Vertical damp proof membrane Damp can be a major issue in the home. Find answers to questions or post your own here.

[stewarty]

Hi All

My basement is partially below ground and the house is on a slope. the basement walls are seeping water and thier is damp on the upstairs room immediately above the basement.

This is a very old house and has no Damp protection.

Can i dig a trench all around the outside walls off the basement of and lay a membrane against the wall and then backfill?

Many thanks in advance

Stewarty

[bd3cc]

Not certain that would work.
Tanking by a professional company would seem the best option, but it does not come cheap, but surveys might be free.

[Perry525]

This worked for me.
The rear of my bungerlow is buried six feet below the ground.
It had the clay of the hill pressed up tight against it.
The walls were damp, there was water rising up through the tiles on the utility room floor and flowing out under the garden door.
This is what we did.
First we dug a ditch about 50 feet above the bungalow across the hill discharging into our stream.
This helped a bit but, we soon realised that 6 to 12 inches of rain per day landing on the ground in between the ditch and the bungalow was still a lot of rain.
Next. We dug out a trench all the way round the bungerlow to foundation level, to keep the water away. Then we built a breeze block wall across the back of the bungalow and down the sides leaving a 4 inch gap. On the up side of this are three inches of clean stones, sheets of 9mm waterproof plywood, a layer of plastic 1000 gauge dpc.
Then we placed a land drain on the uphill side, and back filled to ground level with clean stones and rocks all round, with paving slabs over to keep out the dirt and make a path
The rain now comes down the hill, into our French drain, round the bungalow to the front on either side and soaks into the ground and on to the streams on both sides.
Three years later the bungalow was dry and has remained so.