Key Take Aways
Excess moisture from daily activities (cooking, washing, drying clothes) leads to condensation; improve ventilation (open windows, use extractor fans or dehumidifiers) to combat it.
Penetrating damp enters horizontally through walls and rising damp travels from the ground upwards; both require more than simple ventilation to address.
Exterior wall coatings with water-resistant silicone create a protective barrier against weather, effectively treating penetrating damp.
Treating rising damp may involve installing or injecting a damp‑proof course (physical insert, chemical cream/liquid, or rods), along with replastering to prevent salt damage and allow walls to dry.
Proper diagnosis—distinguishing between condensation, penetrating, and rising damp—is essential for choosing the correct treatment.
In 2013, Aviva, the UK’s biggest home insurer compiled a list of the most common claims made against home insurance policies. Topping the list was ‘escaping water’. Another insurance provider in 2013, Confused, also listed ‘escape of water’ within its top five most common claims.
For homeowners throughout the UK then, damp is an extremely prevalent issue. Unfortunately, it is also one of those issues that doesn’t seem to be visible until it is too late. Uncovering the source of the issue can be extremely tricky and you can paper over one gap only to find another has developed elsewhere.
To walk you through some of the ways damp is able to infiltrate your home as well as the best ways to ensure it never returns, we have put together this overview of why and how we carry out damp proofing. We are accomplished damp specialists in London and we are intent on helping all of our prospective customers rid their homes of damp problems indefinitely.
Dealing with damp: Condensation
Washing, cooking, cleaning and drying clothes are all everyday tasks that contribute to the levels of moisture within the home. When the same home is poorly ventilated, this excess moisture has no escape route, which forces it, eventually, to condense and linger on windows and walls.
If you can confirm that the damp walls within your home are merely the result of condensation, you only need to better ventilate your home to alleviate the issue. Opening windows at more regular intervals, avoiding drying clothes indoors and investing in an extractor fan or a dehumidifier will rid your home of damp.
Dealing with damp: Penetrating damp and rising damp
On the other hand, if damp is present in your house because of penetrating or rising damp, you have an altogether different animal on your hands. Rising damp is different from penetrating damp in that it travels upwards through a floor or wall while penetrating damp infiltrates horizontally. In terms of treating the two however, they can more or less be dealt with as a collective.
How to get rid of damp
The ill-effects of damp can be counteracted with our penetrating damp treatment. By applying exterior wall coatings, you can reinforce your home’s exterior walls and diminish damp ability to enter your home. Installed with water-resistant silicone, our external wall coatings are designed to resist all forms of weather, ensuring that damp will be unable to invade your home.
Get in touch today for damp house solutions
We have been damp proofing in London for close to 20 years. Our damp proof treatment for walls has been extremely successful in the past and continues to be so today. To eliminate your damp problem, and ensure its absence for a further 25 years, get in touch today to organise a site visit. You can contact us by telephone, email, or through the contact form on our website.
