ADPC for Property Care

Rising Damp ( a brief overview)

Rising damp is the name given to moisture from the ground moving up through the masonry pour structures via capillarity. For rising damp to occur there must be a source of ground water and It can be a seasonal effect and the geology of the ground is significant.  

The height of rising damp will be affected by the masonry pour structure, volume of water at the base of a wall and the level of evaporation from the wall surface.  Water rising up a wall by capillarity creates an electrical potential. negative ions travel from the positive ground through to the negative wall.

At the time of construction rising damp is stopped by installing a physical (damp proof course) barrier to moisture.  Were there is no barrier or it has broken down then the following remedial rising damp control measures can be used:

• Drain the ground around the property.  This is not normally practical and needs to be monitored.
• Cut into the walls and install a physical damp proof course, but this may effect the building structure.
• Install anodes for an electro osmotic control of the ground water. This is fully reversible and the materials can be recycled.
• Install a chemical damp proof course to control the ground water by controlling capillarity.
• Install porous tube into the wall to create a evaporation point in the wall and draw out the moisture.  Tubes may need to be replaced if they get contaminated with salts.