Lots of people wake up and face the same problem every morning: Water leaking into a property through the walls. It’s not that uncommon, and if it isn’t dealt with correctly then you are only going to be faced with it time and time again as the root cause will still present.
So, if you are looking for a reason as to why water is seeping into your property through your walls, hopeful this article will be able to give you some clear and definitive answers.
Why Is Water Seeping Through My Walls?
There is no one answer to this question – and, depending on the environment and your property’s location, your answer could be different from the one that you are expecting.
One thing that does unite all the different causes of water seeping into a property through the walls is the fact that the issue will stem from a defect within the actual building materials compromising your structure.
What this means is that either through a fault in construction, or degradation over time, a specifically implemented aspect of your property has failed to protect it from the elements as it was designed to.
One aspect shared by every cause of water ingress is damp. Damp itself can take several forms, but the presence of any excess moisture in your walls is going to be a very real problem, and even on its own it could be the very reason that your property is experiencing water ingress.
So, with all that in mind, let’s look at the different reasons that water might be seeping through your walls, and the correct methodology to put a stop to it in all the different instances.
Rising Damp
Rising damp is a form of dampness that sees water travel from within the ground your property is built upon, or even from the surface area around your properties walls themselves.
The moisture enters into your properties walls and travels upwards through capillary action, similar to how water might travel upwards through a sponge or a paper towel.
This water would usually stop travelling upon coming into contact with a damp-proof course, a measure installed in properties to stop rising damp specifically.
However, in older buildings where a damp proof course may have failed, or in properties where the damp proof course has degraded due to time, the moisture will be able to spread upwards, and fester as rising damp.
Rising damp usually stops spreading around a meter above ground level, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t without its problems. It can ruin plasterboard, brickwork, skirting boards, floorboards – and be the exact conduit that would allow water to seep into your property.
Damp by its very nature is the presence of excess moisture in building materials that are not designed to hold it. So, if the rising damp in your property is particularly bad, then you might find that you have a steady stream of moisture making its way to the interior of your property.
In fact, you may discover that when the weather gets worse, the water seepage from your walls worsens as well.
That’s because the amount of moisture present in the ground is increasing, and as a result, the amount of moisture absorbed by your walls is going to be greater as well, leading to a greater volume of water seeping from out of your walls.
How to Stop Rising Damp and Fix Water Ingress?
Rising damp is an affliction within your property that is best diagnosed and dealt with by trained professionals. You can learn more about recognising the signs of rising damp here, and if correctly identified by our surveyors, then its more than likely that a new, and more effective damp proof course will need to be installed (if necessary) by our technicians.
Arrange your rising damp survey today, and put a stop to water seeping out of your walls for good.
Penetrating Damp
Penetrating damp is much like rising damp in that it stems from a fault within your property – however, it is much harder to define what that fault might be.
Anything from a continued downpour of water from an overflowing gutter, to blocked drains, to broken roof tiles can all prove to be contributing factors when it comes to penetrating damp.
Essentially, penetrating damp takes root within a property when the measures in place to protect your building from weathering elements (or rainfall/water as a whole) fail. For example, rising damp can lead to a penetrating damp problem.
This happens when the moisture already present in the brickwork, thanks to the rising damp, makes the bricks themselves become porous – allowing more moisture to be retained, damaging the bricks themselves. These damaged bricks will then hold moisture whenever rain falls – this is a form of penetrating damp.
Penetrating damp, unlike rising damp, is capable of spreading out as far as the construction fault allows it to, even potentially further if the moisture is capable of extending the fault itself.
So, if you find that the water seeping into your property gets worse when it rains, and the damp is located on entire walls, away from the floor, or is spreading rapidly, then you may well have a case of penetrating damp on your hands.
How to Stop Penetrating Damp and Fix Water Ingress?
Just like rising damp, you are best off having your penetrating damp problem identified and dealt with by trained professionals. Our surveyors are all highly trained and experienced at not only identifying penetrating damp and its causes, but rectifying them as well.
To make sure the problem is fully dealt with you will need to arrange for a specialist to deal with the problem. Contact our expert team today to make sure that penetrating damp stops allowing water to seep in through your walls.
Cavity Wall Tie Failure
Cavity wall ties are an important part of many properties, serving as an anchor within a wall, connecting two inner leaf’s to each other.
The wall ties themselves prevent these inner wall leaf’s from becoming bowed or collapsing. Wall ties failing can lead to water seeping into your property, as a bowed wall is ineffective against the elements that it is meant to be protecting your home from.
This then can allow moisture to travel to your properties inner wall leaf, and seep into your property from there.
So, what you could find is that in periods of heavy rain the water seeping into your property becomes worse, as the weathering effect your home should be shielded from by the outer leaf has become ineffective.
This is in fact a way in which penetrating damp can take hold, but the actual construction fault which has led to the cavity wall ties failing requires a specialist solution.
How to Fix Cavity Wall Tie Failures and Stop Water Ingress?
Cavity wall ties failing can be a major cause of water seeping into your inner walls, and in fact can make the problem a whole lot worse if left unchecked. So, its important that you get a specialist to devise and implement a cavity wall tie repair if needed. This will ensure that your weathering protection is restored and that the water ingress is put to a halt as well as save your properties construction overall.
Timberwise are adept and experienced when it comes to cavity wall tie repair you can contact us online to book a cavity wall tie survey.
Blocked or Broken Pipes
Piping is vital within any property, and it’s often the case that a faulty pipe within a wall or below a floorboard can lead to the leaking of water from out of a wall. In fact, you might not even realise a pipe has burst or needs reattaching to the rest of your plumbing as the leak is so slight.
It might even be a while before the signs of damp set in as the leak could be so small – but the fact is that left untreated for long enough, a leaking pipe can easily cause dampness to set into your walls, and following that, have water seep out regularly.
This is a common problem, and might happen more often in colder months when pipes are more likely to burst, or in properties where the pipes have been allowed to fall into disrepair.
You may be able to tell if the damp and excess moisture seeping from your walls is caused by faulty pipe work if the walls in which the damp is appearing are internal, and there is no chance that condensation has anything to do with the build-up of moisture.
How to Fix Faulty Pipe Work to Prevent Water Ingress?
First off, a damp survey might be in order to determine the source of the actual damp in your property. If this is the case, when the source is identified then it will probably be recommended for you to have a plumber rectify the issue, or if you feel skilled enough, for you to tackle it on your own.
However, there will be many situations where the source of the leak will be easily identifiable, and as a result a damp survey won’t be needed at all – just for immediate action to be taken on your plumbing by a specialist (or yourself if you feel capable).
Most situations where damp has led to the actual presence of water seeping into your walls is going to require a little more work than just rectifying the source of the dampness itself. This could include anything from black mould removal, to the actual replacement of materials like plasterboard in your home.
Make sure that when it comes to excess water leaking in through your walls you leave no stone unturned, and that you have a comprehensive solution in place when it comes to moisture control.
Call the experts here at Timberwise for a solution that is bound to return your property to the dry and uncompromised state it was once in. Call us on 0800 288 8660 or fill in a contact form, and we will be in touch as soon as possible.
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