Sydney’s Specialists in rising damp solutions
Sydney’s Specialists in rising damp solutions
Rising damp is an industry that has exploded over the past twenty years due to aging buildings built with obsolete construction methods.
There are many rising damp solutions available and it is worth knowing all your options before making a commitment.
Read this page to learn more about rising damp so you can make a more informed decision when either choosing us or any other provider.
Summary of the 6 main types of rising damp solutions
1. Chemical Injection (our choice)
2. Damp Course Creams
3. Gravity Fed Systems
4. Physical Damp Course
5. Sub-Floor Fans
6. Gravomagnetic Amplification Devices
The video above is of a wall that we injected in Sydney. This wall was in a basement and they had an infill slab. An infill slab is when your house’s footings are built, then the walls are constructed on the footings and at a later stage the slab is poured INSIDE the walls (modern houses usually pour the slab first and the walls are built on the TOP of the slab).
We successfully stopped the rising damp although they had another issue arise during the Sydney storms in February 2020 and their basement flooded.
We removed all the render from the walls of the basement and the water you see being sprayed on the walls is in preparation for a negative side basement membrane.
As the water is being spayed on the walls the water resistant damp course line is revealed as the water beads off it.
You can see that using pumps for injection of a chemical damp course gives you a new damp course of around 100mm in height.
Rising Damp Explained
Rising Damp is called “Rising Damp” because it literally rises up the wall.
The reason rising damp rises up the wall is due to a couple of factors, the main one being salt.
Water rises up the wall to the point of least resistance and evaporates. As the water evaporates (lets say from the lowest 10mm of the wall) the salts gather in the lowest 10mm of the wall.
As the “pores” of the masonry get filled with salt, the water will rise to the next point of least resistance to evaporate.
Now salts are damaging 20mm of the lowest point of your walls. The salt damage keeps on rising until the weight of the water has enough downwards force (gravity) that the water cannot rise any higher even if the “pores” of the masonry beneath the highest point of possible evaporation is already restricted by salt.
From this point on (if you don’t do something about it) the water will continue to evaporate from the already salt effected areas, accumulating until the wall eventually crumbles to dust!
(takes some years for rising damp to become a structural issue).
Rising damp with exposed brick will normally show in mortar deterioration and the bricks will start to collapse.
Rising damp with render will usually show in bubbling paint, salt stains and render breaking back down to its base components (appearing as dust).
Rising damp damage is not caused by the actual water its self, water is just the carrier for diluted salts. The water travels through masonry via capillary action which causes the masonry to become damp.
The damage you see from rising damp is from salt. When salt is dry it is stable and when it is wet it is stable. As salt dries, salt crystals form between the tiny bonds of the masonry and causes the masonry to be separated to its base components as masonry dust.
The catalyst for the damage caused by rising damp is evaporation. If masonry has water that contains salt, as the water dries it evaporates, leaving solids behind. The solids are the salts. The accumulation of salt crystals is what causes your masonry to turn to dust and bubble your paint.
Rising Damp injection creates a layer which stops the water from rising. When the water has been stopped then the salts which cause the damage are also stopped.
Rising Damp in Sydney is a common problem and we are specialists in rising damp. Click below to see our rising damp solutions.
Basement waterproofing is one of the most difficult types of waterproofing. We have provided solutions for the most extreme basement waterproofing.
Dincel waterproofing is needed when you never want Dincel to leak. While dincel is sold as being waterproof, often it still leaks.
We can stop Dincel leaking.
Retaining walls or below ground walls need special treatment so the waterproofing doesn’t fail over time due to salt breaking the membrane. Learn More..
Sydney
Gold Coast (Coming Soon)
Brisbane (Coming Soon)
07:00 – 18.00
Monday – Saturday
Phone: 0474 499 309