I think we found the source of our damp issues! (1920’s Renovation Part 36)

You may remember when we started this renovation we ran in to various damp issues. One thing that was never explained was why our subfloor was so damp in the first place. Well I think we found the answer.
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#Renovation #Damp #RisingDamp

[@robertthompson90]

Anybody else like the video before even watching it just because you've been looking forward to it all week and know it's gonna be good?

[@GosforthHandyman]

Thank you Robert!

[@lisaferrara8120]

Always!!!

[@chillyspoon]

Yeah - +1

[@roberthardy2013]

I have literally sat here at 6 am ignoring the cat and not even making a coffee yet to watch this - great stuff Andy, very well explained. We have just found old dry rot and three old wasps nests in the house we just moved into - so that will be a complete new floor, good job it’s not too large,ah well! Got to be done.

[@raydriver7300]

Not only a handyman but also an archaeologist. Great video, Andy. Stay safe. 🌞

[@GosforthHandyman]

Cheers Ray! There's been lots of archaeology on this renovation!

[@THE-AIDEN-PROJECT]

Wow that's crazy to think about the amount of water backing up into the house through them bricks 😱 Thanks for the shout out Andy 😊 really appreciate it 👍

[@GosforthHandyman]

No worries at all Aidan! It always amazes me how much abuse houses can handle before really bad things start to happen. Did you find any more frogs??

[@THE-AIDEN-PROJECT]

@@GosforthHandyman once I get the windows in I'll be sucking out the last of the water under the floor so I'll get to see if there is anything else living under there!

[@guitarman256]

You're doing it wrong Andy. You are supposed to spend thousands of pounds for some chav with a 3 day training course and an SDS drill to put hundreds of holes in your wall. That's how you fit damp problems right? 😜

[@GosforthHandyman]

Lol it's scary how many times I've seen that done... and it's made zero difference since it was actually leaky gutters. 😂

[@christaylor11]

Wally damp man 😁

[@jonp6798]

Great stuff. Just did a bungalow. Dodgy drain pipes and on one side it ran into a water butt which went nowhere so was just overflowing. I can’t for the life of me work out how it ended up that way because surely it wasn’t built like that. My current home is 300-400 years old. No cavity and some crazy electric damp treatment attempt that doesn’t work. It was painted with sandtex trapping the moisture in. Stripped it off to reveal large holes in the mortar everywhere. Repointed with lime instead of the concrete that was in it for breathability, adjusted the drain pipes so they actually catch the water, fixed a hole in the roof. One gable had to be rendered because the bricks were that bad. Inside damp was dealt with as expected now the water wasn’t coming through the walls. Little problem with a drain blockage because of the paint removal which has now been rerouted and it still makes me smile living here after all of that. :-)

[@jewels7291]

thanks for the great explanation, makes complete sense. Thank goodness you're good to go now!

[@kendom33]

Very satisfying to find the actual problem Great work Andy

[@garvielloken3929]

fantastic. its absolutely brilliant when you eventually find the problem

[@GosforthHandyman]

Too right! Love it when it's all explained! 👍

[@masterRabbit78]

This video is a must for any (responsible) homeowner.

[@haydenuk02]

Great work and thanks for sharing this with us take care

[@GosforthHandyman]

No worries at all!

[@quinntoohey406]

Ive watched so many videos on this house it feels so familar! Another fantastic video Andy, thanks again!!

[@gortagnan]

Really glad to find yr ‘sister’ videos (came from the self employment page ...needed as gas etc prices doubled already !) I have 1929 house with integral garage damp ! Many thanks and very clear !!

[@stevepettifer4896]

Thanks for that, has given me some food for thought. There is just one section of wall in our kitchen that gets damp (old Devon cob and stone solid wall) and the drain runs just behind there, but there is a gully nearby which I can't see thanks to some old decking (which is going to get binned off). I'll have to get a look at it over xmas and see if the pipes connecting to it are working right or if it's a mess. Once I've finished laying the foundation for the patio extension (just scalpings and then gravel on weed mat but I need a whacker plate). Channels like your are invaluable for those of us who maybe aren't all that keen on DIY but have to do it anyway as it can often show us how to do things the right way or where to make a start on problem finding, so thank you!

[@mseruditionful9277]

This is like watching true crime - you already know what's going to happen when clicking the video but there's still so much suspense. I came to your channel for the excellent how-tos but this drama is what I'm staying for. Good work on both the house and the videos! I'm keeping my fingers crossed you don't run into any more nasty surprises.

[@brassroot166]

I'm glad there's no cacky in that drain😳

[@JoeB_BSc]

Hi, I notice too that the soil (as in garden ground) seems in my opinion to be above the DPC. Having a garage on a sloping road, this is always a problem and since we had our interior wall tanked the rest of the garage is dry, probably for the first time in 60 years. We too had problems from a crack in the sewer now fixed and you are so correct in dealing with the source to these problems first. Thanks for this topic post.

[@bikerchrisukk]

Glad you found the problem, it's a relief eh! 👍

[@MelbourneAlan]

its amazing that there could be that much water being directed to that area and no one noticed that it was not draining into the sewer . there is no way that pipe would let anything down , its far too blocked up. . . the average rainfall in newcastle is over 700mm a year. thats a lot of water coming off all those roofs . amazing that it didnt do any real damage

[@remco2777]

Very insightful - I have learned a lot! Thank you!

[@tomowens2720]

Hiya Andy, It's amazing to me there hasn't been more extensive water damage from that blocked gray water drain. Especially in the kitchen where the moisture barrier was breached for so long. Dodged a bullet there my friend. Go buy some lotto tickets!

[@peterfriel5129]

Anybody buying an old house get your drains and downpipes checked !! i had 50 litres of water under floorboards every time it rained heavily , called the drain guy out he said it just the water table etc... 10 yrs later found the cause blocked cast iron down pipes the water would fill up and run down the cavity wall via the old lead pipe to bath ,high humidity levels in house are cause for warning signs ..

[@_tmmy_]

I think that it’s pretty obvious that those 2 gullies were the main source of damp as they were permanently full of water in the bottom which you expect. Better off replacing them anyways and re directing the pipe work if you are now working on the extension! I had a crack round my kitchen drain where the grate is sat up against the house wall but I have just pointed up that gap with some cement for the time being until it eventually gets replaced should it need to be. Great video!! Also checked out that other KZbin channel and it’s really interesting!

[@DjGiluk]

Really informative video thanks

[@Gaz69erwilson]

This is very informative! I lived in a 1940s house 10 years ago lived there a good 15 years and had major issues before I moved, mortar missing by rear of the property same drain as this! The entire garden was sinking and the whole side of the property was also very poor with subsidence! The final result was the roof structure became uneven and started to allow it to leak ! It took two years before it was fully repaired after I moved out of course I now live in one of these modern builds made from matchsticks and blocks😄 but I don't risk anything now with drains or any water for that matter! 👍🏽

[@GosforthHandyman]

Oh wow! That sounds like a total nightmare!! 😬 Water can absolutely destroy houses.

[@Gaz69erwilson]

@@GosforthHandyman At a very scary rate too! Looking forward to seeing the extension 👍🏽

[@harveychuckles3780]

I had a shocking damp problem in my living room (basement flat of a house built in1890) caused by a similar issue. It took about 8 weeks to definitely identify the issue. Once the outside drain was dug up we found it had been smashed and "repaired" with half a piece of soil pipe, (to cover the hole), "secured" in place with a carrier bag. I reckon the damage was at least 15 years old when some work was done on the car park of the flats.

[@GosforthHandyman]

Ah, the old carrier bag repair. Lovely! 😬👍

[@phillcom3]

Cowboys

[@tinkeringtaylor3053]

Well done you have give some really good information i think i have this problem on my house that is 100 plus year old thanks again

[@tonyrhodes484]

Great tutorial.

[@wjb2]

hope you survived the storm Andy

[@GosforthHandyman]

Lol only just!! In-laws only got their power back this afternoon! 😬👍

[@megaman2016]

Good job

[@GosforthHandyman]

Cheers!

[@sword7786]

Yes, water is a killer for property. Had similar issues with water backing up drains. I found a poorly installed drain when when the property was originally built, which tree roots had grown through totally blocking it - 6ft underground (that was fun!). I also had gutters overflowing for a long time (prior to ownership) which caused similar issues with water running down the walls, I see this often in properties, so to anyone reading this get your gutters cleared and fixed it'll save you a fortune!

[@geoffhayday6003]

Always satisfying to find the root cause of a problem. Well done.

[@awantamta]

Police Inspector Any Mac , well done. That was very useful.

[@GosforthHandyman]

Ha ha, been a lot of that on this house! Cheers!

[@nickryan3417]

Really interesting and well explained and informative, thanks. I presume that you let the owners of similar properties nearby about the concrete problem in the kitchen (on the assumption that this is not a one off). I'm now intrigued as to how my old cottage, a few moves ago, handled damp as it was single brick rendered onto solid floor, no cavities anywhere.

[@anthonygraham8838]

Fantastic stuff... We live just along the A69 in Carlisle. Our house is a late 40's build and I have just spent the last week putting in new drains. Our house sits on a complete concrete pad & has poured concrete outer walls and also the same inside, No bricks what so ever! Our walls were poured on the pad and I'm not sure we have any DPC, indeed it's very hard to see if there is any at all! The floor is always cold and during the winter the hose is always cold and we have a damp smell in the rear rooms (hence me putting in new and renewing old drains) All of the old clay pots were cracked including the one from the toilet that had been seeping in to the clay for many a year without our knowing. Not a nice job but needed doing before I put down a new Indian Sandstone patio & paths

[@michaelhume8689]

Defo useful

[@savetommyrobinsonfreespeec7660]

I’m trying to cure the same problem on my bungalow, (front and rear)! Problem is I’m in a low laying area, in clay, and I’m finding it hard to get enough water away from my walls! Did the rear soak away myself last year with tennis elbow in both arms! Only problem is I think I need to extend the soak away pit as I don’t think it’s getting far enough away for the volume of water coming off the roof... The clay doesn’t allow it to soak away fast enough! Plus, the water table is very high in the area. Nightmare! 👏🏾👏🏻👏🏾👏🏻. Ps… not allowed to funnel it in to the sewer in my area! (Although, if it comes to it, I might secretly do it)!

[@v88krb]

Glad I don't own an old house, but new ones have their problems a well of course. Very informative video, good.

[@GosforthHandyman]

Yup, swings and roundabouts. 👍😁

[@csimet]

Yep. In the states myself, but the fist rule... get the water away from the foundation is job #1. We generally have poured concrete foundations (and basements) here and my sump pump was discharging to a broken downspout connection to the street. The water was splashing back up the outside brickwork and just running back down to the basement outside wall, causing mortar issues. Fix the source first!

[@normanboyes4983]

Good value video Andy, really pertinent content which endorses- who is that chap on You Tube (Peter something) who maintains there is no such thing as ‘rising damp’ and it’s all down to inadequate drainage, poor maintenance et al. The damp proofing industry hate him. He produces good videos on YT.

[@stomperthemixer1]

Awesome Video and scary stuff which open your eyes stay safe buddy

[@GosforthHandyman]

Cheers Neil! 👍

[@rogerbeck3018]

hope you can enjoy your sleep now - even when it rains (snows)

[@twistedl2009]

This kind of stuff makes me terrified of buying an old house, great to see you sorted the problem properly

[@psi10001]

You'll be horrified buying a new build then

[@allanmould2633]

Good video geezer

[@GosforthHandyman]

Cheers Allan! 👍👍

[@Glesga_lassie]

I left a comment many months ago about a horrid smell on my house, you advised sow things it could be and we've tried plumbers, drainage people (both of which don't even look at anything just say lift the floor which we can't as we don't know how) we've spoken to an architect and removed roughcasting which breached the DPC, I think it's something to do with the drains, it's a dank dampy smell tho not sewage, but everyone we've had out says it's not that... *sigh*... We are on a hill and have a large cavity under the house but the flooring is new and runs right though the bottom floor and even if we could lift it and somehow cut a hole in the floorboards we don't even know what we would be looking for. Sorry for the moan, I'm so glad you found the cause of your issues and I love the Christmas jumpers! :)

[@drew8135]

Exactly the same issue. We will be ripping the floor up to renovate soon but not sure what we will be looking out for. Save my ID and let me know if you find out more... I will do the same!

[@jeanhawken4482]

You would have to wonder how it got broken. It seems you have found some jerry fixes on a really lovely old home. Age, pensions etc ensure you live a difficult life in your own home. Thank goodness for your save.

[@Jules_Pew]

I've got a cracked rain water drain in the front of the house that will be fixed soon. Plants have been growing out of it! It does mean lifting the front path, but we were going to have to relay the whole path as it's pretty damaged. I hope that's the end of the damp for you.

[@stuartandrews4344]

Got same problem, cracked gully,rest bend & pipe, but everything is encased in thick concrete😮,the more I explore ,the more problems I'm finding.

[@GosforthHandyman]

Cheers Jules! Good luck with yours, yes hopefully things can start drying out now... in time for winter. 😬😁

[@williamgow6551]

Seen the roots of trees and bush’s well down the drain pipes many times during my time as a builder

[@stuartandrews4344]

@@williamgow6551 Same here, & once several fencing pins driven through clay pipe run....😮

[@Mc674bo]

Well done sir I wonder if the last war has played it’s part and shattered the clay drains . PVC has been a godsend to the building industry , and should last at least another 100 years plus . But as you rightly say water is a major problem to property , and can present many challenges to the unwary . I my self have an issue with water ingress from outside via UPVC windows , which is proving to be very problematic . The house was built in the late 1970s but the rear elevation seems to be beset by this problem . Admittedly the wind blows across the fields and drenches the brickwork , but try as I might it still finds its way into the reveals . I’ve re applied new sealant I’ve applied silicone treatment to the bricks , but to no avail after the resent storm I find water has found it’s way in again. So if you our your many subscribers can think of a remedy I’d be very grateful . Best wishes and kind regards as always

[@95einahpets]

just ordered the Christmas jumper XD

[@GosforthHandyman]

Great stuff! Will get it off to you ASAP! 👍🎄

[@lisaferrara8120]

Interesting that the main trap is so close to the house and barely underground. Last week I had to have my house’s sewer lateral to the city’s main sewer replaced. The lateral is 14-15 feet (4.27-4.57 meters) deep. Eight years ago the main trap was replaced, and this was 9 feet (2.74 meters) underground. The main trap is located approximately 30 feet (9.14 meters) from the house, too. My house was built in the 1920s as well, so I understand well about older homes and keeping up with maintenance! I live in Pennsylvania USA.

[@GosforthHandyman]

Interesting! That very deep! 👍

[@lisaferrara8120]

@@GosforthHandyman It’s probably that deep because the gray water and sewage waste use the same lines.

[@horace264]

Our bungalow is built on solid chalk in the 1960's, which commences 9 inches below the surface. We have never until recently had any trouble with rainwater not going away but 5 years ago the gutter started to overflow. I couldn't clear the pipe where the down pipe entered the clay pipe so it was exhumation time. I found that the original pipe stopped 3ft from the house and that was it, the clay was full of leaf mould and other rubbish. However there was absolutely no dampness in the house or brickwork as a result of this soakaway arrangement. I remedied the problem by making connection to an existing soakaway, so sometimes damp doesn't always show up. However when we built our extension the new foundations had to dug just over a metre in this area because the chalk had been ruined, elsewhere it was a struggle to get deeper than 85cm the chalk was so hard.

[@sylviadugdale1035]

A relative had ongoing damp problem in cellar found the cause when escavating drive the gas board had gone through the drain with a mole while putting new pipe in

[@Tom-Lahaye]

One of the causes of moisture in your walls tackled! My own renovation project showed me that there are other easy and not so easy to tackle causes. The easy one being washed out cement between window sill tiles on the outside of the house, the whole brickwork underneath this window sill was soaking wet. The not so easy one, actually the remedy is not complicated but needs a lot of work, soil back filled at the rear of the house way above DPC level, without damp proofing the walls and installing drainage. The water did the same as in your case, washing out the mortar and going trough the wall, when I ripped the PVC panelling off from the inside there was soil behind it! The solution I took was excavating all this soil out and construct a retaining wall about 1,5m from the house, and installed drainage all along the backside of this retaining wall. Next is to install drainage alongside the house itself before paving over. The walls which are freed of the excess soil are free to breath now and already much dryer.

[@GosforthHandyman]

Wow - sounds full on! Good luck with it all! 👍

[@gritpipethin]

My guess ~ water in the u-bend /gully froze many many years ago, the gully cracked and subsequently leaked, resulting in cumulative damage up to its discovery in 2021.

[@highpath4776]

thanks, wondered how it had occured. often is shrub roots causing problems once a hole in a clay drain has appeared. even with the breakage as it was, it would have been a simple fix (couple of days dig and back fill and appropriate gulley goods

[@GosforthHandyman]

It's tend to agree! Certainly a possibility. That and slightly dodgy patio laying. 👍

[@ianbird4737]

Often the cause is that when the drains were installed the ground at the bottom of the trench wasn't properly compacted (if at all) and thus settles at different rates under each section of pipe. The differential vertical loading easily cracks the pipe. I have replaced all of the original clay pipes in my rear drains all the way to the main sewer connections as every single joint on both pipe runs was cracked.

[@andypsunshineisle5655]

The issues with that gully explain where all the crap you found in the main sewer after the old pit that was slowing and holding the flow probably came from. Damp is a very patient opponent and will take all the time it needs as it is not in a hurry.

[@mchlbk]

The only place I've seen pipes on the outside of a house is in what used to be East Berlin. When I went there in 1994 the Berlin Wall had been torn down and one of the ways you could see what used to be East and West was exactly this: East had worn-down houses with exposed pipes, West had more modern houses without exposed pipes. I imagine exposed pipes cause problems in sub-zero temperatures, right?

[@gwenscoble6229]

'by tripod, I mean bucket', 🤣🤣🤣

[@barryirby8609]

This was very interesting. I am a retired Home Inspector and former builder. In the US many older masonry houses have the DPC made of two layers of slate. Never seen the bitumen. Newer frame houses have rules requiring enough clearance from grade to allow evaporation out of the face of the wall. 8" one the exterior and 18" on the interior. The older masonry houses had lime plaster parging or coated on the exterior about a foot above grade to cause the drying to occur in the parge rather than in the brick. The parging would fail and fall off rather than the faces of the brick. You were supposed to replace the parging about every 20 years or as necessary. That maintenance has been long forgotten and the buildings are suffering. They used lime mortar so the water would migrate through the mortar rather than the bricks.

[@GosforthHandyman]

Interesting! Don't think I've seen parging over here - I need to look that up! 👍

[@ItzD3fW1sH]

Bitumen was used everywhere for anything that needing water proofing in England it seems. For example my electrical supply incomer to the house is coated in a bitumen sheath.

[@marknadin770]

Andy great vid i had waste pipe just sitting on the bend to the drain and then concrete around it damp kitchen wall luckily started leaking through concrete then fixed. do you have any drink tea make stuff mugs cheers Mark👍🍺

[@GosforthHandyman]

Don't have those mugs... yet. But have a plan so watch this space. Will be a good few months though. Might sort some on Spring in the meantime. 👍

[@edwardkelly3425]

Disappointing that shipping to the EU has become such an issue. Hopefully it will be resolved sooner rather than later. I know you have a good few fans in Ireland 🇮🇪

[@completepreservation]

Great video, that really goes through the process explaining whats actually going on. I personally find drain defects are the number 1 cause of rising damp within buildings, but this is often booted to one side, and instead a quick fix is carried out. I tend to find that where there is an original solid floor along with an original suspended timber floor there is usually clay pipe running through the solid floor and normally venting to a vent....But, often I find the vent isn't there :) that could be something to do with yours. One question though, did you try and claim on your insurance for the repairs?

[@williamgow6551]

Seen that a lot during my life sometimes the bottom was broken of trap

[@haldo691]

I replaced my cast iron and asbestos pipe on the side of the house and there was about a 4 inch gap befor the clay

[@henrywit6147]

Great video, and kudos to you Andy for being so persistent. Root cause, definitely. Just curious: will you be tuck-pointing the foundation where the mortar has been washed away?

[@GosforthHandyman]

No real point as that will become an internal wall / opening. 👍

[@TheDoosh79]

My Mum's house is about 1906, she has a weird damp issue on an internal wall that we can't get to the bottom of, like yours the front room is a suspended floor but the dining room is a solid floor. It's had too much spent on it now to go ripping it all out to find it, thankfully it isn't a massive damp problem, still annoying though.

[@BigHenFor]

Sunk Cost Fallacy there. It's costing more for you to heat to get rid of the damp over time.

[@TheDoosh79]

@@BigHenFor eh?

[@fuzzy1dk]

not paying tax in advance means receiver has a pay an additional ~20€ fee to the postman for handling the vat.. Could you sell on Ebay? I think they handle VAT for stuff shipped to the EU now

[@GosforthHandyman]

God dammit, it's a total nightmare. No idea why they removed the lower threshold. Will look in to eBay but I think they take a huge fee. 👍

[@MarcusT86]

Between this and the other drain-clearing video... you have a stomach of tungsten, Andy. To be fair though, I managed to snack on a packet of prawn cocktail crisps during watching this. I was also going to ask why you aren't repointing those bricks, but then the penny dropped.

[@stendecstretcher5678]

Not only houses. I come across people who do zero maintenance on their cars too.

[@mbak7801]

My father with his company cars. He used to take pride in having no maintenance done for the three years he had them from new. They barely ran but he had saved his employer a few hundred quid and was proud of it. Utterly stupid but he would not listen.

[@Paul_C]

Does that mean you now can completely internalize the waste management from both the bathroom and kitchen and connect it directly to the last job you did? Including the rainwater? Though rainwater should be 'stored' in the soil preferably.

[@alibali193]

Do you have any videos on sealing draughty old double glazed windows?

[@nicoleahmed]

I would love this too Andy. I've moved into a 1930s semi near St nicks. I love the timber double glazing, but they are super draughty. I took the trims off and there were no cavity closers so been thinking bout how to tackle that. Also replacing the qlon and putting some extra draught proofing. The main thing is the noise from jubilee road..

[@Joe90V]

At 9:02 I got really distracted by the duck on the stream and missed your advice on import duties. Will that be a problem importing to Norfolk? ;)

[@litacampaignlita3272]

Not sure if he you will ever see this after 172 comments but… I would like to suggest that you lower the music-mix under your voice over on videos. I’ve noticed that the music is loud in several of them. You probably wouldn’t notice this listening to it through headphones on your laptop while editing, but if you listen to your videos on a phone or an iPad you will see that the music is always loud. Just a suggestion.

[@Ragnar8504]

Considering how smashed up some of the pipes were, wouldn't it have been a good idea to replace the short bit of 150 mm main sewer to the property line while you already had a trench there?

[@williamlloyd3769]

Surprised building code allows mixing grey water with roof rain runoff and diverts all of it to sewer system even in 1920s. It’ll be interesting to see how you deal with rainwater runoff. In the states communities have mandated dry sumps to temporarily retain rainwater until it ca percolate into the ground. Hope your local ground conditions allow for diverting rain water away from your foundation.

[@sawleyram7405]

Building regulations in England allow the discharge of rainwater into public sewers even today, although it is as a last resort. In order of preference the accepted methods of dealing with rainwater are: into a soakaway underground, into a natural watercourse, to a surface water sewer or a combined sewer. My house was built in 1947 and has a combined sewer so I can mix foul water with rainwater. If I stop doing this I can get a discount on my annual water bill.

[@boli2746]

Actually the greywater (plus house rainwater) and blackwater connect before they enter into the main sewer so everything ends up going out of the same pipe. We also have upper sewers (storm sewers) which are where the roads drain into which are often shorter stretches to direct to the natural rivers. In my home town which was in a valley, the original river it was named after no longer flows (it was diverted away further upstream into the canal) but all the storm sewers empty into it the dry riverbed when it rains. In the UK its less of an issue trying to collect rain water, more trying to get rid of it! ;) But uk homes mix rain water from their roofs with the grey and black water as it helps keep the main sewer lines flowing! Obviously this is all treated before release or diverted to reservoirs for additional treatment and drinking water. Its a fully nationalised industry so for the states it would be the equivilent of: It rains in New York , California gets a drink and Kansas gets to irrigate crops ;)

[@sawleyram7405]

@@boli2746 Discharging rainwater into the public sewer is frowned upon generally. I've never heard of it being a method of keeping the sewer lines 'flowing'. Every bit of water entering the sewers needs to be dealt with, and dealing with it costs money. Honestly I spoke to my water provider (Severn Trent) and the local building control and that's the way it goes. Is water nationalised in the US? Our water companies (at least in England and Wales) are fully privatised, which I think makes them the only 'countries' in the world with completely privately-ran water and sewage services. I don't find it rains that much here to be honest, joking aside!

[@Bobrogers99]

In some older US cities they're still working to separate rainwater drains from the public sewers. It's an expensive project, which is why they're so slow to do it.

[@boli2746]

@@sawleyram7405 only rain water from your roof is allowed nowhere else! E.g. you can't just dump waste water into the street for the storm sewers And I mean our network was fully nationalised, the companies which use the network are private companies but they 'hire' out the national network, like national rail.

[@AndrewMartinIsHere]

I’m surprised the house didn’t float away years ago with that wrecked drain.

[@GosforthHandyman]

Tell me about it! 😁

[@Bobrogers99]

I live in an area where there is no municipal sewer. Toilets are usually properly connected to a septic system, but in older homes the "grey water" from sinks and showers was sometimes dealt with more casually, often into a small drywell. All well and good until you connect a washing machine or dishwasher to the existing pipes, and then it comes bubbling up in strange places - like into the cellar or crawl space under the house. Many new residents who have come from the city have no idea where their waste water goes until it causes a problem! I noticed those drainpipes in early videos and figured you'd reroute them - and you did.

[@GosforthHandyman]

Interesting Bob! A lot of houses in the countryside have septic tanks over here, but the vast majority are connected to public sewers. 👍

[@MrKevmeister68]

Is it legal for downpipes to drain into a sewer? In Australia grey and Blackwater goes to sewer, downpipes go to stormwater. Two completely different drainage systems.

[@phillcom3]

So how are you supposed to check these things? I'm about to put an offer on a house in black pool that's turn of last century and could have these issues.

[@prodeous]

Technical query, are you going to fill in the grout between the bricks before back filling?

[@stevenc123]

He said he wasn't going to bother as that wall is coming out, but I'm sure he would repoint it if it was staying.

[@kieranmccreedy271]

Sure that’s your issue?… sure you don’t need £1,000’s of magic wall injections and tanking? 🤪

[@satanismybrother]

Hi Andy, awesome video as always. I was just wondering- what is the correct was to pronounce the channel name? Is it gosforth, or gosforth?

[@highpath4776]

I say Goss fourth. Others will say Goz Futh or a permutation of the two.

[@GosforthHandyman]

It's defo Gosforth 😉. But yes, unless you're really posh it's always pronounced "Gosfuth". 👍

[@davidworsley7969]

That wasn't a drain-It was a soakaway !

[@C4sp3r123]

What would have been the best way to identify this had you not been digging up the garden where it was? I think my parents old house could potentially have this issue. I thought up until this video the downpipe from the gutter was the guilty party thanks to that big crack it had and thought you were confident it was that as well. My parents house is several hundred years old and the damp in one part has got a lot worse in the last few years. It has little to no foundations and no DPC. So there has always been damp issues but it seems worse of late, my old man says it is just due to how high the water table is after the last few wet years, it is a low lying area. But I think there is something else going on as well. It's a tricky one!

[@completepreservation]

Hi the best way is to get a CCTV drain survey. Ensure if there is a soak away present that this isn't blocked up and flood tested also..There might also be a defective land drain, culverts, or even a defective well. I've got plenty of vids on my channel :)

[@C4sp3r123]

@@completepreservation thanks for taking the time to reply. I will have a look at your channel. 👍

[@benroads5460]

if you took up an old patio, do you think the 'tradesman' (or dodgy diy if I'm being fair) who put it in could have broken it whacking down sub base?

[@GosforthHandyman]

Very possibly! Although there wasn't much in the way of sub-base. Just soil under the paving slabs really. 👍

[@dooovde]

Interesting. So what is the proper way to pour concrete in this type of house if you were to remove the suspended floor? If a radon proof sheet were to be put in place wrapped up the sides of the walls, then insulation, concrete, etc., would that stop the damp bridging?

[@BigHenFor]

The point isn't to put anything that touches the DPC. That's why he put in a suspended floor, leaving space around the sound DPC.

[@SteveAndAlexBuild]

Always a relief when you find an obvious cause for a Damo problem 😁🧱👍🏽

[@anthonynicholas1165]

Engineering bricks as with semi engineering bricks are all but impervious to damp, the mortar isn't, with internal walls the damp creeps up the mortar and render/plaster, injected DPC's rarely work, what does is stripping off the internal render/plaster and repacing with waterproof render, after of course indentifying the underlying issues, invariably this is drainage or ground level being too high, advice from a builder of fifty years, and yes i've seen it all including underground streams in Enfield, a real problem there and hard to spot.

[@johncole3883]

ARE YOU GOING TO REPLACE/REPOINT ALL MISSING OR DAMAGED GROUT IN THE FIRST 6-8 ROWS IN THIS AREA?

[@williammcrae3177]

I’m not from the UK so can you explain the purpose of a trap being present in a storm/grey water drain system? Does this mean that a some point downstream that this system will connect with the sanitary system and therefore the need for the trap? I find it strange that you are aloud to mix both storm water with grey water in the first place. Love the video and keep the momentum going🇨🇦

[@ricos1497]

Just to keep the smells out. It is connected to the mains sewer.

[@GosforthHandyman]

Yeah, this is a combined sewer so it all goes to the same place... and therefore don't smell too great. You only get this on older properties. Interestingly there is a separate rainwater sewer in the street but it isn't connected to any of the houses. It's just for the road gullies. Not sure if they'll ever hook it to the houses! 👍

[@JonathanSwiftUK]

Did you have a survey done when you bought it? I know they often test internal walls for damp - if you had a report did this come up? I'm not sure how much gets detected in a basic survey.

[@highpath4776]

I think when you see paper falling off walls its normally damp, or heavy condensation, either way its curing the source, not putting plaster on the symptoms that is important.

[@GosforthHandyman]

Never had a survey that's been of any use. Often they don't even bother to visit the property now. Don't bother these days. 👍

[@BigHenFor]

Even in the full survey? OMG

[@henrygiann9735]

Are you going to re-point the brickwork before back filling...

[@GosforthHandyman]

No real point as that will become an internal wall and most of it is coming out. 👍

[@chrisohanlon69]

Any videos featuring drains should really be filmed using smellivision.

[@ricos1497]

I had a similar problem under my patio. Some of the corpses that I'd buried just a handful of months earlier looked like they'd been there for twenty years, such was the level of damp.

[@GosforthHandyman]

Nightmare when that happens! I just chuck them in the river. 👍

[@twmd]

the problem is wrapping them in no breathable material. you end up with soup

[@ricos1497]

@@GosforthHandyman not all of us live in the fancy neighbourhood with its own body disposal waterway running conveniently to the rear of the property. The slightest mention to an estate agent adds an extra £20k to the property.

[@MelbourneAlan]

@@GosforthHandyman i was wonder why you wanted to be near that river. it all make sence now

[@siacadp]

What is that pokey out thing to the right of the bay window at 22:09?

[@highpath4776]

looks like shrubbery roots

[@GosforthHandyman]

That's a very good question! Some sort of old vent but not sure what for! Asked around and nobody seems to know. Keeping it. 👍

[@highpath4776]

@@GosforthHandyman ahh, its the lower thing, was it an attempt to 'drain' the concrete floor ? if the original builders had noticed breaching DPC was going to be a problem. maybe all will be found once the new doorway is in place

[@siacadp]

@@GosforthHandyman it looks like it has holes either side. Maybe it’s built like that to catch the wind and force the air into the cavity? Looks to have some kind of logo stamped in it too. Would be good to see a close up pic on your instagram. Hopefully someone could identify it 👍

[@metallitech]

Repointing probably needed below ground level all around the house?

[@highpath4776]

its getting a wrap around single storey rear extention, and double storey side one

[@GosforthHandyman]

Yeah, not needed as the back will mostly become internal. 👍

[@MrCurlay]

Always nice to find a smoking gun.

[@allenwaters3945]

I reckon your name should be changed to 'Sherlock Holmes'

[@knobon]

Do you not need to repoint where the leak has washed away the mortar before you back fill it?

[@highpath4776]

In normal cases that would be recommended

[@GosforthHandyman]

That will become an internal wall and most of it will be removed, but if that was staying external then defo. 👍

[@mitchellwhittington9478]

Have you said how much you've spent so far yet? We all guessed a couple videos ago

[@highpath4776]

see the members page

[@GosforthHandyman]

It's on the Member Zone but still have a huge backlog on here... but should be soon. 👍

[@mitchellwhittington9478]

@@GosforthHandyman ah ok cheers

[@petermuller4322]

The demographics analysis really made me laugh 😂