Air bricks under floor..are they necesary?

[snadge]

I ask because my neighbour is suffering from flood water getting in through them and when we lifted floor up to pump water away we realised that the dining room floor (under it) has no air bricks because his brother built a porch and blocked them up? it was damp down there (but mostly from flood water) - I told him I think they are important to allow air circulation to prevent damp.. the dining room nomally has 2 and living room 3, the air circulates through honey-comb brickwork to back of the house to more air bricks

he has had water from recent floods come in through living room air bricks and possibly a crack drainage pipe that houses the 15mm water pipe from the water meter

anyway, is it important to have these? is this a reason for damp under there

thanks

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Air bricks must be retained to ventilate the void. Any that were blocked should have been directed under the new floor. An unventilated void will lead to damp timbers which will eventually rot, this is not scaremongering the forum is littered with posters having to replace their ground floors so that needs to be addressed. How much water are we talking here and how often? If water is physically pouring in through the air bricks then that needs to be addressed ie divert the source of the water or lower the ground level or similar. Consider installing a permanent pump.

 

[joe-90]

Damp, dark and high humidity is the ideal conditions for dry rot to thrive - but if it stops the flooding? Who knows?

 

[snadge]

thanks for the replies guys

Iam going to look now and see if its come back - we pumped about half a baths worth away..only for it too refill TWICE over night...dunno if it was rain or just remaining water coming back ... so we ripped more floor up and found a few more "puddles" so got them pumped away - it was then i noticed/realised about the air bricks in dining room...

I will show him this thread and iam going there now to take a look, see if its come back over night

I have photos, i will post tonight as im off out for the day

his house has always had a damp smell and he had loads of air freshners dotted about...i politely confronted him about the smell, he agreed he has been smelling it for a while, when we lifted the floor the stink of damp was BAD and we pulled up loads of soaked & mouldy rockwool that was protecting the water pipe

 

[snadge]

....continued...

ok, ive had a look and it has come back a bit over night... the dining room that has this 'Drainage' pipe that houses the 15mm water pipe has about 750ml water sitting in bottom of it now, the valley/puddle in living room has filled back up by about 50% (about 4-6 litres or so...hard to say) - we have decided to leave the carpet up and keep the pump , well its a vacuum, for a week and will check it again tomoz when im back, we are thinking about digging up the lawn at front of house, its all wet and marshy now, he has a wooden floor section at front of house in garden we'll have to raise, it sits on the lawn, the lawn itself is a bank down towards the house..!!

the joists looked ok (no rot/damp) - he said his brother built the porch 25-30 years ago so the dining room has not had air bricks for that long (and possibly water coming in too)

the next door neighbour has drainage thats lower than his garden level, we may have to install some drainage into that, however if the water is getting in quite low down what do we do there?

any advice will be greatly appreciated

thanks

PHOTOS:

MAIN BIT AT FRONT OF LIVING ROOM, THIS KEEPS REFILLING...EVEN WHEN NO/LITTLE RAIN
ITS NOW ABOUT HALF FULL

THIS IS IT AFTER I SUCKED ALL WATER OUT

THIS IS AROUND THE SIDE OF LIVING ROOM

THIS IS THE DINING ROOM WHERE THE DRAINAGE PIPE IS THAT HOUSES THE 15mm COPPER WATER PIPE,
SORRY ITS BAD PHOTO I DIDNT CAPTURE IT ALL BUT THE DRAINAGE/WATER
PIPE IS AT THE BOTTOM OF PICTURE, THAT ONLY SHOWS HALF OF WHATS THERE
ITS ABOUT 8 INCHES DEEP

[/img]

 

[jeds]

Oooh. Nasty. Ventilation is vital - do not block under any circumstances. Dampness under the floor is not a huge problem in itself. A lot of old houses are quite damp beneath the floor. But it will become a problem if you block the vents. My advice is get some drainage in to clear the standing water. How you do that depends on the circumstances around the house.

 

[joe-90]

Are you sure it's not the water table? Like when you were a kid digging a hole on the beach.

 

[snadge]

i dont think the water is supposed to be there lol.... I certainly dont have any and he just had loads of water flooding in through air bricks in living room

the air bricks in dining room have been blocked up for 25 years or so aftec his brother built a porch over them

think we are gunna have to get advice and possibly dig down front of house to see whats what. thats where its coming in. but I think the dining room one is coming in through a crack in that "drainage" pipe that has the water pipe in it.

the owner said he is depressed about it all and considered moving???

 

[joe-90]

If it keeps refilling with no rain it is the water table rising. That's why it doesn't drain away.

 

[snadge]

If it keeps refilling with no rain it is the water table rising. That's why it doesn't drain away.

nah its defo not that cos its not like that in other even deeper valleys and nor is it like that in mine, we have shifted loads higher up too right behind it, so if it were the the water table it would be rising up past the damp course, past air bricks slightly too push it towards back, and its in one spot only... im certain its not water table.

As we cant get right in where the water is (under fireplace) we cant see exactly whats what, it does seem to go down to a point when I empty it...just like the water pipe, there is a large pipe going where this water is coming in, we dunno if its an old water pipe or current and the other one is an old one... you can see it in photo's 2 & 3 above, large pipe with what looks like something wrapped around it but its breaking off cos its so old, I cant even tell if its copper or plastic - its not gas cos thats in other room in 22ml copper, also the other 15mm copper pipe (what I believe is the water pipe) is all bendy all over the shop which I found odd, that goes into his kitchen - but what this big thick pipe is I dunno - what i do know is water is coming in where both pipes come into the house AND he has had water flood in through the air bricks in living room, i watched it happen while trying to block it off - for about 45 mins the 2 air bricks were completely covered with water, you could only just see the top...so you can imagine how much water must have got in.

anyway, im starting to think that its because his garden is water logged and its finding its way in where these pipes enter the home, his garden is a slope down to the front of the house and as you go down it becomes more and more wet until your right at the front of the house and its splashing when you walk in it

will be checking it all again in the morning and will let you know what happens

 

[snadge]

ok it appears the water is coming at TWO points...

one in living room and one in dining room.

the dining room water is coming in through a 6 inch diameter pipe that houses the 15mm water pipe through the garden, we think this 6 inch pipe is cracked or broken and is allowing water from the soil into it and down into the dining room.

the living room's entry point has what looks like an old gas or water pipe about 1.5" thick that comes in/out of the house and thats where water appears to be getting in.

we tried to find out if there was a drainage pipe along there that he could tap into but without much success, we been on phone to council and waterboard - every 2nd house has a downpipe which feeds a drain, if the drain runs along to each house then he should be able to tap into it.

the waterboard told us we would have to get drainage contractors in for qoutes and they would find out from them if there is pipework there or not, this means it could possibly cost money (and lots of it) just to be told NO theres no pipe!

he has insurers from homeserve (Northumbrian Water Insurers) coming at 8am tomoz to inspect the water pipe one..but whether they will fix that Im unsure because that insurance is for burst mains and the like...we its the 6-inch pipe that houses the water mains thats leaking water...so they MAY say its not covered?? if not then it should be Northumbrian Waters remit - this insurance he pays says it covers from the main water valve/meter to his stop cock...

so looks like we have to contact drainage experts and possibly a builder to try and identify exactly where the water is coming on living room one (or both??)

can anyone offer up advice here? we just dont know what the next step is..