My partner & I have recently purchased a c.1900 Victorian mid-terrace. We love the property but it has damp that we would like to eradicate in the utility room, which is an offshoot of the kitchen:
View of yard facing rear of house. Kitchen window visible. Utility room offshoot where damp problem exists to right of picture
There are many issues which we believe are contributing towards the damp and I wanted to canvas opinion on the necessary works to remove it:
· The rear yard has been relaid over the top of the original by the previous owners, raising the ground level. The new yard has been laid so that water flows towards the utility/kitchen wall, exiting via a corner drain.
· There is no obvious DPC & I understand that it is likely that the house was built without one. At some point a chemical DPC has been installed to the main house (excluding the offshoot section) - this is at the same level as the new level of the rear yard.
· At some point in time, the suspended timber floor of the kitchen and offshoot has been replaced with a concrete floor.
· The utility room previously had no ventilation and housed a washing machine - we are looking to convert the room into a downstairs toilet at some point and have had an extractor fan installed to assist with airflow.
· We presume that there used to be a back door to the yard from the offshoot - this door has been bricked up at some point using modern materials, (plastic DPC over the width & cement pointing). The rest of the house has lime pointing. The cement pointing on this new section has been poorly done - if we re-point this section, should we insist on lime mortar or will there be no benefit as this section was installed with a DPC? Please ignore the plastic sheeting behind the waste pipe - this was a very temporary solution to a missing brick!
We have removed the skirting boards and the bottom 6 inches of plaster from the utility room and it has dried out substantially. We understand the need to lower the level of the yard but cannot afford to get the entire area relaid so are looking to install a house perimiter drain & would like some advice on our available options. We are basically unsure whether to install a french drain (with slotted pipe) or an Aco drainage channel. If we install an Aco drain, we are conscious that it will butt up to the house wall so whilst surface water will not reach the house, ground water from underneath the internal concrete floor will not be able to evaporate until it is exposed to air i.e. above the level of the drain. If we install a french drain (~300mm deep, ~200mm wide), should a waterproof membrane be included to stop damp pebbles from touching the brickwork? This method would at least 'lower' the ground level but again would prevent ground water from underneath the internal concrete floor from evaporating until it is exposed to air i.e. above the waterproof membrane. Alternatively, do we just install a french drain without the waterproof membrane - the concern here is that the pebbles will retain water, potentially causing penetrating damp to the house wall.
Thank you very much for any assistance - as you can tell, we would really appreciate some advice!
View of yard facing rear of house. Kitchen window visible. Utility room offshoot where damp problem exists to right of picture
There are many issues which we believe are contributing towards the damp and I wanted to canvas opinion on the necessary works to remove it:
· The rear yard has been relaid over the top of the original by the previous owners, raising the ground level. The new yard has been laid so that water flows towards the utility/kitchen wall, exiting via a corner drain.
· There is no obvious DPC & I understand that it is likely that the house was built without one. At some point a chemical DPC has been installed to the main house (excluding the offshoot section) - this is at the same level as the new level of the rear yard.
· At some point in time, the suspended timber floor of the kitchen and offshoot has been replaced with a concrete floor.
· The utility room previously had no ventilation and housed a washing machine - we are looking to convert the room into a downstairs toilet at some point and have had an extractor fan installed to assist with airflow.
· We presume that there used to be a back door to the yard from the offshoot - this door has been bricked up at some point using modern materials, (plastic DPC over the width & cement pointing). The rest of the house has lime pointing. The cement pointing on this new section has been poorly done - if we re-point this section, should we insist on lime mortar or will there be no benefit as this section was installed with a DPC? Please ignore the plastic sheeting behind the waste pipe - this was a very temporary solution to a missing brick!
We have removed the skirting boards and the bottom 6 inches of plaster from the utility room and it has dried out substantially. We understand the need to lower the level of the yard but cannot afford to get the entire area relaid so are looking to install a house perimiter drain & would like some advice on our available options. We are basically unsure whether to install a french drain (with slotted pipe) or an Aco drainage channel. If we install an Aco drain, we are conscious that it will butt up to the house wall so whilst surface water will not reach the house, ground water from underneath the internal concrete floor will not be able to evaporate until it is exposed to air i.e. above the level of the drain. If we install a french drain (~300mm deep, ~200mm wide), should a waterproof membrane be included to stop damp pebbles from touching the brickwork? This method would at least 'lower' the ground level but again would prevent ground water from underneath the internal concrete floor from evaporating until it is exposed to air i.e. above the waterproof membrane. Alternatively, do we just install a french drain without the waterproof membrane - the concern here is that the pebbles will retain water, potentially causing penetrating damp to the house wall.
Thank you very much for any assistance - as you can tell, we would really appreciate some advice!