Help - rain water leaking into garage/workshop

[brightspark]

looking at the diagram ure stuffed without digging round. best option would be tank the inside walls and floor look up www chemical building products on google they sell cbp tanking slurry 25kg bucket mixed with sbr bonding agent .where the wall meets the floor u can get fillet seal and rapid setting plug for pressure aerias where floor has running water probs the whole lot will cost about 100 quid. its used for tanking cellars and it works hope this helps

4got to say there technical tel number is 01202601701

 

[lexi]

Best solution of the lot is to dig out and get rid of soil. Build heavy duty retaining wall 1m out from garage. Then continue render down to dpc. You will move a lot of soil mind. Beats me why people dig out and pap soil back in against wall with expensive membranes.

Only do this when there is absolutely no option.

 

[brightspark]

Best solution of the lot is to dig out and get rid of soil. Build heavy duty retaining wall 1m out from garage. Then continue render down to dpc. You will move a lot of soil mind. Beats me why people dig out and pap soil back in against wall with expensive membranes.

Only do this when there is absolutely no option.

BIG£££££££££££££ and a lot of work as well. ive tanked the pit in my garage the water table is 18inch down the pit is 5ft deep it holds that back ok so its a good economical option

 

[voipio]

If you're going to put bitumen anywhere, it would be best applied on the outside of the wall, over the bottom of the damp-proof membrane and the sides of the concrete base to prevent water from getting in. If you put bitumen on the inside, water will still get in and wick up the wall. It does mean digging, unfortunately.

I bought an Ebac dehumidifer for the garage a few years ago. It's turned out to be a superb investment because, even if a garage or shed is bone dry, a spell of very cold weather followed by a warm humid spell will soon have the bulkier bits of metalwork dripping with condensation, cardboard boxes sagging and the like. I've sealed up all the gaps around the doors and eaves to reduce air circulation and to stop humid air from getting in, making the dehumidifier's job easier and, ever since then, my condensation and rusting problems have gone away. Don't seal the gaps without using a dehumidifier, though! I let the condensate in the dehumidifier pass through a coffee filter to remove the dust caught in the water. The condensate is perfect for the steam iron, cleaning windows, rinsing delicate parts etc. It's a cheap source of near lab-quality distilled water. I also keep an eye on the weather forecast. If a significant increase in temperatures is in prospect after a spell of cold weather, I run a fan heater for an hour or two, just to warm the contents of the garage slightly and reduce the risk of condensation still further.

 

[Tin Can]

Thanks all for the replies
As promised to Bigjoe, photo's taken - see attached
I do understand that the the best and most complete way to cure the problem is a 'dig back' option. However both physically and financialy i cant go down this route. As its not a damp issue i have to stick to the 'leak' option and look to a way to 'plug the leak'. What about damp course providers, ie drill 'through' the wall at regular distances along the 1st course of bricks and them to pump through their damp course resin which would then hopefully 'squeeze' through enough resin to provide a seal on the outside of the wall

Please all, keep the idea's / options coming

Mask

 

[brightspark]

tankings the only option drilling and injecting only helps rising damp even then most damp.proofers tank as well

 

[the snooper]

the damp proofing may have failed over the years so no amount of sealing at high level would cure the problem if the garage is old the damp proofing technology wont have been as good as todays materials.
also if the area is mostly clay when the garage was built they would have back filled between the bricks and clay, probably with soil if so that will become water logged because the clay wont allow any drainage the removed tree woud have absorbed water aswell.
i think the only real solution is to dig out to provide a decent air gap.
do it slowly and take bags of soil/clay to the tip by car and build a retaining wall using reclaimed bricks for the remaining earth.
i dont think there will be a dirt cheap effective solution but hope you can find one

 

[stormin]

First off it seems that the soil level external is now above the membrane on the out skin of the brick.
At least dig back the soil adjacent the building to lower it back down below the membrane level.

Looking at the inside photo's of the garage it would seem at least the lower part of the wall is constructed as double skin. Is there a cavity between these double layers? If so Tanking the inside would be a waste of time.

Drill a few holes low down through inside skin and see if you get running water out of the space between brick skins. Could be an accumulation of water has built up between the brick layers and is only now showing itself.

It has been wet of late which would account for some of the increase in seepage. Also the painting of walls and floors inside the garage has effectively given any seepage nowhere to go. Rather than soaking into the floor as before it now sits on the new paint and appears more obvious.

The removal of the tree from adjacent the building could have had a slight affect on raising the local water table and increasing water pressure behind the retaining wall.

 

[the snooper]

i think that digging an exploration hole down to the base is a must.
you have to be able to see whats going on to be able to cure it

 

[lexi]

BIG£££££££££££££ and a lot of work as well. ive tanked the pit in my garage the water table is 18inch down the pit is 5ft deep it holds that back ok so its a good economical option

Yeah well you got to tank a pit mate. I use tanking screeds regular along with other membranes and yes they work.

Trailer and take a load to council dump every other night.....hard work killed nobody lol !

Every load you take away alleviates the issue a small bit

Shifted four ton outa my garden like this and I`ve seen a few Xmases.ha ha

 

[RustyBus]

The best option is going to be digging/extra walls etc but I wonder if some improvements can be made with less effort. In the inside picture it looks like you have a flat roof and in the outside pics I can't see a gutter. If there is no gutter adding one to remove the rain fall from the roof may help to divert the water elsewhere. It's also not unheard of to add a dpm from the top of the soil going down a couple of bricks and then out into the garden for about a meter or two, sloping away from the wall. This method will not solve the problem but may reduce the amount of water against the wall, therefore reducing the amount entering the garage. A lot depends on how the ground slopes, if the garage it at the bottom of a long slope I think digging is the only way.
Arran

 

[brightspark]

Yeah well you got to tank a pit mate. I use tanking screeds regular along with other membranes and yes they work.

Trailer and take a load to council dump every other night.....hard work killed nobody lol !

Every load you take away alleviates the issue a small bit

Shifted four ton outa my garden like this and I`ve seen a few Xmases.ha ha

no coment this is a friendly forum for help not a forum for sarcastic remarks the guy doesnt want to dig it all out so sugest something else ?

 

[MrFluffy]

One more option, that Ive seen used in the alps on houses built into the side of mountains etc where digging out the back involves lots of dynamite, they put a internal false wall inside the offending damp wall with a small air gap between the two.
At the bottom of this false section, they fit a drainage channel and lead that either away, or into a sump where a automatic pump lifts it up and out the usual drainage system.

I have to do something similar in my workshop as I dont own the land at the back of mine and its sat right on the boundry line.

 

[TheJoker]

Horrible cludge idea; you could mix some really really thin mortar/concrete/tile adhesive that will seep through the soil and pour it next to the wall. if it works you'll basically have a "new wall" cast into the soil. If it doesn't work you'll have a huge f***ing slab of concrete buried in the ground and the leak is still there.

Nice workshop though!

 

[Tin Can]

best option would be tank the inside walls and floor look up www chemical building products on google they sell cbp tanking slurry 25kg bucket mixed with sbr bonding agent .where the wall meets the floor u can get fillet seal and rapid setting plug for pressure aerias where floor has running water probs the whole lot will cost about 100 quid. its used for tanking cellars and it works hope this helps

After reading through all the posts this is the plan of action i am going to take
1. Level off soil with a slope away from the back of the garage towards the orchard - distance of about 6 ft and cut a slight trough as far back away from the garage as i can
2. As i have put a slight slope on the soil in an attempt to get rainfall to run away form the garage i have actually gone higher than the plastic sheeting and will therefore drop the edge against the garage to below the sheeting level (i did it in the dark in a rush at the begining of the week
3. Put down Blue Builders waterproof sheeting on the slopeaway towards the orchard and cover in gravel
4. As advised by brightspark i am going to source some tanking slurry or equivalent as this appears to have the properties to 'plug' the leak

Thanks all for the advise, if all goes well and weather permiting i will put the sheeting down this weekend and then once the the back of the garage has dried out apply the tanking slurry or equivalent (does anyone know if builders merchants / Travis Perkins are likely to keep this in stock)

I will keep this thread updated over the winter so others who have a similar problem (Luke) will see if it actually worked

Thanks all, Mark

 

[English Lad]

My Mother in Law used to have real problems with water coming through her garage wall. I told her to plant a willow try uphill from it and she has never had a problem since. The tree is only about 8ft high and is pruned every year to stop it taking over the garden. Total cost £5

 

[Bobtail4x4]

Rater than spend £100 on some tanking slurry that may or may not work, why not offer one of the groundworkers £50 to dig it out, and batter the ground away? you could lay gravel and a land drain if you want to run any water away.

 

[lexi]

no coment this is a friendly forum for help not a forum for sarcastic remarks the guy doesnt want to dig it all out so sugest something else ?

Sarcasm? Just a friendly reply. And certainly no apology for it. I did mention that Tanking works? How many more suggestions do ya want ? My reply offered an alternative to your reply of £££££££££££££ for the digging out by doing it yourself .........that was all. My reply also considered the fact that although you can hold water out by tanking from the inside it does not solve the problem of brick (which may only be common ) being constantly saturated from the outside and suffereing erosion or attack from soil contamination.



I know what the forum is all about but thanks for reading me the Constituition anyway.

 

[Charred fingers]

Rater than spend £100 on some tanking slurry that may or may not work, why not offer one of the groundworkers £50 to dig it out, and batter the ground away? you could lay gravel and a land drain if you want to run any water away.

I agree with Bobtail a piped gravel drain ,sometimes know as a french drain would work, if you can get a mini digger round all 3 sides hire one, dig down level with bottom of base slab ,put in perforated plastic pipe and backfill with19mm gravel. Make sure you don't hit the membrane. Have done this on 12th century grade 2 listed Hall, the heritage people don't like injection dampcourses.

Note you would have tap the pipe into your surface water drain or possibly let it discharge at ground level if site levels allow it

 

[too old for this]

Hi...first timer on here and first post is a bodge!!!!Had a client with a similar issue,no access to dig and tank,due to not owning abutting land and a listing on the wall in question,so we came up with the following solution,we drilled 50mm holes through the wall at 200mm centres,and installed clay pipe.At the base of the wall,we blew out a 150mmx150mm channel(and along the side of the garage wall to the front of the garage)then installed a drainage grid(preformed half round,with galvanised grill on top)this was installed with a slight fall)we were never going to eradicate the problem as in wet periods the water table is above the base of the wall,but the clay pipe(a system called "dutch"something or other?is designed as an evaporative damp system,so it operates on two levels,during drier periods,it helps to wick away moisture built up in the wall,and in extreme periods the water is collected by the gulley and exits at the front of the building.Less than ideal,but the punter now has an infinately drier garage and with a dehumidifier keeps moisture at acceptable levels.