Talk:Damp (structural)

Damp-proof courses are NOT mandated by the Public Health Act 1875

SPAB, the author cited and many others claim this, but there is actually no mention of the subject. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1875/55/pdfs/ukpga_18750055_en.pdf

Rising damp, true or false?

This article is very unclear as to whether this is a real problem or not. One introductory sentence seems to show modern tests disprove the theory that water rises through masonry courses via capillary action, yet the rest of the article reads as if this were a real issue and discusses ways to ameliorate this supposedly non-existent problem. Which is it? --Loverevolutionary (talk) 14:26, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Personally I think the problem is very rare. I know this is only empirical, but I've know lots of people pay for chemical damp-proofing after someone claimed it was rising damp and it did nothing. The problem was water coming in gaps from downpipe, raised ground levels, etc. I'm not saying rising damp doesn't exist but seems very rare. I've got some walls outside my house with no DPM and they don't seem to have any rising damp. In my limited experience, get rid of water penetrating the house and get decent drainage and you won't need to worry if rising damp is a myth or not. --Mw-wsh (talk) 16:43, 1 October 2009 (UTC)

The problem is that the article states that rising damp is caused by capilliary action. As far as I understand it the research quoted tried to recreate water rising up masonry by capilliary action under laboratory conditions. The researchers then took the attitude that "we have been unable to recreate rising damp therefore it doesn't exist" without considering that it was their method that might be at fault. A house does not exist in laboratory conditions.

For a balanced view of rising damp I would suggest reference to Professor Malcolm Hollis' seminal work "Surveying Buildings". Professor Hollis discusses rising damp and mentions the research that casts doubt on its existence. However he also points out that in the real world (i.e. not a laboratory) there are probably a number of other mechanisms at work in addition to capilliary action that cause rising damp.EricPolymath (talk) 19:44, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

What I find interesting is that I have many walls in and around my property with no damp proof and none have rising damp. The only wall dignosed with rising damp was fixed by improving drainage.--Mw-wsh (talk) 15:05, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

As a practising building surveyor I would always look at improving drainage to try and fix rising damp and would only consider attempting to insert a damp proof course if this failed to fix the problem. Inserting a DPC, either physical or chemical, is a considerable operation and it may not work. In some walls it would be impossible to retro-fit a DPC anyway. If I was a cynical person I would say that if you get a company that makes its living by inserting DPCs to have a look at a case of rising damp they will tell you that the only way you can fix it is by getting them to install one of their DPCs !! EricPolymath (talk) 19:20, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

BBA

I know nothing of this subject and turned to this article for enlightenment but surely the 'British Board of Agreement' should be the [Board of Agrément]? Robin Scagell (talk) 22:06, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

FS

This article states that rising damp is one of the "big three" causes of damp in buildings. In the same time, the article "Damp Proofing" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damp_proofing) states "In practice, Rising Damp almost never occurs.". I find it confusing.

Maybe someone with knowledge on the subject could clarify and/or correct the articles? Thanks a lot. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.109.140.136 (talk) 08:32, 27 December 2011 (UTC)

Yes the subject is valid and your information is not using research from the U.S. where veneer brick is used and we use corrugated metal or I read an article which mentioned plastic to stop capillary action. Here there is a 1 inch gap between the brick and the wall for example because of driven rain on a wall/brick it needs to dry and has weep holes at the bottom snd weep vents at the top of the wall. Also in stick frame construction in the U.S. under the plate boards between the cement foundation to stop moisture from getting into the wood we put a dense thin foam down as separation.(sorry no reference)2605:A601:3122:1600:7132:A315:4F40:DCEA (talk) 03:00, 14 April 2018 (UTC)

References

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