Hi all
I was wondering if anyone can help me. I thought I'd sorted (just about) a damp problem in my ground floor flat. I've had damp companies round, plumbers etc. Currently there is an internal soil stack running down through my bathroom. Originally it looked like it went into a larger white pipe surround by wet soil. I had someone round to see why it was wet (there was a long standing leak from the upstairs flat which I believe has now been stopped). The wet soil was clean out and concrete was flowed around the cast iron pipe, encasing it. This wet soil caused damp to seep through to my bedroom (another story).
I then started noticing moisture forming around the plastic sprigot going from the back of toilet into the concrete ground. I had another plumber come round dig the concrete around this area and confirmed the pipe was sound and thought moisture was coming through the brickwork itself (poor drainage outside?) all underneath the damp course. If so, why would the moisture form around the connection between the plastic and the concrete?
The sprigot was changed and concrete then poured back, no more occurances. But now moisture is forming around the base of the internal stack and concrete, but it comes and goes. It doesn't smell, and I am unware of occupants being in the flat above. You can get your finger in between the concrete around the soil pipe and the brick wall. There is still soil and it is still wet to touch.
The plumber didn't dig down far enough to see where/if my toilet joins the soil pipe. Either way it does not look/smell like waste water - it looks more like outside water.
Could it be the soil pipe just entering the soil internally and then running under the foundations? If the outside drainage is poor or there is a high water table, can water track along the outside of the pipe and cause damp around where it enters the ground internally? Assuming all plastering and wood work doesn't encroach upon this area, is it something I should worry about? I doubt very much its condenstion as the pipe doesn't feel wet any further than about 1 inch up from the ground (but it could be). It just seems to spread out from the base of the pipe. Probably about once a week which is strange.
I was wondering if anyone can help me. I thought I'd sorted (just about) a damp problem in my ground floor flat. I've had damp companies round, plumbers etc. Currently there is an internal soil stack running down through my bathroom. Originally it looked like it went into a larger white pipe surround by wet soil. I had someone round to see why it was wet (there was a long standing leak from the upstairs flat which I believe has now been stopped). The wet soil was clean out and concrete was flowed around the cast iron pipe, encasing it. This wet soil caused damp to seep through to my bedroom (another story).
I then started noticing moisture forming around the plastic sprigot going from the back of toilet into the concrete ground. I had another plumber come round dig the concrete around this area and confirmed the pipe was sound and thought moisture was coming through the brickwork itself (poor drainage outside?) all underneath the damp course. If so, why would the moisture form around the connection between the plastic and the concrete?
The sprigot was changed and concrete then poured back, no more occurances. But now moisture is forming around the base of the internal stack and concrete, but it comes and goes. It doesn't smell, and I am unware of occupants being in the flat above. You can get your finger in between the concrete around the soil pipe and the brick wall. There is still soil and it is still wet to touch.
The plumber didn't dig down far enough to see where/if my toilet joins the soil pipe. Either way it does not look/smell like waste water - it looks more like outside water.
Could it be the soil pipe just entering the soil internally and then running under the foundations? If the outside drainage is poor or there is a high water table, can water track along the outside of the pipe and cause damp around where it enters the ground internally? Assuming all plastering and wood work doesn't encroach upon this area, is it something I should worry about? I doubt very much its condenstion as the pipe doesn't feel wet any further than about 1 inch up from the ground (but it could be). It just seems to spread out from the base of the pipe. Probably about once a week which is strange.
