Assessment of surrounding areas of building should be checked for ponding water, this water should be removed if viable to do so. Removing water with good drainage will aid the removal of any form of dampness. The next step is to look for the presence of a damp-proof course. A damp course may be present but for numerous reasons may begin to fail. Typical reasons would be the material used has broken down or bridging of damp course has occurred.
Commonly the signs of rising damp would be blistering paint, the presence of salts and mould and skirting boards expanding or decaying. There are different techniques for assessing rising damp but the use of a moisture meter is best used as an unobtrusive means to indicate patterns of rising damp.
Treatment of Rising Damp
There are numerous ways of treating rising damp but BWS believes that the best form of treatment is chemical injection. Chemical injection is a process where usually the skirting and render is removed to a applicable height and a series of holes are drilled into each brick. Lances are connected to a pump and used to introduce the fluid into brick until saturation occurs. After completion of damp course the walls are usually re plastered with a salt retardant render.