K80
Member
- Messages
- 10
- Location
- Stoneleigh
Hello!
I have a two story solid sand stone house built in approx 1856. The house is the end terrace. By April I will have been in the house a full year.
The surveyor recommended a perimeter drain around the property and I want to start researching and saving up to look at this more seriously.
I don't have any alarming damp issues, is the good news. The house has a little condensation but I manage this with opening windows and heating, and luckily mostly the condensation sits on aluminium frame windows so the worst thing that happens is a bit of mildew which I can easily clean off. I did have a mouldy wall when I moved in due to a built in wardrobe that closed off the wall trapping moisture. I removed this and reinstalled a new built in wardrobe that doesn't block the wall but instead uses it as the walls of the inner wardrobe. I keep the doors open often and I have and will continue to monitor the wall for moisture - so far all I have noticed is that the wall is very cold. If it comes to it I was thinking a dehumidifier in the bedroom might be a good idea. It's such a small house that I had nowhere else to have a wardrobe sadly. Fingers crossed this solution works.
Externally I noticed that the lower stone bricks are a bit crumbly, and I do have paving and vegetation against the wall of the house so I think I do need to address the perimeter issue.
I wondered how do I know who to hire, and to get this job sorted properly? Some googling left me wondering if trusting a gardener and landscaper was really a good idea... I don't mind a little bit of hard work but I can't imagine myself lifting pave stones on my own so I would definitely require some hired help.
The main issue is what exactly is the solution to go for? I read in another thread the best thing to do is to dig deeper so there is a proper gap for wall to dry. The house is sort of on a hill, so it just seems like a big and daunting job that I am struggling to envisage the end result.
I've attached some photos in the hopes that it's easier to give advice. My main worry is I don't know exactly what I need - how deep to dig, how wide the trench should be, what to put in it, etc?
Happy to take closer up photos later all the way around the perimeter, just a bit cold right now!
Any thoughts, recommendations and advice would be very gratefully received and if helpful I'd be willing to document the project in order to help others. Thanks in advance!




I have a two story solid sand stone house built in approx 1856. The house is the end terrace. By April I will have been in the house a full year.
The surveyor recommended a perimeter drain around the property and I want to start researching and saving up to look at this more seriously.
I don't have any alarming damp issues, is the good news. The house has a little condensation but I manage this with opening windows and heating, and luckily mostly the condensation sits on aluminium frame windows so the worst thing that happens is a bit of mildew which I can easily clean off. I did have a mouldy wall when I moved in due to a built in wardrobe that closed off the wall trapping moisture. I removed this and reinstalled a new built in wardrobe that doesn't block the wall but instead uses it as the walls of the inner wardrobe. I keep the doors open often and I have and will continue to monitor the wall for moisture - so far all I have noticed is that the wall is very cold. If it comes to it I was thinking a dehumidifier in the bedroom might be a good idea. It's such a small house that I had nowhere else to have a wardrobe sadly. Fingers crossed this solution works.
Externally I noticed that the lower stone bricks are a bit crumbly, and I do have paving and vegetation against the wall of the house so I think I do need to address the perimeter issue.
I wondered how do I know who to hire, and to get this job sorted properly? Some googling left me wondering if trusting a gardener and landscaper was really a good idea... I don't mind a little bit of hard work but I can't imagine myself lifting pave stones on my own so I would definitely require some hired help.
The main issue is what exactly is the solution to go for? I read in another thread the best thing to do is to dig deeper so there is a proper gap for wall to dry. The house is sort of on a hill, so it just seems like a big and daunting job that I am struggling to envisage the end result.
I've attached some photos in the hopes that it's easier to give advice. My main worry is I don't know exactly what I need - how deep to dig, how wide the trench should be, what to put in it, etc?
Happy to take closer up photos later all the way around the perimeter, just a bit cold right now!
Any thoughts, recommendations and advice would be very gratefully received and if helpful I'd be willing to document the project in order to help others. Thanks in advance!



