What is penetrating damp?
Penetrating damp, otherwise known as lateral damp, is the development of moisture through the walls and roof or below ground area of a building. Like most cases of damp, if left untreated it can cause problems for the structure and significant damage to the fabric of your home.
Cavity wall insulation = cause of problems?
Over the last few years there has been a surge across the UK of houses finding they have wet insulation and poorly fitted insulation. The reasons behind this can vary from the natural porosity of the masonry, building defects and the geographical location itself with wind driven rain driving through the exterior surface and into the insulation material. Over time, this can cause real damage and of course the insulation that was put there to keep you warm and dry is in fact having the opposite affect and leaking more heat out….
What can it do?
If a penetrating damp problem is left untreated it can cause deterioration to the fabric of your property including damage to walls, floors, ceilings and can even cause rot to timbers. Unlike rising damp penetrating damp, can happen at any level of your property.
Damp penetration can affect any age of property. Older properties which have had a lack of maintenance are more at risk of dampness problems causing deterioration to the building fabric. This is not to say that modern buildings do not suffer from penetrating damp. In some cases, due to defective workmanship or design, modern buildings can also suffer from damp in walls.
What are the causes?
Penetrating damp usually occurs if you own or live in a property that has building defects e.g. Defective roof coverings, a leaking rainwater pipe or faulty pointing to doors and windows. Some of the most common cases of penetrating damp come from defective masonry, render and pointing. Brickwork, pointing and render can deteriorate with age, frost or physical damage. This is one of the main reasons why older buildings are affected by penetrated damp as their building materials may be deteriorating over time or have been affected by storm damage and therefore not able to do the job they were designed to do.
If the structure of a building is failing, then your property may be allowing moisture to soak completely through the wall. This is a sign that your property waterproofing system is failing. You can also find penetrating damp where the external ground levels are higher than the internal floors or damp-proof membranes to concrete ground floors or solums below your ground floor are defective. You may also find damp in areas below ground level like the basement or cellars of your home.
Proper and accurate diagnosis of the damp problem is important so that the appropriate remedial repair is specified. Each of our customers receives a detailed report once the survey has been completed by one of our surveyors.
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