External ground height

[AlexHarvie]

Hi, I hope someone might have some experience of dealing with external ground sitting above the internal floor of their property? I am currently looking to buy an 18th century property (circa 1723) but concerned about damp in the ground floor wall. On one side of the property the external ground, which is a public footpath, sits way above the internal floor (about 3 feet - see images) and I don't believe that we will be able to dig it up. As I understand it, the internal floor is solid and the walls are simply plastered on the hard, so no wood that could rot is present. So is this something that has to be addressed or can we live with it as long as the wall remains breathable? If something needs to be done do you have any suggestions? Many thanks in advance!

 

[a twig]

Had a similar situation, proper application of breathable materials on the inside and heating and ventilating the room does solve the majority of issues.

Long term you can get permission to dig up part of the footpath to install membranes etc if you really need to

 

[88v8]

... is this something that has to be addressed or can we live with it as long as the wall remains breathable? If something needs to be done do you have any suggestions?

Hello and welcome.

Newly decorated.. hmmm....

Well, at least the pavement appears to slope away from the house.

If the exterior is rendered in lime, and coloured only with limewash...
And if the interior is plastered with lime and limewashed or clay painted....
Then it may be OK.
As the decorations look fresh the sellers should be able to confirm.

However, if there is an absence of breathability in or out due to gypsum plaster, tanking, cement render, plastic paint, I would bet that eventually there will be problems, or rather that old problems will re-surface.

If the house in on Streetview and you can go back to older times it may be interesting to se whether there were obvious issues externally, at least.