DAMP CAUSED BY NEIGHBOUR

[Ali]

Wait till they go on holiday, and get a minidigger in for a day...

I remember me and my Dad, I would’ve been about 16 and he came running in - “quick, they’re out!” He dragged me into the garden to erect a fence high enough that the nosy neighbours couldn’t see over, he knew they would object and cause a scene if they caught him, she was basically Hyacinth Bucket. He’d had everything ready for weeks, steel posts you could knock straight into the soil in about 30 seconds. Took the pair of us about an hour to erect 25m and just left theirs in place on the other side

 

[Joe 90]

@gaz1 , seriously mate, you really need to calm it down a bit.
It's clear that you have a lot of knowledge and experience, but you really
do need to let other people speak a bit as well.
You are dominating, and thus spoiling, what could be interesting, and thus
informative, threads for others with your approach.
There is nothing obliging you to post incessantly. You know, we only ever
learn things whilst we're not talking.

On this occasion I thought he was giving good advice and clearly has good knowledge and experience of it.
I think the problem started when he was singled out and rudely told he wasn't qualified to give advice and later that sorry he doesn't have a clue.

 

[JOEPRO]

On this occasion I thought he was giving good advice and clearly has good knowledge and experience of it.
I think the problem started when he was singled out and rudely told he wasn't qualified to give advice and later that sorry he doesn't have a clue.

As said by others OP needs to seek the services of a chartered professional. Not a builder.

I know this because I am one and I know the exact issues. The responses this guy has gave are incorrect. I have case studies and evidence of this. But it is beyond the remit of this thread and forum and being a professional I don't engage in futile arguments either. I did offer accurate, factual helpful advice here as is always my intent.

OP needs a professional surveyor in his house and it will get sorted.

 

[gaz1]

heres the basic info

Party Wall Act Fact Sheet

The Party Wall etc. Act came into force on the 1st July 1997. You must tell your neighbours if you want to carry out certain categories of building work

www.ansteyhorne.co.uk

soil being put against property that wasnt there before

https://www.justanswer.co.uk/law/em1q3-neighbour-turf-above-level-damp-course.html

a previous post on this forum

Neighbour's new path and my damp course help.

Hi, looking for a little advice. My neighbour has had a new patio laid and they have extended it around the side of the house between my single brick garage and their house. It's finished and when I was shown it, their damp course is just 25mm above the slabs. They have laid the slabs against my...

www.mig-welding.co.uk

soil built up against the boundary wall enough to push the wall over is another interesting subject as the person whos done it can be held liable to rebuilding it

 

[malcolm]

I had something like that with external driveway ground levels much higher than internal floors. Mine had a French drain when I bought the place but it didn't work so I put a trench in to at least 6 inches below floor level. You need a short retaining wall and I used a fibreglass grating from Fibregrid. Works really well as the outside of the wall dries before it gets as high as the inside of the house.

Doubt you'll get the neighbours to pay for it but if you are nice to them thy might let you install somethinjg like that.

 

[julianf]

. The walls are plaster .

What type of plaster? You may not know, in which case the question is somewhat redundant anyway, as they will have been painted with standard paint.

It will cost a bit, as plastering coats and lime plaster is at the high end of the plaster trade, but if you can find someone in your area who knows about like to strip off what's on the walls and replaster them in lime, AND then they need to be painted in breathable paint, then (depending on the extent of the issue, of course) this will go a surprisingly long way to resolving issues.


Tanking is a more modern way of doing things. Ive seen it to be less reliable than lime work.

 

[More Amps]

built 1900s dosnt have damp coarse

damp inside house dosnt tell me much

3ft up the inside wall from floor level or cellar level

beaware im a builder ive seen it all and done the work to it

what your pointing too is cellar level

Hate to say it, but even the Romans had damp courses

Ancient Romans used slate without mortar as a DPC to block rising damp. In this example from the Hardknott Roman fort in Cumbria, the slate also serves to separate the original Roman construction (below) from modern reconstruction (above).

I might also add that DPCs were made compulsory in 1875 (public health Act)

 

[minimutly]

You might be right there. But what is your point?

 

[More Amps]

Copied from another site, complete with links (now removed)

 

[Beeezer]

Is he/she a looker……

 

[premmington]

Hate to say it, but even the Romans had damp courses
View attachment 390136
Ancient Romans used slate without mortar as a DPC to block rising damp. In this example from the Hardknott Roman fort in Cumbria, the slate also serves to separate the original Roman construction (below) from modern reconstruction (above).

I might also add that DPCs were made compulsory in 1875 (public health Act)

@More Amps - that was really an interesting addition to this thread.

 

[MattF]

Wait till they go on holiday, and get a minidigger in for a day...

Which one?

 

[addjunkie]

I had something like that with external driveway ground levels much higher than internal floors. Mine had a French drain when I bought the place but it didn't work so I put a trench in to at least 6 inches below floor level. You need a short retaining wall and I used a fibreglass grating from Fibregrid. Works really well as the outside of the wall dries before it gets as high as the inside of the house.

Doubt you'll get the neighbours to pay for it but if you are nice to them thy might let you install somethinjg like that.


View attachment 390120

View attachment 390121

Im liking this, a wall that breaths is far less likley to be damp. This on the outside and lime plaster with out vynl paint on the inside, would allow itto breath from both sides.

I will also add…..

Bickering like 10 year olds about who can wee wee higher up a wall can kill a very good forum / information resource.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Bickering like 10 year olds about who can wee wee higher up a wall can kill a very good forum / information resource.

The one who tries to wee the highest normally ends up weeing on himself.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Go out of your way to be as reasonable as possible!...legal proceedings usually result in wealthy lawyers.

I'm no legal expert (not my area)...but it's worth checking if you have a legal "right" to repair the wall. If you do it should be straightforward to enforce that right I would think.

A legal bill of tens of thousands can easily be created out of thin air...usually when one or both sides digs their heels in!

 

[ajlelectronics]

The one who tries to wee the highest normally ends up weeing on himself.

Wasn't that a Confucius quote? "Man who pees into wind, gets it all back".

 

[Gareth J]

It does feel like, especially as you've already explored forcing a legal route, working with the neighbours might be swifter and cheaper.

If you could work together, you might be able to achieve a solution that works for both. Namely, that good looking grid option Malcolm posted. Although, at the high end, make sure there is decent retaining strength to hold back the wieght and not bear onto your wall.

"The wall isn't designed to take loads like that. If we do nothing, and my insurance has to claim against your insurance for restructuring works, it's going to cost us both a lot in terms of legal shenanigans and increased insurance fees. Let's put the money and effort into a solution that avoids all that"
+ tea + biscuits.

Worth another go, surely

 

[Bullet2012]

Law of Mechanical Repair - After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee.

 

[ajlelectronics]

Worth another go, surely

You will always catch more flies with honey, than vinegar. That is one of life's constants.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

@Damper Have you invited your neighbours in to see the problem/degree of dampness? They might be unaware of the impact of their area of ground on your property, think...."What a fuss over a little staining" type of uninformed reaction.