Water rising through damp course

[redconker]

Hello,

When it rains heavily I get a damp external wall and I could do with some help please identifying the best way to resolve. The wall is under a porch so its not getting splashed. I have had the bricks removed and the cavity cleared. When the bricks were returned a new damp course was installed.

I'm not sure if this helps but I live on a hill and I wonder if water is travelling under the house? View media item 81663
Thanks

 

[Burnerman]

Can you lift the floorboards inside the porch, and have a look from there?
This is a typical scene of rain splashing on the flags and bouncing above DPC though!
Maybe time for an air brick or two.
John

 

[redconker]

Thanks John. The floors are solid and the area is covered. Also there is no damp on the inside wall. Thanks

 

[JohnD]

Cavity wall. Could water be getting into the cavity from above, e.g. roof or gutter fault, or porch?

Stand back and show us a pic of the whole house

 

[redconker]

Thanks John. I'm not at home but I guess that's possible. I'll add a picture tonight. The porch has a pitched / tiled roof with flashing into the brickwork.

 

[JohnD]

Include pictures of the porch gutter as well as the flashing please.

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

Also driving rain can bounce of the door step. I would do the checks and if everything looks OK, wait for a couple of dry days then paint the area plus a foot or more around it with silicone. should stop the splashing water penetrating the brickwork.
Frank

 

[redconker]

View media item 81691View media item 81688 View media item 81689 View media item 81690
Please see the porch. The wall adjacent to the front door is becoming damp which happens to be below the flashing between the wall and porch tiles.

I am fairly sure the wall is not getting splashed with rainwater.

Many thanks.

 

[JohnD]

I bet that porch roof is the source.

it is suspiciously green, perhaps there is a blocked or leaking gutter above it, or an overflow pipe, keeping it wet.

If you have tanks in the loft, they most often overflow very early in the morning, when no-one has run a tap or flushed a WC for some hours.

Have a look during rain, or get someone to squirt a hose onto the main house roof and watch how the water comes down.

The lead flashing looks exceptionally clumsy.

The moss may be interfering with water getting off the tiles, or making it track upwards.

The porch gutter seems to have something in it.

The wall to the side of the front door also looks wet.

Take up the carpet or flooring and check the concrete floor for wet.

 

[redconker]

Thanks again John. The pointing on the flashing does look like its deteriorated and it would make sense as I know the cavity is clear, the damp course has been replace recently, there's no damp inside and the dampness only occurs in the rain.

You've saved me a fortune in surveyors (fingers crossed). Thank you very much for the time you've taken to help me.

I'll get the fashing repointed and hopefully that should be it.

 

[terrypin]

Check the main roof valley(?)or gutter for debris, the vertical tiling in the corner looks suspiciously darker to me, unless it a trick of the light.

 

[ree]

The pointing to the flashing appears to be sound - or as sound as the rest of the pointing in that brick panel. The stepped cover flashing is adequate.

There is a leaf guard in the gutter plus the excessive moss on the porch tiles - is there a tree(s) in very close proximity?

The outlet on the RWP should have been extended and turned down the roof to discharge as near the gutter as possible without splashing over. Could that gutter be discharged at another point?

The main roof seems to be changing its pitch - at a sprocket? Or is it camera angle?

The green mold on the brick face is prominent behind the RWP, and can be seen down the front face of the building.This indicates excessive wetting or splash.

Were you there when the DPC bricks were removed - which bricks were removed, and was the cavity dry?
Why was the DPC renewed?
Is there cavity insulation in position?

So much for the superstructure: the hillside position on a slab might be a suspicious possibility but i'd do the above suggestions, that others have advised, first.

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

The bottom edge of the lead flashing does not protrude over the gutter, so water that runs down in the corner of the flashing falls down behind the gutter. Slip a piece of plastic/lead/ali under the lead with a bend up the wall and a horizontal part wide enough to go under the tile.
Frank