• Home
  • Main Website
  • Commercial Pest Control
  • Property Care
  • Pest Reviews
  • Contact Us
deBugged
  • Home
  • Main Website
  • Commercial Pest Control
  • Property Care
  • Pest Reviews
  • Contact Us
Home  /  Property Care • United Kingdom  /  Penetrating damp – where leaks can lead in winter storms
03 December 2015

Penetrating damp – where leaks can lead in winter storms

Written by Jackie
Property Care, United Kingdom damp, penetrating damp Leave a Comment

ThinkstockPhotos-489384250With storms like Abigail, Barney and Clodagh, it has been a very wet and windy autumn so far. The UK is in the path of the polar jet stream (the boundary between warm and cold air). It’s along this boundary, where pressure gradients are tightest, that storm systems travel. The tropical air to the south has been absorbing heat and moisture from the oceans, and as cold air sinks south over our latitude, the two air masses collide and brew up storms and persistent rain!

These storms, with driving winds and relentless rain, can lead to penetrating damp problems. This is the process of lateral damp penetration whereby water gains access to the fabric of a property (not to be confused with rising damp). Water from damaged rainwater goods, leaking pipes, cracked render, wind driven rain (particularly on solid walls) or groundwater passing through basement earth retaining walls, can contaminate the building fabric and may cause external salting (efflorescence) of the masonry.

Wind driven rain can cause large amounts of water penetration, particularly to solid walls. As the water dries out, salts in the building materials are brought to the surface and efflorescence (which means “to flower out” in French) is likely to appear. If the wall is rendered you may feel it is protected, but if there are cracks, these cause water to run in to the masonry and then the render stops it drying easily.

Penetrating Damp due to damaged rain goods imageDamp may appear on the inside of external solid walls, on ceilings below flat roofs or where slates/tiles are missing on pitched roofs, on chimney breasts or around doors/windows after heavy rain. There may be leaking pipes or a gutter tipping water backwards onto a cavity wall. Surface runoff, particularly where the property is surrounded by hard surfaces such as parking spaces or paved front gardens can lead to penetrating damp issues.

Earth retaining walls below ground level, such as in basements or properties built into a slope, may also suffer from ground water penetration.

Here are some of the signs of penetrating damp to check for around your property:

  • Internal decoration – damp, discoloured tidemarks on walls, in line with external ground level
  • Damaged Plaster – blistering, salting and disintegration of plaster on walls
  • Rotting timber – skirting boards and/or floor timbers (possible wet rot decay)
  • Localised dampness – Random damp patches that do not dry out

penetrating damp plant damage to bricksIt is important to keep all rainwater goods clear of debris – if they fail during heavy storms, water can easily find its way into your property. The same is true of plants growing on buildings. It’s not uncommon to find plants like buddleia sprouting from a chimney stack. Once the roots take hold they can easily penetrate masonry, letting water in.

Penetrating damp and the resultant damage to the fabric of a building, plaster surfaces and potential timber decay can be very damaging and costly. It is very important to correctly distinguish between damage caused by penetrating damp and other damp problems such as rising damp or condensation. Correct diagnosis by a professional, specialist damp surveyor can help prevent unnecessary expense on solutions that will not solve the underlying problem, and provide the most effective treatment to resolve the damp issue.

Share On
Jackie

I joined UK Marketing for Rentokil Pest Control in January 2009. What an enlightenment that has been - cheese mites, bed bugs and confused flour beetles, I never knew such things existed but I have certainly learnt how Rentokil expertise and experience eliminates them. Now my mission is to use the website to show the UK that whatever their pest problem, Rentokil have the solution. Life outside of work revolves around my husband and kids, so life is pretty hectic!

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Need some advice?

Talk to one of our experts:

For your Home

0808 231 5834

For your Business

0808 231 7897

Verification...

Ouch! There was a server error.
Retry »

Sending your request...

Quick Form

Fill in the form below and we will be in touch soon


Find us on Facebook

Find us on Twitter

Find Us on LinkedIn

Rentokil Pest Control

Rentokil Pest Control is part of Rentokil Initial — one of the world's largest providers of business services. Formed over 80 years ago, the company has grown to become UK's longest-established, best known and most trusted pest control service provider.

Camberley. 3,500+ employees

Rentokil Pest Control

Categories

  • Pest Control
  • United Kingdom
  • Property Care
  • Rodents
  • Birds
  • Pestaurant
  • Flying Insects
  • Crawling Insects
  • Spiders
  • Other Wildlife

Subscribe to the debugged blog


Category Posts

  • Fruit flies at your bar – why you need to get rid of them and how Flies, Insects, United Kingdom
  • Bed bugs can bite into hoteliers’ business reputation Bed Bugs, Insects, Pest Control, United Kingdom
  • Pigeon proofing solar panels Birds, Pigeons, Seagulls, United Kingdom
  • Bed bugs were biting whilst dinosaurs roamed Bed Bugs, Crawling Insects, Insects, Pest Control, United Kingdom

Latest Video

Recent Posts

  • Fruit flies at your bar – why you need to get rid of them and how July 15, 2019
  • hotelier-with-bedsheets-bed-bugs
    Bed bugs can bite into hoteliers’ business reputation June 28, 2019
  • Pigeon proofing solar panels June 19, 2019
  • bed bug close up image
    Bed bugs were biting whilst dinosaurs roamed May 28, 2019

© 2018 Rentokil Initial plc and subject to the conditions in the Legal Statement.

  • Latest News
  • Careers at Rentokil
  • Pestaurant
  • Noises in the Attic
  • Pest Control Customer Reviews
  • DIY Consumer Products
  • Manage Cookies
  • Company Information
  • Modern Slavery Statement
  • Legal Statement
  • RI Supplier Code
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • eBilling
myRentokil
myLearning
TRUSTPILOT