DIY Damp Proof Course

[Zulley]

Firstly, would you do it yourself? If no, why not.

I bought a house ages ago and ive finally got round to putting a DPC down one side of my house (mid terrace) its only got rising damp on one side.

The work was starting today by a good plasterer, phoned me an hour in and said the quoted price would have to double as tanking was involved. I cant afford the new price.

Ive been looking into it and cant understand why im not just doing the job myself.

What i think needs to be done:

Chop off old plaster 1m high, (done)
Inject the walls, (seems easy)
Line wall with membrane, is this tanking?, (dont know what im doing)
Replaster. (i know a man who can)

Ive looked into what i need to buy (on twistfix.co.uk) and for the injection stuff and membrane it comes to about £500 which is great.

Really need some help on the above and please tell me if you have ever done it yourself, problems, etc.

Thanks in advance.

Also, how do i know how thick the brickwork is between my house and next doors? Its a 1870's mid terrace house, if thats any help.

 

[masona]

I bought a house ages ago and ive finally got round to putting a DPC down one side of my house (mid terrace) its only got rising damp on one side

Before you get carried away wasting money, more details is needed, check for any leaking pipe, gutters and dpc is 150mm above the ground level. Is the damp internal then could be just condensation problem because IMO rising damp is a myth. I'm not sure why you're putting dpc in?

 

[Zulley]

Ok, there isnt a dpc at the moment.

All the paint is peeling off and theres the good old water marks all over the wall.

Typical terrace house, 2 rooms with long kitchen at the back

First room:

Above the celler wich is very damp, damp marks and peeling paint, salts etc mainly near the front door then lessens going towards the middle of the room.

Second room:

Quarry tiled floor, as above, damp near the end of the house then into the centre of the house.

Third room:

Havent seen any damp as the wall was concreted then tiled on top, on the outside next door ground level was higher then my floor level so dug down , made a trench and put pepples on the bottom.

Wierd thing, where the staircase is in the middle theres no damp in the wall at all.

hope you can tell what im on about from this and the pics.

 

[handyman77]

IMO rising damp is not a myth!
When hacking off the plaster go upto 1200 high. The tanking is in the form of a cement slurry mix, when using this applcation you need to then plaster with a breathable plaster.
You can use various methods of tanking we generally use Sika products sometimes there can be a problem with thicknesses as there recommend thickness is to much for existing plaster to level up. If you go onto there website you can get some tech data.
We generally use the membrane system in basements, not to sure what membrane you have picked, but im not sure your going down the right route with this. Yes you can do it yourself but make sure you get it right first time as it will cost alot more to do it again.
Alot of times just render with some specialist additives can be used and this is enough.
Check that next door doesnt have any problems with loss of pressure on there boiler or any other issues, check what backs onto your wall, in the places where its particulary bad.
Could really go on and on but my fingers are aching!
Good luck!

 

[Zulley]

Thanks for the info.

Im unsure on the membrane as most ive seen are for cellar conversions.

But all the builders who have given me quotes have shown me a membrane which is like what they put in cellars.

So the tanking is cement? and not a membrane.

Am i not right in thinking that i just need to inject the walls, which should stop the rising damp and if i put a membrane (like the ones in cellars) on the wall then plaster on top of that, no damp should get through again?

 

[handyman77]

Check out the method in this link
http://www.dampness-info.co.uk/treatdampplaster_diydoc.htm

 

[masona]

IMO rising damp is not a myth!

It's debatable From the OP the cellar wasn't mentioned at the time so the most likely damp problem is coming from the cellar but really need to see it, I was 50:50 on rising damp myth but there was a German guy posted on here explaining about rising damp, it's was very interesting but can't find it

Found this though

http://www.askjeff.co.uk/rising_damp.html