DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi all Thanks for reading and hopfuly helping!

Well i have a groundfloor one bedflat and the bed room is quite damp and did have mould growing on the inside of the exterior wall, which i have now cleaned. It went up most of the wall but only on the outside wall and was worse at the bottom. also found mould on the underside of the bed ( which i have now had to bin and get a new one ).

I use a crystal water trap which takes a few weeks to fill. ( no idea if that helps you guys ).

Now im leaning towards the idea that its penetrating damp! As i have taken a look around the outside of the flat and there is a DPC membrane about 8' from ground level. But i think that its to do with the soil from the garden outside the bedroom window, the neighbour has turned about 2ft of soil against the wall.

I dont think its rising damp as its restricted to the one wall, could be condensation but the rest of the flat is damp but not as bad, i think its more likely that the rest of the flat is getting damp due to the bedroom.

now this is really getting annoying! as im sure you can imagine. if this is penetrating damp is it worth coating the exposed wall with a waterproof coating and digging the soil away from the wall and coating it with some sort of heavier duty chemical coat? ( Would a rubber sealant do? ) or would it be a case of digging the soil away and puting something against the wall so the soil cant sit against it?

The only trouble i have is that the garden isnt mine it belongs to the flat above me!

Any thing against your exterior walls will attract damp,but soil is the worst you must remove it by some means.
Have a word with your neighbour as the problem will only get worse as winter arrives.
Create a gap at least 300mm away from your wall this will allow air to dry out the moisture.It may be his garden but its your property..

Thanks for the fast reply! i will deff hav a word with the neighbour!

but how do i kep the soil from falling back into the gap between the wall and the soil? as i dont want a mountain of rubbish building up in there!

Is there anything i can use to seal the brick work up from the damp? that would be strong enough and long lasting enough with the soil there?

There are various ways of doing this.
If your stuck for space try using concrete base panels for fencing they are 6 feet long x 1 foot high and slot into concrete posts and there only about 2 inch thick.Thats probably your best bet.Anything else and your looking at getting expensive.
The posts need to be buried 2 feet in the ground and concreted in place.
Once set you can set the panels in place.You said the soils about 2 feet so place 2 in the slotted posts giving you exactly 2 foot high wall.
And get some help to fit them they are heavy....