Is Rising Damp affecting your home?
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Is Rising Damp affecting your home?

Is Rising Damp affecting your home?

Rising damp, penetrating damp and condensation are the three most common types of damp for residential properties

Causes & effects

Damp walls are caused by moisture, which either:

  • Penetrates from the outside
  • Rises into the building structure due to capillary effects.
  • Condenses on walls, particularly in rooms with a lot of air moisture, such as kitchens and bathrooms
Rising damp

Rising damp

Rising damp

Rising damp

1. Moisture Buildup 

Moisture Buildup  orCondensation is  caused by moist air condensing on walls, particularly in rooms with a lot of air moisture, such as kitchens and bathrooms.  Moisture buildup can be exacerbated by poor ventilation and heating that comes on and off, as this allows warm, damp air to condense.

Signs include droplets on windows or walls, dark molds, particularly on glass or around windows and an unpleasant smell.  If left untreated, condensation can damage paint and plaster and cause window frames to rust.

Solutions to Moisture Buildup

  • Improve ventilation
  • Installing fans
  • Installing dehumidifiers

2. Rising damp

Rising damp is caused by ground water moving up through a wall or floor. Most walls and floors allow some water in, but it’s usually stopped from causing damage by a barrier called a damp-proof course or damp-proof membrane.

If this is the case, your walls or floor may suffer from rising damp. Rising damp can also happen when there’s a lack of drainage, or the level of the ground outside your home is higher than your damp-proof course, allowing water to get above it.

Signs of rising damp

  • Damaged skirting boards or plaster, as well as peeling paint and wallpaper
  •  Formation of a white, powder-like substance on the walls and/or floor.  If the problem is coming up from the floor, you may notice damp patches.

Solution to Rising Damp

Rising damp is not a straight forward problem to deal with, first of all. Hence the reason why we have a range of solutions. Factors that determine what solution to apply include:

  • Age of the house
  • Type of materials used to construct the house
  • Extent of the damage caused

To get a true picture of the solution to choose, we often recommend a site visit by one of our technicians.

Solutions include any or a combination of the following:

  • Sealing damp areas using the most appropriate waterproofing materials. This includes using Penetron Admix, Penetron slurry, and/or Duraflex.
  • Concreting in areas where the walls are severely damaged. The concrete is usually mixed with Penetron Admix

3. Penetrating Wetness

Penetrating wetness is caused by water leaking through walls. This type of dampness may expand across your walls or ceiling, but this will move horizontally, rather than by travelling up walls (as is the case with rising damp).

Penetrating damp is usually caused by structural problems in a building, such as a leaking roof, faulty guttering or roofing, cracks in the walls, internal leaks (such as leaking pipes).

Solution

Again, this is not a straight forward problem. There is a range of solutions, depending on the nature or source of the dampness.

Solutions include:

  • Waterproofing leaking gutters either by using APP, Penetron, Liquid Rubber of Duraflex
  • Waterproofing roofs ( flat or pitched) by using APP or Duraflex
  • Repairing honey combed concrete, by using concrete repair compounds such as Penecrete and Penetron
  • Repairing faulty plumbing
  • Waterproofing retaining walls either by using APP, Duraflex, Penetron and/or Penetron Admix

Conclusion

Whatever the case, it is usually advisable to consult with our technical team first. As said before, a site visit is recommended, if possible, so as to identify the true nature of the problem and recommend the best solution. Not every waterproofing case is the same.