PREVENTING RISING SALT DAMP

The Best Practices For Preventing Rising Damp

Regularly check all gutters and downpipes for blockages, leaks and overflows and check around the base of your house for water pooling against walls.

Before buying a house check for the presence of a Damp Proof Course– and ensure that it is has no breaks particularly where the house may have been added to, always ensure that garden beds or driveways or pathways have not been built up above the damp course. If you are in doubt call a licensed salt damp specialist ( put in a link back to the home page).

The importance of keeping your walls dry cannot be over emphasized damp walls increase the risks of fungal rots and termite (white ant) attack to floor timbers.

Walls need to breath but not damp air, clean your out existing air vents regularly – and if you are thinking of adding new vents or new vents in a house extension get professional advise and conduct some tests.

Salt damp is not always visible and may be evident in wall cavities – always inspect cavities for of debris and the wall tie deteriation.

The soils beneath your house can dry out or retain to much water especially in Adelaide’s re-active soils. If in doubt get professional advice and check the contractors credentials and experience.
Ensure that your gardens have not become piled against the walls and that your sprinkler water patterns are not concentrated on the walls of your house. Don’t stack wet or damp garden products against walls..

If you have identified raising damp in the walls of your house

Always get independent advice – there are many products and procedures the best check is to check work your intended contractor has conducted before.

Check that your chosen contractor does not use hard cement mortar to repoint failed lime mortar joints in the brickwork – because this will just drive the damp up the wall and may also cause more deteriotian the bricks. Ensure that your chosen contractor does not use water repellent coatings to seal walls because will just trap the damp.

Before undertaking undersetting or any form of injection proceedures ensure that the factors that caused the damp have been eradicated. The cheapest quote is not always the best check the contractors experience because this can be expensive if the problem is not fixed professionally.