’ that my surveyor told me I had. From just a few photos he was able to identify the root cause and we were able to agree a plan to fix…
Thanks Ivan, great video. I contacted Ivan via his company after seeing the videos to ask some advice on a recent damp survey I had received for my circa 1900 property. Ivan very kindly provided me with a clear explanation of what can typically cause damp in old buildings and some useful practical tips on how to investigate the root cause of this in my property (all without any charge & zero pressure to take up his paid services). I’m still looking into this but Ivan’s advice as well as the other information I have found after many hours of searching has hopefully saved me thousands on unnecessary treatments that at best would have only temporarily masked the problem and at worst could have caused much more damage. There’s a vast minefield of bad advise circulated by supposed experts in damp that want your hard earned money and this leaves the consumer totally confused as to what to do but Ivan and a few select others are working to right this wrong and guide properly owners to sensible outcomes. Thanks again.
Hello Matt, thanks. Yes there are a huge number of so called 'free' companies willing to take your money that offer no more than a cover up mask, that at best will only work for a few years and NOT get to the root cause. The more you look in to these 'some & mirror' methods, you realise, its just a scam and their offers of "damp free" actually mean "we cover it up so you won't notice and think we are fantastic" -WRONG !!! All the best with your research. get back in touch if i can be of further help. Ivan
As many others have said the whole damp issue can be a rabbit hole! I left Ivan a message on his website (I must admit I was worried I’d get no response with the last video being quite old) but then received a call the next day! He was really helpful, wasn’t trying to sell me any products or go with the expensive option just because - all he did was try talk me through the issue and how to try resolve it. I’ll have to come back once we have!
+peter friel Hi peter, thanks for your kind comments. We try wherever possible to avoid doing the work itself as 1) it allows us to remain totally independent, not like these "free" (hahahah) 'injection cowboys' or 'slap on waterproof slurry and render monkeys', who have a vested interest in talking you into work - that will make it worse, 2) The damp fix in most cases ins very simple and can be done with unskilled labour or in a lot of cases the owner themselves. We do consultancy & reporting nationwide but much as i would love a trip up to see you, even that might be a bit far. Maybe i will pop in next time I'm on holiday - if my wife will let me !!! Fight the good fight, you have some excellent construction methods up there, ruined by us 'southerners' techniques, wrongly applied Ivan
This video was an excellent resource to verify a similar issue with my own property. Ivan also provided me with great advice over email. Thanks again Ivan!
+DJANGO BEAT (DJANGOBEAT-TV) Your most welcome, as always, feel free to send some photos on email if you wish and i can comment further. Thanks for you kind comment
Well done... I have a bungalow with the same issues, where by the previous owners put an extension on the back, blocked most of the air bricks, left all the chimney stack waste meterials in the cavity, under the floors, so air flow is extremely restricted and under floors are just starting to show damp issues, all this was only finished 3-4 years ago and signed off by building control (who I am going to speak to in due cause). Part 2....
Hi Ivan, my Dad forwarded me this video as i have done the exact same thing with my ground levels, unfortunately I have clay soil on my property and the water builds up in the trench with it taking around a day to drain away. Would you be able to give me any guidance please? i have a handful of problems to overcome and its becoming rather stressful. Cheers
Good morning Steve, as the idiot injectors nearly always drill bricks ABOVE a current DPC when selling their solutions to the gullible, they are effectively making what is a standard porous house brick into something non-porous for the depth of injection penetration within that brick (typically a few mm around the hole drilled. There is increasing evidence these days that over time this in itself creates a problem and the drilled/injected brick is prone to face blowing/decay. I see a whole new claims industry on the horizon!!!! - thats before you take into account that they are effectively saying that they are happy to move a DPC up a couple of courses, and as such, brick courses between the designed/installed when built and 'new' DPC's that were designed to be dry, they are now happy to be wet.The very courses that are above floor level, so floor joists, internals, they are effectively saying, its ok to be wet - i think not - all smoke, mirrors and ££££ wasted
Part 3: I have a had to take up floors in 2 bedrooms, bath room, 2 halls ways, & utility, still got to do cupboard & front room. Job has meant I have 3-4 tons of rubble extracted from underneath the house, I have to repoint the base 4 brick on the inner wall, which are looking very like they are going to fail in the next 10 years or so, due to the damp. As the bungalow has a concrete base, all I have had to do is a lot of shovelling out & underneath was very damp, anywhere around the edges of the foundations has failed, so going to seal also once I have sorted the outside. Part 4...
informative video, good explanation. my only issue would be what you have used to set in the airbrick, would of looked much better with mortar to match existing.
Hi, this has come up a couple of times and yes you are right, indeed they were covered over at a later stage. The compound you can see is rapid set 2-part epoxy for wall anchor systems (5-10 mins cure time). Given you are cutting out the old air brick rather than building a wall from scratch, it is difficult to ensure that there is a good bed of mortar across the full depth of the brick (anything less than full depth would possibly cause later problems). By using the applicator you can achieve full depth with the resin. Chances are its imperial brick and new air vents are metric, meaning your gap is bigger, so 'overfill' is ideal for epoxy to give strength.....hope that helps to explain, but yes it should be matching mortar finally as you suggest. Thanks for getting in touch.
Hi, this really helped me out its much appreciated - i notice that you said the total cost was £300 - can i ask what you used to make the gully? and is it something i can do myself? my neighbour (I'm end terrace and they have a community hall) have built their tarmac up and over our air bricks so i will need to dig a gully. many thanks for any response
+Dan Barton Hi, YES YOU CAN DO IT YOURSELF !!!......and herein lies the basis for the whole idiot-injectors sales pitch. How long would you have a job if you went back to your boss and said, 'its ok, i didn't sell him £4,000 of injecting work, i simply said do it yourself for a few quids worth of bits" WRT the breakdown, plastic air bricks are a few quid each, you can use sand/cement to bed in, or use a quick set resin as per vis (c.£8/tube, dos c.3 vents), pea shingle/gravel is about £30-50 per 1 tonne bag from any merchant. The rest is labour, if you know which end of a spade is which, you can do it!!! Send me some photos via email and i will happily give you some further comments. All the best
+Square Conduct Services Limited thanks for the reply, I would love to take you up on the offer of emailing a couple of photos to check i'm on the right line, have started to dig out the bricks today :) i cant find an email address on youtube though?
Hello i live in a mid terraced house the vent at the end of the lounge is blocked up internally, there are plastic air bricks at the front of the property but no way of ventilation through the property, also the air brick in the kitchen has been blocked up and the air brick inbetween the kitchen and bathroom floor, I do think this is the cause of condensation/rising damp on lower levels of the house, please may I have your opinion kind regards Adam
Hi I live in Cornwall and I was wandering do you travel this far for works or even a photo and Skype consultation as were desperate to resolve our problems for good,as we've paid so much out already and trusted advice from our builders in our forever home only to find that we've got some serious damp problems and so we thought we'd try again and get some trusted advice from someone who doesn't agree on the chemical process. I've tried to look for your website, but it looks like it's under construction! Many thanks Tracie
Hi Tracie, drop me an email to info@squareconductservices(dot)co(dot)uk ....written this way to stop the spam ! With your contact details and im sure we can help. Look forward to talking Best regards, Ivan
Very nice video I got damp problems in my flat and I had my walls replastered with some kind of insulation to try stop the damp coming through even though it been 2 weeks now and the walls still haven’t dried out at the bottom, what would anyone recommend I need to do. The guy that done the re plastering did say I cud do with getting my cavities cleared? But surely this wall shud of dried out by now some parts have done bit the bits lower down in corners haven’t??any advice wud be appreciated
Thanks for the video much appreciated, in process of clearing air bricks myself, do you have video on how to replace them n can I send photos for further advice. Thanks
Hi Matthew, thanks for getting in touch. By all means send photos over, but in reply to your initial question; The old air bricks tend to come out quite 'clean', a simple disc cutter or careful bolster chisel. Replacing them is equally simple. If you have an older house with a imperial brick, you will find the gap to be slightly greater, as nearly all common air bricks (including plastic ones), tend to be the metric equivalent. The gap can be simple sand cement to match, or an epoxy resin in a tube (Google, anchor bolt resin, it works just as well, is not messy and not expensive if only doing a few). you will see this on the video, it tends to be more grey, but if painting, no problems. One word of caution, if your in a conservation area and/or listed - speak to the council heritage first. The may have very fixed views on what you should use, but In my experience, are very happy to work with you as they know ultimately your doing whats best for the building. Hope that helps. Ivan
Great video Ivan, do the air bricks have to be that low? my builder recently raised them as a similar issue to this house but not as bad. he reckons will be enough ventilation from a new height. But it's not the same level as sub-flooring.
Hi Richard, not sure what you mean by the hight change. The airflow is basically just what the wind will push through, plus a small amount based on 'thermal draft' (won't go into it here but you can google it). As such any angles, 90 degree bends cuts this right down. THE GOLDEN RULE is always try to get as near to you can to original. That said, sometimes necessity (like changes to ground water/pooling/flooding) mean you can fit a telescopic vent but even this will mean a reduction, as such i would always recommend adding an extra air vent to compensate. All the best, Ivan
In heavy rain will the water soak down and penetrate into lower bricks / foundations? My north facing house wall receives very little sunshine, and water would be slow to evaporate. I'm wondering if wet sand and gravel sitting in a trench like this will still cause damp problems?
Good morning, the choice is more a decorative preference than an absolute.The main points being that whatever is used myst be free draining so that the wall is dry, even though the soil on the other side of the gully (drain) is wet. I tend to use 20mm (pea), but 10mm or even borders would work equally well if there are arigaps. If you need further advice, let me know. Best regard. Ivan
Hi, if you take out (as jn this case) an old imperial metal grill and replace it with the modern metric plastic airvent, you will find there is quite a gap. Given you cannot put any cement behind it (which kind of defeats the object!) and the high probability of feet kicking it, you need something very secure. In this case we used a 2-part quick setting resin, Screwfix EASYFIX KEM-PSC-175-EF CHEMICAL RESIN 175ML (5650J) @ £4.99 comes in an easy to use applicator and sets in a few mins. If you want to you can leave space to repoint with traditional cement mortar, or simply leave this to weather.
Part 4: Which means I have to drop the side drive way by 12 inches (yes) a foot (do not ask), front of the house has paving slabs upto the air brick, so that was obviously getting blocked. It is worth noting I had a full comprehensive survey done, they only picked up on a lack of air bricks and that some could be blocked and I might want to investigate... Part 5...
I will be getting this done. However in my case the vents will be maybe 2cm above ground level which is block paved is that ok or will that be a problem. I have read that it should ideally be 7.5mm above ground level
Hi, thanks for getting in touch. There are potentially 2 problems, but the 1st is a general one and could also occur at any height, namely the possibility of flooding or pooled water build up. If the ground runs away and naturally drains, then no problems. The 2nd is that of water splashing back up. All rain falling (or even worse guttering overflow!!!) will create splash, that splash hits the wall, but again can be very small. Have a look along the base of the brick and you will see a layer of dust/dirt that will have been 'splashed' back up the last time it rained. If your happy that this isn't excessive, then again no problems. A good quality new type airvent with louver will be better than the old type single vertical face type. Hope that helps, best of luck, feel free to email some photos over if you think i can help further. Ivan
In your video you raised the external air brick by one which is exactly what I need to do. The only problem is it is difficult to get to the underfloor inside the building. Did you use the telescopic ducting to connect the new higher air brick outside to the original air brick on the inside of the cavity? Would it suffice to just put in a new air brick above the current one and air will still travel through the cavity into the lower internal air brick?
Hi Sam, thanks for getting in touch. The airbirck is in exactly the same place - and should be left as designed - what was undertaken was to dig down below its position to make clear. The telescopic vents (aka periscope vents) can be helpful but not the best, as you have 2x 90 degree bends for the air flow to cope with which doesn't a lot, but given this is free ventilation, not pumped, the air pressures are small and it will restrict. Try it, we live in the real world where low cost is important, but you will have to monitor to see if it works.
Square Conduct Services Limited Hello, I have a similar problem in my house , the damp company I called say it will cost about £2000 , damp is in the corners of the room , who do I call to unblock the air bricks which are located underneath the patio of the kitchen extension, all builders I call say call damp proof people
Hi, if it's under the patio, then there is some work to be done, but no amount of injecting will cure your issue, it will also create others. Send me am email with some photos and I will talk you through it. Info (at) squareconductservices (dot) co (dot) uk
Part 2: Corrective action is going to take me a round 3 weeks, firstly I am going to install 6-8 new air bricks and upgrade the the 9 others that are damaged. In regards to drafts through floorboards, I would advise people to insulated the floor boards (only if you have good air flow under neath them, do your research first) I am using wool, not board, as I want to allow breathing within the joist and simply slow down the air coming up through the traditional floor boards, I am also installing a vapour barrier on top of the joists under neath the boards & above the insulation and netting. Part 3...
Hi Karl (2of3), keep in mind that adding the wool will restrict the airflow, i know you mention to check you have sufficient (research) first, but anything will take away from how the building was designed. Again, but a lot more subjective which you can argue either way so have to make a judgement call, 'leaking' floor boards also help to remove sub-floor moisture, again as designed. This is the same principle as the old rattling windows. Put in D/Glazing and while its great for full efficiency your cutting down the breathing. I couldn't comment on if your actions were either side of the line without more information and a few calculation. But best of luck again. Very proactive. Ivan
+daz bin man Hi Daz, not sure what it is exactly your getting at, if you could send me a photo on email i will happily comment - getting correct levels is EVERYTHING, nothing more critical. Double 'blue brick' is one of the best DPC you can get, they never fail, as the idiots injectors would have you believe', the only time i have seen problems is where they have been removed and replaced with a normal brick, or where airbirck has been removed and replaced with normal, on a single run. This gives a first rate path and a house we worked on in Leicester had a whole back wall dame, just from a single wrong brick, they never suspected as the line of blues was painted white. Easily spotted with thermal image though, strength to it.
Hi Ivan, Hope you are well and safe - Are you based in the north west - can you come to People’s home to provide a quote and do the work ?? as you’ve done an amazing job. I had damp specialist 10 years back who made holes but it made everything much worst Thanks Tazeim
Hi lola, a VERY common story, sad to say. you have to get to the root cause, not just cover it up. Give me a call or email me (number and details on the website), but yes, we cover the whole of the UK. best regards, Ivan
Hi Matthew, its a fair point, in fact i couldn't agree more, but as the saying goes; "the person who pays the piper calls the tune". Thanks for getting in touch, best regards, Ivan
I keep coming on videos saying rising damp doesn't exist, but they always seem to prove it does exist but is caused or made worse by proposed solutions, like impervious render and paint rather than finding where the water is coming from. Is this a fair description?
Hi Dorian, excellent question, thank you. Rising Damp is a generic, capture all term used by the educated, uneducated and those seeking to frighten people and make a quick buck. If you put the end of dry paper into water, the water rises up through the paper, in essence bricks do the same thing with ground water, hence where the expression comes from...BUT...and this is critical, once it hits the Damp proof Course (DPC) it stops. Some [old or specialist design] buildings don't have a DPC, so the building fabric is designed to reject/disperse the rising water, if you cover this up with something that won't allow water through, external waterproof paints & cement renders to name a few extremes, then you trap this in and cause issues. However, by far the biggest issues are where the DPC has been 'breached' (bridged) by laying a patio over it typically, or where it had been removed, adding a doorway, replacing bricks etc, by people who didn't know what they were doing. Don't even get me started on ventilation! Now you have water rising as per the 'old/specialist building example above, but into fabric that wasn't designed to ever be wet. No amount of injecting, cement renders, tanking, damp proof paint etc will cure any/either of these, you need to get to the root cause.......hope that helps. drop me an email if you want and i can send you a few photos which show this/these. Best regards, Ivan
Square Conduct Services Limited thanks, you confirmed my understanding. It's a bit late to get your help now, but vids like this have helped me enormously. I am in the process of getting my first house ready to move into, it's old and had damp, my builder wanted to add waterproof slurry, videos like this put me off, it turned out it was a badly sealed windowsill channelling water into the wall, the waterproofing would have made it much worse! The ground level is nearly up to the DPC, so will have to lower that and only one air brick for the whole house, which was almost like the one in this video, with concrete around it above the level of it, thankfully sloping away from it rather than channelling water in. More work for when I move in! And previous solutions had made things worse, through not looking for the problems, there was foil backed paper under the windows, either side of it salts growing out of the plaster, it looked like some horrid weird mould.
Hi, im sorry to say your story in not un-typical. Bad diagnosis, sold an expensive/non=effective solution. Likewise, we had a client with an outstandingly beautiful property in london, ruined by foil paper/mould. Keep up the good work and do send through anything you would like further comment on.
I want to do a similar thing but won't water go through the shingle into the ground? I have a basement so will the water drain through to the basement?
All it took was a pea shingle border. I thought you was going to have to lower the ground level all round the outside. Why would the ground have been raised in the first place?
Hi rozzer, i love the description, never heard it described like that, but it sums it up well. Mainly ground levels are raised due to time, cost and lazy install. A lot easier to lay a patio over a concrete than bust it up and put in a proper base etc etc.......add in the fact that most people don't understand damp and/or damp proof courses (DPCs) and you have a whole industry of idiot injectors and render throwers making a lot of money that doesn't cure your root cause. It keeps it covered up enough to convince you while your cheque is clearing into their bank though!!!!
@@rozzer666 Hi again, wow, people write whole books on such wide subjects, but if you want to email me some photos i can comment in more specific terms. All the best, ivan
Part 5: I am really shocked at the level of skill today's trades actually have, they all have gift of the gab, yet I find myself either correcting their work, or doing it myself... I am documenting all my findings ot do with this house & previous 2 houses & I am going to present them to authorised bodies to investigate as these practises have been going on for 4 decades now and really need to stop... some trades are simply mucking things up to come back and charge to repair, blaming the client.. all the time... The practise of leaving waste on site, or even worse bringing waste on to site to dump either in a hole or underneath floorboards has also got to stop... I am going to raise the issues with my local MP as well... as I feel the only way to stop this going forward is to educate and start to get the council inspectors to do their jobs and checking under floors and monitoring sites more frequently... #Square Conduct Services Limited good video... you are not alone
Hi Karl (3of3), there is certainly a lot of people who are like this. Add to that those that don't understand damp with there silly prong meters and lets inject/slurry tank attitude. Thank you for taking the time to add your comments. Hopefully people might read this and think, 'hey, I'm being ripped off here' !! All the best. Ivan
Hi, thanks for getting in touch, a gully should always be 'free draining' or could as you say, fill up and simply run into the airbircks. Using natural slope of ground or dig gully towards a drain (making sure nothing can fall, or be carried into the drain) are good first options.
+Kevin Amatt , Thanks, not surprising really as we speak the same language against these idiots who claim to cure damp but in fact charge £thousands just to mask the issue for a few years. Given your views elsewhere, i see you agree. "long live the new church"
Hi Sam, the £300 was parts and labour of the contractor brought in by the client. We do not carry out the work ourselves (or recommend anybody) for two very good reasons. Unlike the 'free' survey companies, we do not profit in any way from work we recommend, therefore we have no interest in 'talking you into' work (often totally unnecessary give the 'free' surveys clients send me every week). the second reason is that damp is very simple, the fix is simple, its the identification thats the skilled part. Over 50% of our clients undertake the work themselves, the others use a local general builder and follow the check list in our reports. I would say that if you can't get a local general builder in your area to undertake the work identified for this sort of figure, there are more cowboys out there than i thought. best regards. Ivan
The installation of the plastic airbricks is ´rough as guts´ ! You actually sound proud about it. Why did you not put a few shallow indents on the outside of the plastic bricks and bed them in lime mortar ? Grey mastic badly dressed is not a good solution or image. Make an effort !
Hi Hanne, apart from saying 'not our work; given were were the investigating/reporting/consulting company only, i do have to jump to the defence of the contractor. You may have seen a similar comment (and reply below) which sums up in "the person who pays the piper, calls the tune" , i.e., client request......as it happens its not lime as you suggest and having used this mastic before, it weathers well and changes colour, actually quite close to the cement. The (replaced) gravel covers the bottom line too.....all in all not as bad or 'rough as guts' as one might first think looking at this just after the project was finished. If you would like to send me an email, i will happily send you a few photos of how it is these days. Either way, thanks for getting in touch, well spotted, but caution on judging any damp issues in a snapshot.Stay cover-safe, all the best, Ivan
If more people were like Ivan, the world would be a better place. I dug myself into a Google rabbit hole with worries about a crack in the render of my home... I sent Ivan some photos of the issue and a description and he took the time to talk it through over the phone with me, and reassured it was a fixable issue and nothing major. Made world of difference and hope to be able to work with his team to fix the issue.
The British Building industry, needs more people like you, thanks for a great video.
I had Ivan round today to look at my damp issues. He is a damp genius and has saved me thousands of pounds by coming up with cheap/free solutions rather than making things even worse by getting damp proofing. Ivan spent hours throughly investigating the problem areas and talked me through everything clearly explaining what is happening. He will write up a thorough report but has explained what needs to be done.. which I'm happy to tackle myself, so all easy stuff! Ivan was a total gent and pleasure to have in the house. I'm so glad I stumbled across him on here! Very much recommended!
Ivan is a true gent, we have been in communication about my house - and even though i am miles away and not going to be a customer (now at least) he has been an amazing help, very knowledgable and patient. If his communication with me (purely voluntary and free) is anything to go by then i would imagine that Square Conduct Services would be a very trustworthy and professional company. Thanks again Ivan, Dan
This video will still be relevant for decades So Thanks ,again,and again and again …….
Thanks Tom, much appreciated you taking the time to say so. All the best, Ivan
Thanks so much Ivan - your videos and time on the phone have been a great help! Intelligent diagnosis and solving of issues rather than just patching over.
Came across Ivan's videos and thought I would give him a try. I have recently had a new driveway built and I had some concerns about the way they built around my airbricks and whether I would get any problems in regards to rain water and restriction of airflow.
I decided to email Ivan and to my surprise he got back to me straight away as anybody else would Take the piss!!!!Ivan was very very helpful and put my mind at ease and also provided some recommendations along with to do and not to do tips.
I would highly recommend Ivan and square conduct services and I believe he is one of a very few trustworthy people outthere.
Thanks again mate.
If you ever do a similar job, it would be great to see the removal of the old air bricks and fitting of the new one.
Thanks for the video! Glad to see a contractor who goes the extra mile and has identified the problems. Not to appear too picky, but 225mm vents installed every linear metre. Where ever possible, it is important to ensure *cross ventilation* to remove moist air from the sub floor
Morning, thank you for your kind words. Your are TOTALLY correct regarding the ventilation, the actual need for size of vent and frequency, is perhaps debatable. I have given the 'official' line below for NEW build, but we are dealing hear with older property and there has to be a good reason to go away from 'as built'. As well as altering the cosmetics, additional vents may well interrupt, not assist, air flow due to the sub-floor baffles (bit of wood!!) that direct the air to what would otherwise be dead spaces. Im not disagreeing with you, just saying a word of caution and know what your doing on a case-by-case basis rather than a rule of thumb. Once again, thanks for comments and getting in touch, all the best, Ivan
Building Controls Approval Document - C :Site preparation and resistance to contaminates and moisture (inc 2013 amend)) recommends under 4.14(b) & Diag 5, "1500mm2/m run of wall, or 500mm2/m2 of floor area, whichever is greater" A standard 229 x 76mm, has c. 6500mm2 of free flow. To comply with Part C, you would need one only c.4.3M of run, however if you take a new build (semi) typical house 5M x 10M with front to back airflow (along 5M sides), floor area 50M2 which is 1per 3.8M, so basically 2 on the front, two on the back
I have been unable to find any information on older properties on what is correct. However experience tells me that 1930’s houses (quality build) seem to follow that methodology. I have yet to see dampness to the walls or sub floor problems as a result of poor ventilation. My own house is bone dry. I have not considered that it could be counter productive. I thought 💭 that the priority is to have a strong air flow to take the moisture away.
Thanks 😊 for the response. If you can provide further info on a situation where it would be counter productive I would be very grateful
All the best
Oh Yeh I will concede the size of the vent (belt and braces) and aesthetics. Is the new build spec for block and beam floors or timber as well?
Forgive the previous waffle! I am falling into the trap of not fully reading your response. I worry that the dead space is the problem: no air flow - high moisture leading to rot - thanks for your advice I hope that you can help me crystallise my approach.👍 I look forward to more videos
Can’t recommend Ivan enough. He’s been amazing in diagnosing and proposing solutions to the ‘rising damp’ that my surveyor told me I had. From just a few photos he was able to identify the root cause and we were able to agree a plan to fix…
Thanks Ivan, great video. I contacted Ivan via his company after seeing the videos to ask some advice on a recent damp survey I had received for my circa 1900 property. Ivan very kindly provided me with a clear explanation of what can typically cause damp in old buildings and some useful practical tips on how to investigate the root cause of this in my property (all without any charge & zero pressure to take up his paid services). I’m still looking into this but Ivan’s advice as well as the other information I have found after many hours of searching has hopefully saved me thousands on unnecessary treatments that at best would have only temporarily masked the problem and at worst could have caused much more damage. There’s a vast minefield of bad advise circulated by supposed experts in damp that want your hard earned money and this leaves the consumer totally confused as to what to do but Ivan and a few select others are working to right this wrong and guide properly owners to sensible outcomes. Thanks again.
Hello Matt, thanks. Yes there are a huge number of so called 'free' companies willing to take your money that offer no more than a cover up mask, that at best will only work for a few years and NOT get to the root cause. The more you look in to these 'some & mirror' methods, you realise, its just a scam and their offers of "damp free" actually mean "we cover it up so you won't notice and think we are fantastic" -WRONG !!! All the best with your research. get back in touch if i can be of further help. Ivan
As many others have said the whole damp issue can be a rabbit hole! I left Ivan a message on his website (I must admit I was worried I’d get no response with the last video being quite old) but then received a call the next day! He was really helpful, wasn’t trying to sell me any products or go with the expensive option just because - all he did was try talk me through the issue and how to try resolve it. I’ll have to come back once we have!
MORE VIDEOS IVAN !!! BRILLIANT TO WATCH HOW YOU FIX THESE PROBLEMS WISH YOU BASED IN SCOTLAND ..
+peter friel
Hi peter, thanks for your kind comments. We try wherever possible to avoid doing the work itself as 1) it allows us to remain totally independent, not like these "free" (hahahah) 'injection cowboys' or 'slap on waterproof slurry and render monkeys', who have a vested interest in talking you into work - that will make it worse, 2) The damp fix in most cases ins very simple and can be done with unskilled labour or in a lot of cases the owner themselves.
We do consultancy & reporting nationwide but much as i would love a trip up to see you, even that might be a bit far. Maybe i will pop in next time I'm on holiday - if my wife will let me !!!
Fight the good fight, you have some excellent construction methods up there, ruined by us 'southerners' techniques, wrongly applied
Ivan
This video was an excellent resource to verify a similar issue with my own property. Ivan also provided me with great advice over email. Thanks again Ivan!
Extremely useful videos we can use to rectify the problems in the house we just bought - thank you for being so clear.
+DJANGO BEAT (DJANGOBEAT-TV) Your most welcome, as always, feel free to send some photos on email if you wish and i can comment further. Thanks for you kind comment
Brilliant!, we had a quote for exactly £4500 to do this exact same job and it's cured our issues.
Hi Alex, FANTASTIC, another one chalked up for common sense and against the rip off injectors and slurry-slingers. !!! Well done., Best regards, Ivan
Well done... I have a bungalow with the same issues, where by the previous owners put an extension on the back, blocked most of the air bricks, left all the chimney stack waste meterials in the cavity, under the floors, so air flow is extremely restricted and under floors are just starting to show damp issues, all this was only finished 3-4 years ago and signed off by building control (who I am going to speak to in due cause). Part 2....
Hi Karl (1of3), not uncommon, the free flow of air should definitely be something building controls check. Best of luck. Ivan
Real value for money. Worth every penny.
Hi Ivan, my Dad forwarded me this video as i have done the exact same thing with my ground levels, unfortunately I have clay soil on my property and the water builds up in the trench with it taking around a day to drain away. Would you be able to give me any guidance please? i have a handful of problems to overcome and its becoming rather stressful. Cheers
Thanks!!! injecting damp proofing didn't seem right to me. What you say makes perfect sense
Good morning Steve, as the idiot injectors nearly always drill bricks ABOVE a current DPC when selling their solutions to the gullible, they are effectively making what is a standard porous house brick into something non-porous for the depth of injection penetration within that brick (typically a few mm around the hole drilled. There is increasing evidence these days that over time this in itself creates a problem and the drilled/injected brick is prone to face blowing/decay. I see a whole new claims industry on the horizon!!!! - thats before you take into account that they are effectively saying that they are happy to move a DPC up a couple of courses, and as such, brick courses between the designed/installed when built and 'new' DPC's that were designed to be dry, they are now happy to be wet.The very courses that are above floor level, so floor joists, internals, they are effectively saying, its ok to be wet - i think not - all smoke, mirrors and ££££ wasted
Very good video outlining the importance of underfloor ventilation. You did all that work for less than £300 ?
Part 3: I have a had to take up floors in 2 bedrooms, bath room, 2 halls ways, & utility, still got to do cupboard & front room. Job has meant I have 3-4 tons of rubble extracted from underneath the house, I have to repoint the base 4 brick on the inner wall, which are looking very like they are going to fail in the next 10 years or so, due to the damp. As the bungalow has a concrete base, all I have had to do is a lot of shovelling out & underneath was very damp, anywhere around the edges of the foundations has failed, so going to seal also once I have sorted the outside. Part 4...
Brilliant video - thanks!
Wonderful man! Such kind and professional advice. Thank-you
informative video, good explanation. my only issue would be what you have used to set in the airbrick, would of looked much better with mortar to match existing.
Hi, this has come up a couple of times and yes you are right, indeed they were covered over at a later stage. The compound you can see is rapid set 2-part epoxy for wall anchor systems (5-10 mins cure time). Given you are cutting out the old air brick rather than building a wall from scratch, it is difficult to ensure that there is a good bed of mortar across the full depth of the brick (anything less than full depth would possibly cause later problems). By using the applicator you can achieve full depth with the resin. Chances are its imperial brick and new air vents are metric, meaning your gap is bigger, so 'overfill' is ideal for epoxy to give strength.....hope that helps to explain, but yes it should be matching mortar finally as you suggest. Thanks for getting in touch.
Due to the plastic & lime in mortar, you are better using a epoxy resin to keep water tight...
Hi there, awesome video. QUESTION! Is it possible to unblock air bricks from the outside. So avoiding lifting up old floorboards?
thank you for this video.
No problem, glad it helped. get in touch again if you need to. best regards, Ivan
Hi, this really helped me out its much appreciated - i notice that you said the total cost was £300 - can i ask what you used to make the gully? and is it something i can do myself? my neighbour (I'm end terrace and they have a community hall) have built their tarmac up and over our air bricks so i will need to dig a gully. many thanks for any response
+Dan Barton Hi, YES YOU CAN DO IT YOURSELF !!!......and herein lies the basis for the whole idiot-injectors sales pitch. How long would you have a job if you went back to your boss and said, 'its ok, i didn't sell him £4,000 of injecting work, i simply said do it yourself for a few quids worth of bits"
WRT the breakdown, plastic air bricks are a few quid each, you can use sand/cement to bed in, or use a quick set resin as per vis (c.£8/tube, dos c.3 vents), pea shingle/gravel is about £30-50 per 1 tonne bag from any merchant. The rest is labour, if you know which end of a spade is which, you can do it!!!
Send me some photos via email and i will happily give you some further comments. All the best
+Square Conduct Services Limited thanks for the reply, I would love to take you up on the offer of emailing a couple of photos to check i'm on the right line, have started to dig out the bricks today :)
i cant find an email address on youtube though?
+Dan Barton Hi, use info@ then the company name squareconductservices.co.uk, thanks
Hello i live in a mid terraced house the vent at the end of the lounge is blocked up internally, there are plastic air bricks at the front of the property but no way of ventilation through the property, also the air brick in the kitchen has been blocked up and the air brick inbetween the kitchen and bathroom floor, I do think this is the cause of condensation/rising damp on lower levels of the house, please may I have your opinion kind regards Adam
Hi I live in Cornwall and I was wandering do you travel this far for works or even a photo and Skype consultation as were desperate to resolve our problems for good,as we've paid so much out already and trusted advice from our builders in our forever home only to find that we've got some serious damp problems and so we thought we'd try again and get some trusted advice from someone who doesn't agree on the chemical process.
I've tried to look for your website, but it looks like it's under construction!
Many thanks
Tracie
Hi Tracie, drop me an email to info@squareconductservices(dot)co(dot)uk ....written this way to stop the spam !
With your contact details and im sure we can help. Look forward to talking
Best regards, Ivan
Hi Tracie, where abouts in Cornwall. I used to have a property down there.
Very nice video I got damp problems in my flat and I had my walls replastered with some kind of insulation to try stop the damp coming through even though it been 2 weeks now and the walls still haven’t dried out at the bottom, what would anyone recommend I need to do. The guy that done the re plastering did say I cud do with getting my cavities cleared? But surely this wall shud of dried out by now some parts have done bit the bits lower down in corners haven’t??any advice wud be appreciated
Great information but how do I contact you ?
Forgot to say that I have subscribed!
Thanks for the video much appreciated, in process of clearing air bricks myself, do you have video on how to replace them n can I send photos for further advice. Thanks
Hi Matthew, thanks for getting in touch. By all means send photos over, but in reply to your initial question; The old air bricks tend to come out quite 'clean', a simple disc cutter or careful bolster chisel. Replacing them is equally simple. If you have an older house with a imperial brick, you will find the gap to be slightly greater, as nearly all common air bricks (including plastic ones), tend to be the metric equivalent. The gap can be simple sand cement to match, or an epoxy resin in a tube (Google, anchor bolt resin, it works just as well, is not messy and not expensive if only doing a few). you will see this on the video, it tends to be more grey, but if painting, no problems.
One word of caution, if your in a conservation area and/or listed - speak to the council heritage first. The may have very fixed views on what you should use, but In my experience, are very happy to work with you as they know ultimately your doing whats best for the building. Hope that helps.
Ivan
Excellent job
Thanks Derek. All the best, Ivan
Does the air brick need to be in the blue brick level or can you put it above?
Great video Ivan, do the air bricks have to be that low? my builder recently raised them as a similar issue to this house but not as bad. he reckons will be enough ventilation from a new height. But it's not the same level as sub-flooring.
Hi Richard, not sure what you mean by the hight change. The airflow is basically just what the wind will push through, plus a small amount based on 'thermal draft' (won't go into it here but you can google it). As such any angles, 90 degree bends cuts this right down. THE GOLDEN RULE is always try to get as near to you can to original. That said, sometimes necessity (like changes to ground water/pooling/flooding) mean you can fit a telescopic vent but even this will mean a reduction, as such i would always recommend adding an extra air vent to compensate. All the best, Ivan
Can i ask the purpose of the pea gravel..? Does it stop rain somehow?
Creates a soakaway rather than having water sitting/hitting against your brickwork
In heavy rain will the water soak down and penetrate into lower bricks / foundations? My north facing house wall receives very little sunshine, and water would be slow to evaporate. I'm wondering if wet sand and gravel sitting in a trench like this will still cause damp problems?
Where are you based, because our house is having a similar issue
Hi ...You mentioned filling the gully with pea shingle.....is this best or would a larger pebble be better?
Good morning, the choice is more a decorative preference than an absolute.The main points being that whatever is used myst be free draining so that the wall is dry, even though the soil on the other side of the gully (drain) is wet. I tend to use 20mm (pea), but 10mm or even borders would work equally well if there are arigaps. If you need further advice, let me know. Best regard. Ivan
Hi #ningis21... you can use course shingle lower down ie 4-6 inches and cover with 10-12mm on top...
Hi what have you used to secure the airbricks?
Hi, if you take out (as jn this case) an old imperial metal grill and replace it with the modern metric plastic airvent, you will find there is quite a gap. Given you cannot put any cement behind it (which kind of defeats the object!) and the high probability of feet kicking it, you need something very secure. In this case we used a 2-part quick setting resin, Screwfix EASYFIX KEM-PSC-175-EF CHEMICAL RESIN 175ML (5650J) @ £4.99 comes in an easy to use applicator and sets in a few mins. If you want to you can leave space to repoint with traditional cement mortar, or simply leave this to weather.
Nice work, very useful.
Thanks Ashanti, let me know if i can be of further help to you via email
Part 4: Which means I have to drop the side drive way by 12 inches (yes) a foot (do not ask), front of the house has paving slabs upto the air brick, so that was obviously getting blocked. It is worth noting I had a full comprehensive survey done, they only picked up on a lack of air bricks and that some could be blocked and I might want to investigate... Part 5...
I will be getting this done. However in my case the vents will be maybe 2cm above ground level which is block paved is that ok or will that be a problem. I have read that it should ideally be 7.5mm above ground level
Hi, thanks for getting in touch. There are potentially 2 problems, but the 1st is a general one and could also occur at any height, namely the possibility of flooding or pooled water build up. If the ground runs away and naturally drains, then no problems. The 2nd is that of water splashing back up. All rain falling (or even worse guttering overflow!!!) will create splash, that splash hits the wall, but again can be very small. Have a look along the base of the brick and you will see a layer of dust/dirt that will have been 'splashed' back up the last time it rained. If your happy that this isn't excessive, then again no problems. A good quality new type airvent with louver will be better than the old type single vertical face type. Hope that helps, best of luck, feel free to email some photos over if you think i can help further. Ivan
I have exactly same issue .
In your video you raised the external air brick by one which is exactly what I need to do. The only problem is it is difficult to get to the underfloor inside the building. Did you use the telescopic ducting to connect the new higher air brick outside to the original air brick on the inside of the cavity? Would it suffice to just put in a new air brick above the current one and air will still travel through the cavity into the lower internal air brick?
Hi Sam, thanks for getting in touch. The airbirck is in exactly the same place - and should be left as designed - what was undertaken was to dig down below its position to make clear. The telescopic vents (aka periscope vents) can be helpful but not the best, as you have 2x 90 degree bends for the air flow to cope with which doesn't a lot, but given this is free ventilation, not pumped, the air pressures are small and it will restrict. Try it, we live in the real world where low cost is important, but you will have to monitor to see if it works.
Square Conduct Services Limited
Hello, I have a similar problem in my house , the damp company I called say it will cost about £2000 , damp is in the corners of the room , who do I call to unblock the air bricks which are located underneath the patio of the kitchen extension, all builders I call say call damp proof people
Hi, if it's under the patio, then there is some work to be done, but no amount of injecting will cure your issue, it will also create others. Send me am email with some photos and I will talk you through it. Info (at) squareconductservices (dot) co (dot) uk
Part 2: Corrective action is going to take me a round 3 weeks, firstly I am going to install 6-8 new air bricks and upgrade the the 9 others that are damaged. In regards to drafts through floorboards, I would advise people to insulated the floor boards (only if you have good air flow under neath them, do your research first) I am using wool, not board, as I want to allow breathing within the joist and simply slow down the air coming up through the traditional floor boards, I am also installing a vapour barrier on top of the joists under neath the boards & above the insulation and netting. Part 3...
Hi Karl (2of3), keep in mind that adding the wool will restrict the airflow, i know you mention to check you have sufficient (research) first, but anything will take away from how the building was designed. Again, but a lot more subjective which you can argue either way so have to make a judgement call, 'leaking' floor boards also help to remove sub-floor moisture, again as designed. This is the same principle as the old rattling windows. Put in D/Glazing and while its great for full efficiency your cutting down the breathing. I couldn't comment on if your actions were either side of the line without more information and a few calculation. But best of luck again. Very proactive. Ivan
i have air bricks round my bunaglow which are double in blue and there are above the floor can i do it in single air vent so its below the wood floor
Hi Daz, not sure exactly what you mean. But email a photo to the address given and I will happily comment and give you some advice. All the best
+daz bin man Hi Daz, not sure what it is exactly your getting at, if you could send me a photo on email i will happily comment - getting correct levels is EVERYTHING, nothing more critical.
Double 'blue brick' is one of the best DPC you can get, they never fail, as the idiots injectors would have you believe', the only time i have seen problems is where they have been removed and replaced with a normal brick, or where airbirck has been removed and replaced with normal, on a single run. This gives a first rate path and a house we worked on in Leicester had a whole back wall dame, just from a single wrong brick, they never suspected as the line of blues was painted white. Easily spotted with thermal image though, strength to it.
Hi Ivan, Hope you are well and safe - Are you based in the north west - can you come to People’s home to provide a quote and do the work ?? as you’ve done an amazing job. I had damp specialist 10 years back who made holes but it made everything much worst
Thanks
Tazeim
Hi lola, a VERY common story, sad to say. you have to get to the root cause, not just cover it up. Give me a call or email me (number and details on the website), but yes, we cover the whole of the UK. best regards, Ivan
I am a diy.i want to know how to break concrete floor
I'm not sure I'd replace cast iron air vents with plastic.
Why remove those lovely old metal grills to replace them with poxy plastic? The rest of the work needed doing
Hi Matthew, its a fair point, in fact i couldn't agree more, but as the saying goes; "the person who pays the piper calls the tune". Thanks for getting in touch, best regards, Ivan
I keep coming on videos saying rising damp doesn't exist, but they always seem to prove it does exist but is caused or made worse by proposed solutions, like impervious render and paint rather than finding where the water is coming from.
Is this a fair description?
Hi Dorian, excellent question, thank you. Rising Damp is a generic, capture all term used by the educated, uneducated and those seeking to frighten people and make a quick buck. If you put the end of dry paper into water, the water rises up through the paper, in essence bricks do the same thing with ground water, hence where the expression comes from...BUT...and this is critical, once it hits the Damp proof Course (DPC) it stops. Some [old or specialist design] buildings don't have a DPC, so the building fabric is designed to reject/disperse the rising water, if you cover this up with something that won't allow water through, external waterproof paints & cement renders to name a few extremes, then you trap this in and cause issues. However, by far the biggest issues are where the DPC has been 'breached' (bridged) by laying a patio over it typically, or where it had been removed, adding a doorway, replacing bricks etc, by people who didn't know what they were doing. Don't even get me started on ventilation! Now you have water rising as per the 'old/specialist building example above, but into fabric that wasn't designed to ever be wet. No amount of injecting, cement renders, tanking, damp proof paint etc will cure any/either of these, you need to get to the root cause.......hope that helps. drop me an email if you want and i can send you a few photos which show this/these. Best regards, Ivan
Square Conduct Services Limited thanks, you confirmed my understanding. It's a bit late to get your help now, but vids like this have helped me enormously.
I am in the process of getting my first house ready to move into, it's old and had damp, my builder wanted to add waterproof slurry, videos like this put me off, it turned out it was a badly sealed windowsill channelling water into the wall, the waterproofing would have made it much worse! The ground level is nearly up to the DPC, so will have to lower that and only one air brick for the whole house, which was almost like the one in this video, with concrete around it above the level of it, thankfully sloping away from it rather than channelling water in. More work for when I move in!
And previous solutions had made things worse, through not looking for the problems, there was foil backed paper under the windows, either side of it salts growing out of the plaster, it looked like some horrid weird mould.
Hi, im sorry to say your story in not un-typical. Bad diagnosis, sold an expensive/non=effective solution. Likewise, we had a client with an outstandingly beautiful property in london, ruined by foil paper/mould. Keep up the good work and do send through anything you would like further comment on.
Hi how do I contact you I need your advise please ?thankyou
I want to do a similar thing but won't water go through the shingle into the ground? I have a basement so will the water drain through to the basement?
Hi Jody, drop me a line at info@squareconductservices.co.uk and i will talk you through the solution. Regards, Ivan
All it took was a pea shingle border. I thought you was going to have to lower the ground level all round the outside. Why would the ground have been raised in the first place?
Hi rozzer, i love the description, never heard it described like that, but it sums it up well. Mainly ground levels are raised due to time, cost and lazy install. A lot easier to lay a patio over a concrete than bust it up and put in a proper base etc etc.......add in the fact that most people don't understand damp and/or damp proof courses (DPCs) and you have a whole industry of idiot injectors and render throwers making a lot of money that doesn't cure your root cause. It keeps it covered up enough to convince you while your cheque is clearing into their bank though!!!!
@@squareconductservices thanks for replying mate. What would you do internally with the damp plaster?
@@rozzer666 Hi again, wow, people write whole books on such wide subjects, but if you want to email me some photos i can comment in more specific terms. All the best, ivan
Part 5: I am really shocked at the level of skill today's trades actually have, they all have gift of the gab, yet I find myself either correcting their work, or doing it myself... I am documenting all my findings ot do with this house & previous 2 houses & I am going to present them to authorised bodies to investigate as these practises have been going on for 4 decades now and really need to stop... some trades are simply mucking things up to come back and charge to repair, blaming the client.. all the time... The practise of leaving waste on site, or even worse bringing waste on to site to dump either in a hole or underneath floorboards has also got to stop... I am going to raise the issues with my local MP as well... as I feel the only way to stop this going forward is to educate and start to get the council inspectors to do their jobs and checking under floors and monitoring sites more frequently... #Square Conduct Services Limited good video... you are not alone
Hi Karl (3of3), there is certainly a lot of people who are like this. Add to that those that don't understand damp with there silly prong meters and lets inject/slurry tank attitude. Thank you for taking the time to add your comments. Hopefully people might read this and think, 'hey, I'm being ripped off here' !! All the best. Ivan
Could you or should you have put a drain the gully to stop water pooling even underneath the air brick- that can’t be good can it?
Hi, thanks for getting in touch, a gully should always be 'free draining' or could as you say, fill up and simply run into the airbircks. Using natural slope of ground or dig gully towards a drain (making sure nothing can fall, or be carried into the drain) are good first options.
Tried contacting via that address with no luck🙁
to confirm the last part.......... squareconductservices.co.uk
HI DOESNT THE WATER STAY IN THE. PEA SHINGAL. GULLY
A bit of a Peter Ward impersonation
+Kevin Amatt , Thanks, not surprising really as we speak the same language against these idiots who claim to cure damp but in fact charge £thousands just to mask the issue for a few years. Given your views elsewhere, i see you agree. "long live the new church"
£300 ? can you come and do ours?
Hi Sam, the £300 was parts and labour of the contractor brought in by the client. We do not carry out the work ourselves (or recommend anybody) for two very good reasons. Unlike the 'free' survey companies, we do not profit in any way from work we recommend, therefore we have no interest in 'talking you into' work (often totally unnecessary give the 'free' surveys clients send me every week). the second reason is that damp is very simple, the fix is simple, its the identification thats the skilled part. Over 50% of our clients undertake the work themselves, the others use a local general builder and follow the check list in our reports. I would say that if you can't get a local general builder in your area to undertake the work identified for this sort of figure, there are more cowboys out there than i thought. best regards. Ivan
The installation of the plastic airbricks is ´rough as guts´ ! You actually sound proud about it. Why did you not put a few shallow indents on the outside of the plastic bricks and bed them in lime mortar ? Grey mastic badly dressed is not a good solution or image. Make an effort !
Hi Hanne, apart from saying 'not our work; given were were the investigating/reporting/consulting company only, i do have to jump to the defence of the contractor. You may have seen a similar comment (and reply below) which sums up in "the person who pays the piper, calls the tune" , i.e., client request......as it happens its not lime as you suggest and having used this mastic before, it weathers well and changes colour, actually quite close to the cement. The (replaced) gravel covers the bottom line too.....all in all not as bad or 'rough as guts' as one might first think looking at this just after the project was finished. If you would like to send me an email, i will happily send you a few photos of how it is these days. Either way, thanks for getting in touch, well spotted, but caution on judging any damp issues in a snapshot.Stay cover-safe, all the best, Ivan