How we can help

Sometimes we get calls from people with a damp problem, and they don’t really know how to solve it. Just over a week ago, we took a call from a chap in Eastbourne. He lived in a typical Edwardian terraced house in a road leading off from the sea front. Over the years, the owners had spent quite a lot in maintaining their house, primarily to prevent water penetration into the building. In spite of all their efforts, they still had dampness around the base of the front bay window. He explained to me that the outside was painted with multiple coats of masonry paint, we concluded that the moisture must be coming from the footings. Having listened to this sorry tale, we explained that as the walls were solid, and pretty much sealed on the outside, it was important that whatever waterproofing was to follow, the end result must be vapour permeable to enable trapped moisture to slowly permeate out of the structure. As the saying goes: “a building is like the human body, if the skin cannot breath, the body will die”. Subsequently, we proposed that that a replacement DPC should be installed, and then a waterproof but vapour permeable slurry be applied to the inside face of the wall. 12 mm holes were drilled along the base of the wall. And injected using a mastic gun, although it can also be done with a slightly modified garden sprayer. Once the DPC Injection Cream was injected, the holes were closed with mortar, and the whole wall sealed with Aqua-Stop. The client called us looking for a solution to a long standing problem. We were able to help them to solve that problem at minimum cost with products that they could have applied themselves. As it was, they used a local contractor who was also impressed by the simplicity and effectiveness of these products. Our aim is first and foremost to listen, and understand the customer’s needs, and then to offer the simplest and best solution. If we don’t have the answer, we will normally know someone who does, and we will direct the customer in that directio