We were recently called out to a property in Sheffield, South Yorkshire to give advice on a suspected damp issue to the external walls
Our client here is a keen DIY enthusiast who has done a fantastic job creating a whole new floor to the property simply by converting the huge space to the subfloor.
All the walls to the subfloor weren’t actually below ground so it was a reasonably straight forward job.
Recently a new external door had been added to give additional access to the property.
Access was created using a new set of stone steps which is when the damp issues began.
The new steps were built and butted against the brickwork to the external wall which created a bridging of the original damp proof course which even though was almost 80 years old was found to still be 100% effective in all other areas.
Obviously our client did not want to remove the steps after spending such a large amount having them built along with the new door.
The issue was a straight forward fix for our team who simply removed the contaminated plaster and installed a cavity drain membrane system (tanking) followed by the installation of new plasterboards and skim.
This system will not allow any dampness to pass through from the exterior wall onto the internal plasterwork.
Unfortunately, the new steps had also been built over 2 original air bricks used to create ventilation to the subfloor – this had also created additional timber work by means of joist and floorboard replacement.
