Is your house COLD and DAMP?

[@canalboating]

My house is cold and damp because Britain is bloody cold and damp and I can't afford to put the heating on due to us having the highest energy prices in the civilized world!

[@avishnevsky7394]

i live in Ukraine, it is colder comparing to UK. house without proper insulation of walls (let's say 10 inches of bricks wall) will be cold and damp during winter or hot and dry during summer

[@Monaleenian]

@@avishnevsky7394 10 inches of brick does not provide insulation. Brick is not an effective insulator. Do you understand what insulation is?

[@avishnevsky7394]

@@Monaleenian yep, i just want to say that 10 inches is a wall that requires insulation. it is kind of obvious😆

[@larkatmic]

@@canalboating The Damp is an awful thing. I hope you great prosperity and blessings in 2025, so that you may have the means to improve or move to a safer and drier place.

[@Crazen2]

@canalboating we really are being scammed in the UK

[@OllyParryJones]

Recalling that you intend to let this property out, once it's ready; I'm pleased to see you tackling the issue properly. Many landlords just want problems 'covered up', hidden and of course, it never goes away.

[@Recessio]

I really recommend the book "The Warm Dry Home" by Peter Ward. A common cause of damp is using modern cement and gypsum plaster on old walls, that should instead be using lime plaster and lime mortar. The modern cement and gypsum aren't breathable and trap the water inside the wall.

[@andrii.zahorskyi]

And the materials of the walls itself must be red brick in this case, not something made out of shit

[@gbwildlifeuk8269]

Would that be the same Peter Ward who disputes there's such things as rising and penetrating damp?

[@GotMoreCakes]

@@gbwildlifeuk8269 He's never disputed issues caused by penetrating damp, quite the opposite.

[@pinkmouse4863]

Which is really nice if you're decently well off, and can afford the premium in materials and labour to use them. Unfortunately, most who live in such houses can't.

[@padgepadgham3238]

This guy doesn't really understand the problem, so don't confuse him with facts 🤣

[@jm6604-c4d]

It's also due to builders not doing things properly and the building companies and councils not checking construction quality. I bought a new home a few years ago and during it's construction went to check after hours. I found places where the insulation was missing or wrongly installed. Later my neighbour, a civil engineer said he would not buy some styles of home on our estate because he knew that there were faults in the design leading to water leaks and poor insulation.

[@andrii.zahorskyi]

That's why I will never buy new house

[@dotmanmide]

I work construction, and i can tell you, you aren't far from the truth, but from my job, they NHBC have massively improved since the RAC and Grenfell tower issue and they do go out to check it's done the way it should. Nonetheless, you'd still find site agents and managers who do still overlook things.

[@BibaSenana]

There is no insulation at all in uk...almost all houses!!

[@akula9713]

Most of the U.K. housing stock is old. They were designed to have coal fires, that required a good draft meaning the house was not designed to be air tight. Houses didn’t usually get mould, as the air was being continually changed. When it did get mouldy it was because the house was empty, not used, neglected. This all changed when central heating was installed. Old houses need drafts, ventilation. Houses with central heating need not be drafty but still require the air to be moved/changed to keep humidity in check.

[@bassc]

@@akula9713 yep, block up a fireplace and install a modern heating system without ventilation consideration and you introduce a lot of problems, dealing with that now. The installers know it but turn a blind eye as they wouldn’t get the work with the added expense of doing it right.

[@andrii.zahorskyi]

What's windows design for?

[@Bobby3-x4u]

From 2022, to meet building regulations, newly installed windows have to have trickle vents, unless there is adequate ventilation from another source.

[@bassc]

@@andrii.zahorskyi a low heat output system like air source (the government’s favourite) vs a fireplace you really need to keep your windows shut and have good insulation to keep in that heat. The loft then requires a lot of ventilation for when the heat gets there and condensates in the roof-space.

[@andrii.zahorskyi]

@@bassc if you build walls from red bricks, then you don't need it. Open the window in the morning for 15 min, and in the evening the same, there will be no mould etc.

[@stevensibbet5869]

Having stayed in Germany and Sweden 41 years ago I was stuck how good their houses wer and how bad British houses wer. Cold, damp and small! Apparently, the smallest and coldest houses in Western Europe, the average new build in Denmark is TWICE the size of a new build in England, No third floor or cellars as standard.

[@janglyj8627]

So many more folks in the UK. Early housing stock was built as workers housing by the Railway owners, mill owners and Chocolate Factories. Our building materials are brick as clay is abundant. In Scandinavia and Germany there are vast amounts of good quality timber to build good homes. We still can’t get decent timber here as any diy enthusiast will attest. The quality is shocking.

[@pekkahilden6802]

I’ve been watching your channel and others too and what amazes me (and explains the dampness) is that there are no underground drains around the house. In some cases the wet and clayish dirt is right next to the brick wall and that guarantees that the walls will be damp all the time. Here in Finland the foundations are first covered with water impermeable plastic cladding and the dirt around the house is removed, drains are installed with collection wells, and then filled with rough gravel. This is routinely done also for old houses. The point is to prevent the water/dampness getting into the foundations and inside the house. If you are using DPC or something similar you are just covering the problem and not repairing the main issue.

[@chrisr8996]

You're doing such an excellent job at conveying knowledge! Thanks!

[@krazytroutcatcher]

Coming from a home with two coal fires, I’d never seen black mould till I moved into a home with central heating, it then plagued me for forty years. The coal fired homes were always toasty warm in winter, with warmth running through the chimney breasts, acting as storage heaters in the bedrooms.

[@dimmacommunication]

The best thing about wood/coal fires is that they suck up the air drawing colder and thus dryer air from outside.

[@thebigmacd]

What I notice as a Canadian from an area where we build stick frame over concrete basement walls, is how UK properties have little to no surface drainage, and tiny eaves. My house has 20" overhangs and a serious slope away from the house in all directions. Basement is bone dry. Meanwhile in the UK the exterior walls are covered in moss and people wonder why they have "rising damp".

[@tlangdon12]

The majority of UK houses are in cities and are relatively sheltered as a result, so the small eaves are not a real problem. Lack of maintenance of the gutters is a problem. Surface drainage can be very poor as it was only fairly recently that our local planning authorities started to realise the problems that it caused. Even now, far too much land is being developed without proper drainage.

[@thebigmacd]

@@EaterOfBaconSandwiches I see green around the base of brick walls all the time in UK reno videos. Even if you don't have torrential rains like we do, and even if gutters are maintained, short eaves and flat hard surfaces allow the rain itself to wet the wall. Water never touches my walls unless there are very high winds, due to the wide eaves and surface slope. People do build the occasional house here with short overhangs, then they wonder why their OSB walls are rotten around the base in 5 years. Plenty of wet basements here for other reasons of course, but "rising damp" isn't really a concept here even on old solid-brick houses.

[@Monkeh616]

@@thebigmacd Lichen rather than moss most likely, but that's perhaps pedantic. Yes, water splashing up on hard surfaces is a problem, on the other hand, when you're constructing of materials which aren't themselves substantially affected by those levels of moisture, protecting them from it is less of a concern - of course, you then do have to keep that moisture to the outside elements of the structure, hence cavity walls.

[@Monaleenian]

@@thebigmacd You are clearly not aware of the type of misty rain that the UK experiences. The eaves would have to be impossibly long to keep the base of a wall on a two-storey house dry in the UK. The walls get wet when the rain blows the small misty dropets in sideways. That's not something that tends to happen in torrential rain, where the path of the rain droplets is much more vertical.

[@lat1419]

In the west, especially in wales and the lake district, we have wind driven rain. The traditional stone and lime cottages work well but are treated the same as gerry built victorian cottages by the EPC. In all homes, fuel poverty is the problem.

[@freetolook3727]

Merry Christmas to you, your family and friends! 🎄🎀🎁🍥🍬🎉😁

[@doozeruk2000]

What amazes me with modern plastic dpc is how on earth mortar adheres to it!

[@negotiableaffections]

Andy, the transcript calls your Weep Vents, 'wheat vents' but anyway if the vents are also helping with air flow [as they're supposed to] then any internal moisture would be evapourated away. If you see water running out of a weep vent, I'd imagine the problem was a great deal worse than 'dampness'. Hope you've had a good crimbo and see you in '25, Cheers.

[@vampalan]

Great video! More actually fixing damp issues, rather than selling replastering service as "damp proofing"

[@Golo1949]

I lived in a house without cavity walls but we never had damp, maybe because we had a coal fire and it never went out, my father was a miner and we always had plenty of coal, i really miss coal fires.

[@reggiedixon2]

Years ago I saw a very interesting documentary on Channel 4, at a London university, in the basement a professor of (let's say) building science attempted to demonstrate building walls out of various materials without a DPC to show water rising by capillary action (the bottoms were standing in water) - in a surprise to everyone - no such capillary action happened. Every time I recount this people accuse me of stupidity and ask why the regulations are the way they are. My obvious reply is "maybe everyone just assumed things work this way?". I am not advocating any change - other than to be more sceptical and inquisitive. In another programme featuring a damp consultant he seemed clear that the real issue is when the ground level outside up against the walls is higher than the inside. An awful lot of damp is condensation to which the unpopular solution is airflow.

[@SomeKidFromBritain]

Any idea of the name of that documentary?

[@SomeKidFromBritain]

I totally agree on ventilation btw. Many homes are poorly ventilated.

[@reggiedixon2]

@SomeKidFromBritain Sadly not, each time I have mentioned it over the years I have tried to search for clues but never got anywhere.

[@SomeKidFromBritain]

@@reggiedixon2 Ok, well thank you for letting us know it exists

[@reggiedixon2]

@@SomeKidFromBritain It is because you can't have extremely well insulated houses with no draughts with good airflow unless you open vents or windows - thus bringing back the draughts the design sought to eradicate. I realise this is totally self-evident.

[@gerhard6105]

In about 1978 our neighbors took out their 1905 wooden living room floor and poured a concrete on sand floor. A year later we had crawling upward humidity in our wall. My father was not happy. In 1980 he took out our wooden floor and installed a concrete floor on beams and "breads"(the hollow elements from concrete that rest between the beams). Nowadays they are made polystyrene. Then he and an other neighbor drilled holes in the wall and injected them. He also made ventilation holes in he front facade and in the back facade and thus air can come under the floor. This also helps to keep it dry. Problem solved since 1980. The floor is 4 by 9 meters. Netherlands.

[@misst.e.a.187]

Your dad's a smart man

[@gerhard6105]

​@@misst.e.a.187 he was. He was higly educated. He was in charge of KLM Cargo's digital network, his last 10 work years.

[@andrii.zahorskyi]

In the uk they build up all houses with ventilation between ground and floor

[@Stavrosmct]

I've just had internal wall insulation added to my 190 year old sandstone house in Scotland. What a difference it has made.

[@Monkeh616]

Weep vents shouldn't drip unless there's a huge issue - the water will evaporate and be cleared by the ventilation first. Much like the air gap behind cladding - there just shouldn't be enough water in there for water to be running down the inside, but if you omit it, things will definitely be wet!

[@ianroughley1933]

I have 1880 tie bricks....it takes careful management for cold bridging, its not as bad as some might think....its was new to me when I moved in and took a some time to get my head around what was happening with black mold etc....now I understand cold bridging and what the dew point is its much easier. Great vid 👍

[@ianpluves]

Really surprised no one has mentioned that you shouldn't break up old bitumen damp proof course as there is a possibility it may contain asbestos. Stay safe out there folks.

[@dougsaunders8109]

Have great Christmas Andy 👍🏻

[@janglyj8627]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Andy to you and Mrs Mack

[@LindenButters]

The older houses will last longer than the quickly built modern ones I bet!

[@andyc972]

Thanks Andy, absolutely right to fix these problems at this point in the renovation, the reality is that our climate in the UK is not forgiving of shoddy builds and alterations and yet we have many shoddy build and alterations ! I was going to say either that Makita has impressive breaker functionality or that concrete is crap ! 😉 These issues with damp and cold (lack of effective insulation) are a huge issue for managing the energy transition too ! Thanks for taking us along on this journey, sending best wishes for a Merry Christmas to you Mrs Mac and the family !

[@janglyj8627]

My Mums house is a 1930s semi. The floors were brick straight onto clay. This was fine until they cleared the old orchards from behind her street, to build a new estate on. The clay dried out and half the houses on the street needed underpinning for the first time in a hundred years. The old Victorian/ Roman sewers couldn’t cope with the added load from the new houses and my Mums and her neighbours gardens literally exploded sending a plume of sewage high into the air where the pressure finally gave way

[@SomeKidFromBritain]

Fit trickle vents to your windows! Ventilation you can control is great! (Bless you btw, these videos are great)

[@TheShinyShow]

If the windows can be opened a tad and locked like a lot of uPVC ones, I prefer this than a hole in the window frame for a trickle vent

[@SomeKidFromBritain]

@TheShinyShow Mine cannot, hence trickle.

[@terrytopliss9506]

This is a very useful video Andy, thanks for sharing. All the best for the festive season to you and the family.👍👍

[@c.a.g.1977]

Very informative video, Andy! Merry Christmas and all the best for the new year for you and Mrs Mac!

[@tlangdon12]

The cause of the DPC being bridged is very often the lack of knowledge on the part of the homeowner who won't employ good tradespeople who know not to do it. My step-daughter had a very similar problem in her newly-purchased house when the joists in the area of kitchen where the coal house used to be had just been laid on bare earth! Not surprisingly, the joists were all rotten.

[@sergiofernandez3725]

Great video Andy as always. Worth considering increasing the under floow veliation as you are doing the work and making the house more airtight. Remember that moto Insulate and Ventilate. Happy xmas to you and the familly.

[@crystafalcon8968]

As a building goes up, its inevitable that water enters the cavity and the weeps are the way water can get out. Once the eaves or coping are in place, the brickwork and curing mortar will continue to dry out and air flow and pressure equalisation is enabled by the weeps which helps that process. Furthermore, through the life of the building anaerobic activity is inhibited by air flow to maintain a neutral cavity. The key is keeping the cavity clear so all those things can happen and latent damp isn't a problem.

[@ColinMill1]

This place was built in about 1650 and has 2ft thick stone walls. We have no issues with damp though we have to accept that it's not easy to heat. The solution is the same as when the house was first built - clothing.

[@McRocking]

And clothing for the house - tapestries on the walls and rugs on the floor during winter.

[@SteveAndAlexBuild]

We are on a massive job , a full detached farmhouse renovation which is about 100 years old and it’s interesting to see how things were built back then …. Plenty of cold bridging 😬🥶. Happy new year 🎉🧱👍🏽

[@ozzyg82]

It’s amazing how many homes have been built in these bodged, substandard ways in Britain - like how does this happen?

[@MikoMozzer]

Another major issue in Victorian houses is not rising damp from no dpc, but old mortar turning to Powder and dropping down the cavity, filling it with damp powder which then soaks moisture even above the dpc if you have one. Take a brick out every few and hoover out the cavity (believe me there is a lot, remove the wall plaster and repoint where necessary. Big job, but i have done it in parts of our house and fixed it. Old houses are there gift that keep giving.

[@paulprescott7913]

Thanks Andy we live in 30s house and there is no cavity and no damp proof course. Over the years we have had issues wth damp and most of the house has been chemical proof course added. Im just attacking the last wall and waiting for the chemical course to applied. Interestingly enough i have invested in a Ebac (British made 😊) dehumidifier and thats been a very interesting journey. We still need a dpc doing but my findings are that there needs to be more air moving under the wooden floor. Thanks for your vids they are very informative. Hope that you and your family have wonderful Christmas and new year.

[@danensis]

Chemical DPCs are snake oil.

[@benrusher581]

We bought a victorian end terrace and its got cement pointing covering up the original lime mortar, this stops the house breathing and needs to be restored back to lime. Were also taking off the 'plastic' paints inside and covering with paint that has higher porosity, clay based. Then opening windows and creating air circulation. Creating airtight houses which then build up humidity is the problem.

[@shaun30-3-mg9zs]

Hi Andy, It is an old house built in 1897, we do have some damp issues as the hose was built with no damp course, but main its down to air flow, but not to bad it's not cold it does hold heat well. Catch you soon have a great Christmas and all the best for 2025

[@trishnewberry1125]

We live in a 1930s house. It's freezing cold and damp , I just wish it could be sorted out but hubby doesn't care. Love your videos, Happy Christmas to you and your family.

[@disklamer]

@@peterminton8105 Roger does know this stuff and identifies a lot of common mistakes, very useful

[@gerhard6105]

Humid air is harder to get warm. Try to ventilate more or better. Buy a small hydro meter to see any differences. In my Ardennes 20" full stone house, the humidity is mostly 60% and 20°C in the living room. The house is from about 1777. The orchide plants like it. Try thus to ventilate and invest in some insulation. When it is colder outside, open a window a bit because humidity goes to colder air. That is why windows get wet on the inside: The humidity goes to the coldest surface. If you have modern air openings in your window frames, put them open, on green. After sleeping, open the bedroom window. After showering, open a window. Things like that. My walls are covered with clay and that helps to regulate the humidity very good. The humidity must go somewhere. Then you will get it warmer.

[@misst.e.a.187]

@@gerhard6105 Brits don't open windows. They don't air their homes. I open my windows, even in winter, to freshen and circulate the. Only 15-20 mins is enough to make a difference.

[@hardyqsq]

Northern style solid stone heart with closable air vents is nowedays best option when there is already nice, maintained chimney. Only use very well dried logs and it will keep rooms warm and dry. Handful of timber gives heats up stones and bricks, so it very economical too compared to open style fireplace. If visiting Finland then there are masters who can teach hoiw to buid and install. Extra plus that we can use as oven to cook food in cast iron pots.

[@MrSlyyydog]

Most popular gypsum plaster can cause damp because it's impermeable and absorbs moisture from the air and surrounding surfaces. This can lead to damp walls, which can promote the growth of mold, bacteria, and other microbes. Gypsum plaster is not breathable, so it doesn't allow air to exchange with its surroundings. It's also unsuitable for exterior walls or for internal applications where there's excessive dampness.

[@fazzini3868]

I love your channels. They are so informative. If only tradespeople would speak real language and make things simple for us 'normal' folk (loose use of the term normal BTW!! ) .Keep up the fabulous work sir, and a very Merry Christmas to you, Mrs Mac and family. 🎄

[@richardbarber4444]

I agree with Handyman and have a few observations following life in several types of structure. First was a large Georgian (Nun Brook House) with an almost complete and well ventilated cellar the floor of which is at water table and drained it that level. I was not aware of any DPC or much in the way of rising damp, however, it was cold and felt damp in winter uless a fire was burning in the occupied area. The kitchen area had a stone slab floor whereas other downstairs rooms were wood floors and sound. My next abode was a 'Quality built" brick house from about the 1930 era . hard brick, DPC good roof overhang and below floor air grates. It was dry but not very warm unless heating, installed about 1975, was on. No insulation other than 2" air gap in wall. Next was a c.18th century stone cottage with partial cellar and stone floor. It was cold and damp as befits such structures we attempted to control rising damp by having Rentokil install copper strapping between two lower courses of stonework. This made significant improvement but not a complete solution. Now in Canada I live in a 2002 stick frame house 15 Ft. above water table with full, below grade basement and a tiny wet spot in one corner??? Still have to investigate as foundation has a complete ring drain. Being fairly well sealed but with opening windows there is an air exchange system which draws in fresh air then pre-heats it with the outgoing air. It is also directly connected to the bathroom fans.Overall insulation could be better but complied with standards 22 years ago. windows are all double glazed and freeze over at minus 10C. It was minus 20 the last 2 nights. triple glazing iz better!! I suggest air exchange for most houses... but used judiciously in summer to avoid condensation. GOOD LUCK Y'ALL

[@linmal2242]

None of all that nonsense in Queensland !

[@McRocking]

Thanks for uploading this informative video. As a Damp & Timber Specialist, I agree with pretty much everything you've covered, but just to clarify, (4:34) that a DPC would only ever go below internal floor level if it's a suspended timber floor. And rising damp does not cause mould, mould is due to excess atmospheric moisture (condensation) and prefers this 'condensed' therefore 'clean' moisture over rising damp moisture, which is full of salts. As others have said - ventilation, ventilation, ventilation! But not forgetting heat... warm air holds moisture much better than cold air (if you're interested, google Relative Humidity) - during the cost of living crisis we've seen an increase in mould due to people not having their heating on and blocking up all the ventilation points.

[@terrywalker4733]

Many thanks for another interesting video. Look forward to the next one. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you Mrs Mac and your Family.

[@suegardner5726]

Thank you so much for your informative videos. I have learned so much from you. Merry Christmas and I look forward to your next videos in 2025

[@projectrebuild908]

Thank you for all the great content this year. Have a great Christmas. I hope you have a good start to 2025

[@gbwildlifeuk8269]

First house we bought was built in the 70s, wasnt damp but it was cold. This was due to there being as much glass as brick and it was single glazed. Second house was victorian. Solid walls, common bricks inside, red bricks outside no damp not cold although still single glazed. Third was built in the 30s double glazed, solid walls commons in and out, no problem mould or cold. Our final is a bungalow built in the 60s. Cold due to the stupid cavity walls blowing hurricanes in between the common brick outer wall and block inner. Cavity wall insulation has done naff all to improve it. Mould is present due to cold air touching warmer inner wall. I think problems depend on when it built, the design and quality of the builders and materials used. I think all builders when they finish their training, should be given a level and a square then taught how to use them! Ive never lived anywhere with rooms with square corners or level architrave!

[@Happytruth]

A lot of damp in uk houses is condensation made by general living effects at the end of the day unless you have humidifiers on daily you will get certain damp issue or slight mould growth.

[@stevenphillips1311]

I would have loved to do the things like this when younger but now takes me 5 times longer to do things I did in an hour

[@LindenButters]

I liked the pine cladding.

[@3991-m6u]

It's bizarre to me that newer houses seem to be thrown up with willful ignorance of the damp issues they're going to face. To achieve the right level of ventilation and keep the heating going enough to compensate you really have to be comfortably well off these days, many can't.

[@RikAindow]

I think more houses need a central air system as this would allow the addition of air conditioning to help with the ever increasing summer temperatures and the humidity we always battle with because humid air leads to damp problems and sweaty people as the air cant wick away the moisture.

[@Quaker521]

Great video Andy and very informative. Thank you for all the videos of 2024 and may I wish you and Mrs Mac a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year. Cheers.

[@thomaswykes3647]

Fix the gutters and drains and keep airflow happy. I keep my heating on very low all winter and it uses less fuel than blasting it on. Dry walls are warm walls

[@stewartmcardle8149]

Andy, I'm such a big fan of your OCD tidiness....my wife would tell you that you have a kindred spirit!

[@oidpolar6302]

You have to invest for the permanent air vent (constantly electric powered) in the basement. No isolation is enough as it's a weather based issue

[@dpn1604]

External wall insulation. Best money we ever spent on the house. The hell with heat pumps! And our energy provider dropped our direct debit by £70 after the energy price cap went up last year.

[@bonnienichalson5151]

Air flow is the secret to a healthy home !

[@elorateq3672]

Part of the issue is the time, cost & effort of getting damp & mould issues sorted. I've moved 17 times in my life & come across: leaking wall as lessor wouldn't sort out the damaged render on the block of flats & balcony roof above; broken gutters causing a wet wall; leaking roof; badly insulated walls bridging & letting damp in; broken window sill (painted over); unventilated, uninsulated, badly built porch (had to dry clean all my coats); mould & condensation on front door & double glazed windows in open plan kitchen/living room with no cavity wall insulation (de-humidifier was a life-saver); uninsulated porch (leading to living room) with mould painted over; mould behind bath (either from bath or upstairs' shower leaking) which had got into both sides of the plasterboard; & unventilated bathrooms in most properties with the window in awkward places (current one I have to use a step ladder to open it until the new heat-recovery ventilator is fitted). So often people can't afford to, or won't, fix the underlying issues, kicking the proverbial can down the road to the (unlucky) new owner. Often the survey won't pick up these issues as they've just painted them over & buying in summer rather than winter so not visible... It also doesn't help that, even though we get less rainfall than some countries, the air remains so humid. Fog, misty or just dank. This makes it hard to dry out, even with a daily 5-minute air flush, even if our homes weren't sealed boxes.

[@will88mph29]

Lovely video and a pleasure to listen to you. Happy 2025

[@vasilitsigreece2785]

Thanks, I learned something today! 😊

[@DB_Muscle]

Using proper isolation materials on the walls helps as well

[@RikAindow]

My 1960s mid terrace house has loft and wall insulation but thankfully i don't suffer with drafts or damp. Reason being, it was built in a new town, to new town standards, including being smoke-free. There isn't a chimney, and the house had central heating from the start: although it was originally oil-fed by the development corporation and had communal tanks on the outskirts of each estate. The wall insulation was added at a later time and along with it, two vents in the downstairs with "do not block" in huge letters on the cover.

[@pb8649]

I have exactly the same situation with an old coal cellar now being part of the kitchen. Luckily we haven't had any rising damp problems as of yet.

[@philipoakley5498]

Drains - and check soak-aways actually go somewhere and aren't blocked by tree and bush roots. Cast iron pipes can be cracked at the back (against the wall) and be difficult to spot. [real world problems]

[@RB-xg2vz]

Really good explanation

[@johnhunter4181]

My house is dry and warm and energy bills are £50/month. It was imported from Sweden 40 years ago but it doesn't have any of those 'period features' so loved of the British. Think: floorboards, inglenook fireplaces, letterboxes, sash windows, plasterboard, brick or stone walls that a wolf can never blow down. I mean new houses being built round here have fake pretend chimneys and people buy actually them!

[@derekhunt9118]

Great video really clear thanks.

[@EdelweisSusie]

I must live in the coldest house in Christendom: when there’s been a bad frost (ie below-minus temperatures) it’s warmer outside than it is inside - and that’s with the heating on!!!!

[@linmal2242]

Just move to Queensland !

[@RikAindow]

Nice video, very well explained. Thanks for sharing. Subscribed. 👍

[@jannenreuben7398]

The big issue with older properties (pre WW2 ish) is that they are now being used completely differently to how they were first built. They were built on the assumption that they would probably get a bit damp so they were well ventilated and built with natural breathable materials. Nowadays all the windows are airtight upvc, the old open fires are gone and the lime mortar replaced with cement and gypsum. Modern living patterns are totally different too, our livestyles generate far more water vapour than our ancestors did and it can't get out. There's nothing inherently cold or damp about an older house but you can't expect it to perform like a modern one does. The trick is to make sure it is properly ventilated.

[@MrDirkles]

Get rid of the double glazing, don't dry wet clothes indoors and dont paint over the bloody bricks. It's amazingly simple

[@Monaleenian]

@@MrDirkles Don't cook, don't shower and keep breathing to a minimum. Easy

[@timdickson5531]

@jannenreuben7398 Another issue people overlook is fireplaces and chimneys. My mid-1930s semi was built with four fireplaces - two upstairs, two downstairs. These provide a huge amount of airflow through the house: four fires on the go would draw a significant volume of air through the floor and under and around windows back in the old days, and this would be a big factor in keeping damp at bay. These days many of these chimneys are bricked up or even removed completely as the property is modernised, but houses like this weren't designed or intended to be airtight.

[@MrDirkles]

@Monaleenian do all those things but crack open a bloody window.

[@jannenreuben7398]

@@timdickson5531 Agree 100% The original builders of those houses knew what they were doing (mostly!).

[@Ian-gw2vx]

I have a Victorian semi with no cavity walls. Last year I hung 4mm insulated lining paper with thermal paste on the cold bedroom wall and it worked a treat. It didn't feel cold to the touch. This year it's sadly a different story as the paper feels damp and black mould has started to form. Dehumidifier is on a lot of the time and there are no leaks outside the house. Its condensation. We have 2 log burners and switch the heating on for the odd few minutes each day to warm the house through. I have no idea why this has failed considering all the steps taken but it's depressing as I now have to think about getting rid of the mould, let alone reducing the spores in the process.

[@collord7249]

I would suspect your wood burners create a large amount of moisture, carried around in the warm air, foil insulation loosely tacked to your coldest walls with a small airgap, may prevent warm moisture laden air condensing on your coldest walls...warm air carries a lot or moisture...

[@werdnarotcorp8991]

Rising damp is nothing to do with osmosis. The latter is due to chemical drivers such as concentration differences. Moisture movement in a wall is all to do with forces of adhesion and cohesion that control surface tension and result in capillary action that drags water upwards through narrow crvices.

[@sheriemirza6988]

Loved the video, thanks for all the details 😁

[@smoll.miniatures]

My grandad moved into my mums. We converted her dinging room into a living space for him. I built a shower in the corner of his room and drilled through the wall for a waste that connected to the existing sink on the other side. I believe I hit the dpc. It still seems bone dry after 3 years. Should I be concerned?

[@PaulShort-h6x]

Could you demonstrate the importance of the air gap cavity, where the moisture comes in and where it goes out, I’m starting work on a 1960s house red block built on concrete tiled, if I insulate externally and internally to hide pipe n cables should I leave an air gap? Be nice to see a 3D demo of the process, advantages etc.

[@maks1o]

maybe it's time to start building like in the whole of Europe. Good external wall insulation and recuperation systems?

[@linmal2242]

Cold and Wet.? Well not cold in Lake MacQ ! But yes the retaining wall at the back of downstairs had no drainage on top or at the base which was fixed with a bit of digging and drainage socks !

[@Britbabe53]

Merry Christmas!!

[@TomBartram-b1c]

These last few years I've concluded that people are bloody wimps. We keep one room at around 16 degrees and our combined bill is £1100 a year. 2 people in a 3 bed terraced house. My work place is about 20 and it's sweltering but never mind. Someone else is paying.

[@Disco_Jay]

I keep getting mould on my bedroom window sill and it's extremely annoying. Landlord installed a new window a couple of months ago but it doesn't have a trickle vent in it, hence the condensation and ultimately the mould. Problem is, it's in a conservation area so the laws regarding trickle vents apparently do not apply so instead I have to leave the window open for several hours a day, meaning the cold air sweeps through, ugh!

[@tonyberry850]

Our house 180 years old has a damp course built on a raft even a cellar partially filled in no problems with damp but keep the heat going in the winter. Byvarious ways wood oil you name it we tried itvand it works think the problem is people only heat when they return from work mind you it does help not tk smoke drink or overindulge heat and food priority plus a car but no other luxuries think i am content the main thing !!

[@twistedl2009]

I was fishing about in my old house from 1890 and found a perfectly intact slate DPC.

[@untamedtiger657]

I live in social housing and this place is so cold and damp sometimes the walls and tiles are soaking wet to the point my curtains are soaking wet too my windows are always open in the daytime I’m coughing and wake up with a sore heavy head it’s not a normal coldness it’s deathly cold I’m in the uk any one know what this problem is that’s causing so much wetness everywhere

[@chrisking7603]

Taty bye... i haven't heard that in yonks. Thanks for reminding me.

[@torikeen5630]

Our house 1904 stone house is sitting at 84% humidity heating is set at 15c constantly but it's 100% humidity outside, we are trying to dehumidify the world. No condensation good ventilation but no chance of dropping the humidity levels until the weather dries up.

[@misst.e.a.187]

Open the windows for 20 mins every day, perhaps?

[@Monkeh616]

Heating the air doesn't dry it. If you want to remove the moisture, you _want_ it to condense: on the cold coil in a dehumidifier.

[@Pgutube]

Great video as always. Merry Christmas

[@janetsteingold-yt1xu]

Merry Christmas 🎄

[@stevebosun7410]

Hi Andy, will "engineering bricks" provide adequate damp proofing? "The bitumen DPC degrades over time". Unfortunately, as we're finding out now, plastics also degrade over time. So what for the future? Please keep up the inspiring and informative videos. Best wishes to you and your family for 2025.

[@andreizxc3]

So what’s next? Just basically need to dig that gap between wall and floor and leave like this? Or you will pour some concrete using membrane?

[@Tom-Lahaye]

Panelled walls should at least raise some suspicion, often the panelling is done to cover problems. Like in my house were behind PVC panelling the water was literally dripping down the wall when it rained. Cause turned to be out to be the soil level outside being considerably higher than floor level inside, without any means of a damp membrane or water proofing from the outside, on top of that there was an old drain with a cracked brick inspection chamber buried in the soil sitting against the wall. Water would still run to the old drain when it rained as it was just cut of a bit further and the water entered the double brick but non cavity wall trough the cracks in the chamber and into the wall itself where it leached out the lime mortar opening up small holes to the inside

[@davelowe1977]

My 1870s stone cottage is warm and cosy.

[@stevensibbet5869]

I know a family from Lithuania who bought a house that hadn't been lived in for 20 years. The father gutted it, dug out and built a cellar, built a third floor, and insulated the whole house, = Same foot print, doubled the floor space and halved the heating bills. Britsh houses are rubbish!

[@RonthonSi]

Thank you for this video.

[@adamschunker3715]

Happy Xmas to you and Mrs Mac. I got a 3 pack of your tape measures. How did I survive before these were in my life?

[@richtea7868]

I don’t understand why it matters if rain splashes on to the walls from the ground at the bottom? Surely rain will fall on the wall anyway? Doesn’t that cause damp anyway?

[@Monkeh616]

Most rain comes in relatively vertical - with reasonable overhangs and surrounding structures, walls often don't get hit by that much of it continuously, and it's somewhat spread out. If it can concentrate at the base of the wall on top of a DPC it can get pretty saturated.

[@sheriemirza6988]

Not just old, newer houses are also prone to damp and cold. I believe its mainly because the building trade has not moved forward with development in the world. Why are we still building like a hundred years ago? Plus, the national building standards are not updated and more importantly, not implemented. Both in North Europe and North America, buildings are increasingly modern in construction not just looks....thats a whole other problem, how much we lovvvve old stuff/ looks 😅 and refuse modern, an example is the love of wood burning stoves, original single pane windows, and tiny extractor fans 😁

[@MilesV8]

Wood burning stoves are very modern and popular in many countries. My sister just built a new house which is done to the latest standards, but she still has a wood burning stove, albeit a super efficient one.

[@Guitar6ty]

Everything in the UK is done on the cheap except Tax.