Damp due to saturated ground/blocked air vents

[aparry93]

We have damp Issues along the front of our cottage which used to be 2 separate terraced houses now merged into one. Built originally in the early to mid nineteenth century. Following some investigation work today there looks to be some kind of old soakaway/ gravel drain that ran along the front which I exposed today (see attached photos). To my current knowledge there are no rainwater drains as the gutters just go to ground. How would you recommend reinstating this drain noting currently there’s no place to discharge any rainwater to? I have attached some photos. There was also some air vents which were full of muck and roots going into the house. Which I managed to remove one and clean out. However I need to remove the path in front of the front door to get to the other one.

Thank you all in advance

Alun

 

[Cubist]

If I'm interpreting the first photo correctly the site slopes down from the front of the house to the rear and there is some possible access to to the side beyond the fencing. This, I would think, would be the best route for surface water to escape from the property. Can you/have you investigated to see if the gravel channel you've found follows that path?

 

[aparry93]

If I'm interpreting the first photo correctly the site slopes down from the front of the house to the rear and there is some possible access to to the side beyond the fencing. This, I would think, would be the best route for surface water to escape from the property. Can you/have you investigated to see if the gravel channel you've found follows that path?

Thank you for the advice. I would agree, however the side access of the house is our neighbours drive. So won’t to avoid doing work there and don’t think they would appreciate me digging up and putting a soak away there. I have attached another 2 bird eye view photos for better illustration. On the second photo I was proposing to take a perforated drain to the location where you can see like a timber crate? I assume just putting some gravel straight into the drain without a discharge end would be no use?

 

[Cubist]

Is the surface of your neighbours driveway lower/at the same height/above the surface level of the ground by that boundary fence? If lower or at the same level there may be some lattitude to allow drainage 'onto' the surface of your neighbours drive. Provided of course that the drive slopes away from the neighbours house and out to the roadway seen in the second picture.

The second picture seems to show that your house sits in an elevated position above the roadway. Provided that the land is relatively free draining your idea for a perforated pipe will work quite happily provided there is an appropriate 'fall' toward the lowest boundary lines. However, a gravel filled channel will work just as well in my opinion. Are there any drainage holes in the road side of that boundary wall?

 

[aparry93]

The neighbours driveway is at the same level. However a wall is also in the way. See attached photo. So I was thinking of continuing to run the drain along this wall as close to our boundary wall that runs parallel to the road.

 

[Feltwell]

Re your vents - they would have been for sub-floor ventilation for suspended wooden floors. Have you still got those, or - given the other horrors inflicted on the place - have the ground floors been replaced with concrete slabs?

 

[edscull]

We have damp Issues along the front of our cottage which used to be 2 separate terraced houses now merged into one. Built originally in the early to mid nineteenth century. Following some investigation work today there looks to be some kind of old soakaway/ gravel drain that ran along the front which I exposed today (see attached photos). To my current knowledge there are no rainwater drains as the gutters just go to ground. How would you recommend reinstating this drain noting currently there’s no place to discharge any rainwater to? I have attached some photos. There was also some air vents which were full of muck and roots going into the house. Which I managed to remove one and clean out. However I need to remove the path in front of the front door to get to the other one.

Thank you all in advance

Alun

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Hi I've got a Edwardian terraced house and I've got this white stone stuff on my wall at the back of house. I'm not sure if it's lime or cement, do you have any idea what yours if, or how you can tell.
I've also notice the surrounding of my house has concrete and don't know if it's too high up amd maybe causing issues.
I hope people can help you on here.

 

[aparry93]

Re your vents - they would have been for sub-floor ventilation for suspended wooden floors. Have you still got those, or - given the other horrors inflicted on the place - have the ground floors been replaced with concrete slabs?

You’ve hit the nail on the head there and I was actually going to say is there any point reinstating the air bricks after I have removed and cleaned them out? See photos of the little room the other side of the air vents wall. I had roots going though these vents and behind the old skirting boards and had soil up to the top of the skirting. I also think the tiles also contain asbestos which I found hidden beneath the laminate (oh the joys). Would you recommend removing the concrete floor?

 

[aparry93]

Hi I've got a Edwardian terraced house and I've got this white stone stuff on my wall at the back of house. I'm not sure if it's lime or cement, do you have any idea what yours if, or how you can tell.
I've also notice the surrounding of my house has concrete and don't know if it's too high up amd maybe causing issues.
I hope people can help you on here.

My ‘white stuff’ is cement based render which I decided to remove on the gable end. You can tell by squirting done white vinegar on it. Lime reacts s and ‘frizzles’. This forum is great to get other people opinions. It’s really helped me

 

[Feltwell]

You’ve hit the nail on the head there and I was actually going to say is there any point reinstating the air bricks after I have removed and cleaned them out? See photos of the little room the other side of the air vents wall. I had roots going though these vents and behind the old skirting boards and had soil up to the top of the skirting. I also think the tiles also contain asbestos which I found hidden beneath the laminate (oh the joys). Would you recommend removing the concrete floor?

I'd recommend pragmatism!

Concrete floors *can* cause a problem, not *will*. If you've got damp in the walls, especially internal walls, then it's a possible candidate. I'd say clear the vents as part of your external works just in case you want to reinstate the floor in the future. If there's no problem though, leave alone.

The other option is a limecrete floor. Some folks have experimented with a limecrete strip around the edge of an existing concrete floor. Personally I think reinstating a suspended floor is the most proven way of ensuring no future problems. All are sizeable, intrusive jobs though.

Asbestos - with the right precautions (correct mask, disposable overalls, double bagging) you can tackle that yourself and take the tiles to your council tip in most cases. I did that with an asbestos garage I had. The HSE website has good guidance, and my council would take the waste so long as I booked in with the site.

 

[Cubist]

So I was thinking of continuing to run the drain along this wall as close to our boundary wall that runs parallel to the road.

Sounds like a plan but keep an eye on that area during heavy rain to see if theres any significant pooling afterwards.

 

[steveb]

Is there a slate or bitumen DPC in the wall directly above the air brick? It kind of looks like it in the picture but hard to tell

If there was then having it bridged over by the path is going to mean that it was useless. I see there must have been a "damp problem" at some point as someone has decided to inject a chemical DPC in the course above instead of expose the original and probably perfectly functional DPC

Chemical DPCs hardly, if ever work. Some even go as far to claim that it's all a fraud. Have you also got the 1m high waterproof cement on the inside walls that is used to solve - er, hide - the problem ?

 

[noj]

Has anyone seen an injected dpc below internal floor level?

One reason they don't solve the issue and often do more harm than good...

 

[aparry93]

Yes there was some slate above the air brick when I removed it. Attached are some photos of what I pulled out of the air brick and photos of inside the void which I think you can see the concrete floor in one. I think think these air vents were retro fitted at a later date as no signs of air bricks on the end terraced side of the property and bricks above vents look a bit worse for wear compared to the rest. However cannot see any sign of DPC any place else but it’s hard to tell due to how dirty/wet the bricks are. I will have another look tomorrow.

 

[aparry93]

So on the other side of the the front wall is this little snug we have. As you can see the internal wall and the fireplace is very wet. I have scraped off the paint to show the condition of the wet plaster better. The mortar at the bottom that I exposed behind the plaster was as moist as anything. What other factors do you believe are contributing to this dampness? Like I have shown in Thai thread I am in the process of putting a gravel drain to the other side of this window wall along the front of the house.

Thanks in advance once again