How To Treat Penetrating Damp

by AtlantisDamp | Mar 30, 2022

Penetrating damp is a serious issue that can cause expensive and potentially hazardous damage to your property.

Caused by excess water seeping into the walls, floors or ceilings of a building, if you think your home might have a penetrating damp problem, it’s important to act fast to remove it. In this article, the experts at Atlantis Damp explain what penetrating damp is, what problems it’s likely to cause, and how it can be treated.

What Is Penetrating Damp?

Penetrating damp is a serious form of damp that sees excess moisture and water seeping, leaking or flooding into the walls, floors or ceilings of a building. Once established, penetrating damp can move through the building, forcing homeowners to carry out repair work to treat and remove it.

Penetrating damp commonly occurs as a result of damaged infrastructure, including poorly maintained gutters or broken pipes. It can also occur because of flooding or unusually intense levels of rainfall. The most common causes include:

Broken gutters or leaking pipes
Old or damaged brickwork or masonry
Broken slates, tiles or faulty roofing
Broken seals
A damaged damp-proof course

What Problems Can Penetrating Damp Cause?

Penetrating damp can cause a number of issues and problems. If left untreated, minor issues can quickly become exaggerated leading to more expensive repairs, so it’s important to act quickly if you believe you might have a problem.

Common problems caused by penetrating damp include:

Damage to external walls or roofing
Damaged plasterwork
Damp, mouldy patches and smells
Moist patches
Visible leaks or pools of water
Structural damage
Decaying timbers

How Is Penetrating Damp Treated?

The first step in treating penetrating damp is identifying its cause, which is a task best left to a damp specialist. There can be several ways to remove the damp problem, and an expert can recommend the best solutions for your home.

The most effective way to solve a penetrating damp problem is to repair the cause of the problem. This will vary, but generally it can mean repairing the damaged guttering or pipes that led to the issue or isolating the source of a leak and removing it. Damaged plaster, decoration, flooring and woodwork may need to be replaced, while water repellent can help to protect the home in the future.

In certain cases, it may be necessary to reinstall or update the building’s damp-proof course, especially if water has leaked in from the ground level. Another solution may be tanking, which sees the ground level lowered to stop water flooding in from the outside.

In all cases, a home should always be fully damp proofed to protect any further instances of penetrating damp.

Contact Atlantis Damp to Find Out More About Treating Penetrating Damp in Your Home

Identifying penetrating damp early can help you remove the problem before it causes serious damage to your property. If you believe there might be a penetrating damp issue in your home, our expert team is here to help.

Our family-run business can assist with problems arising from all forms of damp in the home, and we can provide damp-proofing solutions that ensure your house is well protected. Contact Atlantis Damp today for more information.

B is for… Builders Beware

by AtlantisDamp | Sep 24, 2020

In this episode of The A-Z of Damp from Atlantis Property Preservation, B is for…..Builders Beware.

Our Property Survey

Atlantis Damp Proofing recently sent our expert surveyor to survey a local property near Knutsford, Cheshire. The property was a beautifully renovated cottage, which had obviously had a lot of investment put into it. Unfortunately, there were signs of decorative spoiling on the walls, suggesting that a damp issue was present. (more…)

G is for… Garden in your Gutter

by AtlantisDamp | Feb 10, 2017

G is for….. Garden in your Gutter (causing internal damp)

In this episode of The A-Z of Damp from Atlantis Property Preservation . G is for…… Gardens in your Gutter (causing internal damp).

We recently visited a property in Northwich, Cheshire to survey for damp detected on walls internally. A young family had been quoted over £5,000.00 to remedy a reported rising damp problem in their home. They felt this quote was too high and as such were getting some comparisons. One of their friends recommended speaking to us to get a reliable, honest advice from a CSRT expert.

They were right to get a second opinion. There was no rising damp. Using a surface moisture meter, it was identified that there were no readings at skirting board height, or up to a meter high (which would be typical of rising damp). There were, however, high moisture readings. These were in the corners of the rooms at both the front and back elevations on the ground and first floor at ceiling height. An external inspection revealed that the gutters were severely blocked with debris. There was green staining and algae on the wall next to the downspout. This fault corresponded exactly to the dampness that was detected internally.

Furthermore, a blocked gutter can cause damage to your downspouts and water to build up and enter the property. The specialist term for this Penetrating Damp. If not repaired, it could also lead to roofing problems, which can, again lead to damp issues internally. As with any damp issue in your home, this could result in thousands of pounds worth of repairs as if you leave it unchecked. Wood rot in your structural timbers can occur.

Gutter and downspout blockages will always happen in your property, sometimes more regularly if your home is surrounded by trees. If you included clearing the gutters in your annual home maintenance plan it will never become a significant issue. As with all types of damp, if you can prevent penetrating damp through water penetration due to leaking gutters is so much more effective than treating it.

To do their job, your gutters and downspouts must be clear of leaves and debris. If they aren’t, drain outlets will dam up and rainwater will fill the gutters, overflow, and eventually pull the gutters loose. During a rainstorm, gutters route runoff from a very large surface—a home’s roof—to where it can drain away from the house. By doing so, they protect walls, windows, doors, and foundations from water damage and help prevent flooding in basements. If your gutters are blocked, they will fail to do the job that they were intended for – directing rain water away from your house and into your drains.

Depending on how hard the gutters are to reach, you can now contact a company to complete this task for you. If you prefer, and it is safe to do so, you can do it yourself. To clean out your gutters you will need: a trowel, ladder, buckets, garden hose, gutter cleaning attachment and gutter sealant. Next you could watch one of the many youtube videos (try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zFoynqYkCM) on this subject that you could check out for more information on a DIY job.

What should you do next?

Have a chat with a family run business to get to the root cause of the dampness in your home. We feel confident that we can help you by carrying out a survey of your property. Simply contact us at Atlantis Property Preservation for our expert opinion to ensure accurate diagnosis and solutions to your property problem.