Conservatory has damp.

[Mister average]

I had a conservatory built about 18 months ago and now it has damp on 2 of the walls. These are the 2 internal walls (one is a garage wall and the other is the house wall). It must be coming up from the floor as they are not outside walls. The 2 new walls ( these are outside walls ) are fine with no traces of damp. I have contacted the company who built it but although they said a surveyer would come out and look at it they keep ignoring my calls. They are a well known company in Cleveland and are one of the largest local conservatory manufacturers. I had a lot of problems when it was built and although they eventually sorted them it was all very stressful. I need advice on how to handle this problem correctly from the start as from past experience this company do not accept responsibility for their shortcomings.

 

[masmit]

I had a conservatory built about 18 months ago and now it has damp on 2 of the walls. These are the 2 internal walls (one is a garage wall and the other is the house wall). It must be coming up from the floor as they are not outside walls. The 2 new walls ( these are outside walls ) are fine with no traces of damp. I have contacted the company who built it but although they said a surveyer would come out and look at it they keep ignoring my calls. They are a well known company in Cleveland and are one of the largest local conservatory manufacturers. I had a lot of problems when it was built and although they eventually sorted them it was all very stressful. I need advice on how to handle this problem correctly from the start as from past experience this company do not accept responsibility for their shortcomings.

 

Hi mister,

This damp sounds like internal damp caused by a cold spot, as you say it is your existing walls i would say responsibility would not be on the company who fitted it.

hope this helps

[Mister average]

I have had an experienced builder friend look at it and he is convinced the damp is coming up from the floor. The floor of the conservatory is 2 bricks higher than the damp course on the house and he is convinced that the neccessary precautions, to prevent vertical damp, were not taken. The neccessary pecautions were taken on the new build ( as I saw them being done) and that is why there is no damp on those 2 walls. The damp is only behind the skirting boards and goes up to about 3 bricks from the floor right the way along both walls.

 

 

[masmit]

I have had an experienced builder friend look at it and he is convinced the damp is coming up from the floor. The floor of the conservatory is 2 bricks higher than the damp course on the house and he is convinced that the neccessary precautions, to prevent vertical damp, were not taken. The neccessary pecautions were taken on the new build ( as I saw them being done) and that is why there is no damp on those 2 walls. The damp is only behind the skirting boards and goes up to about 3 bricks from the floor right the way along both walls.

 

 

I can't answer to what i can't see, & you have added a lot more info in your second post. The concern i would have is how is the water getting in to these internal walls, there should be a polythene membrane under your concrete to prevent this.

I can't comment anymore with out inspecting, but if you have a builder friend he should be able to find the problem to pin point the blame.

[Mister average]

I am confident that the problem is the responsibility of the conservatory company. I am looking for advice on how to handle the problem from the start in the correct manner as these are difficult people to pin down and admit the responsibility is theirs.

[Turtle1000]

From your description, it sounds like the original DPC has been bridged by the conservatory build.

 

If this is the case, then a continuous DPC will need to be put in place to address this properly.

 

If you cannot get them interested in at least looking at the problem, then you are going to have to go down the route of getting your own structural survey done.

 

Once you have this, write to them, recorded delivery, stating that your structural report shows their work to be at fault. If they don't show any interest from that point on, then you are going to have to head towards the courts.

 

At this point in time your looking for rectification of the conservatory work and rectification of the damage caused by the damp. If you have to get reports, etc. then you will be looking for those costs plus court fees and everything else you can claim through the court system.

[Mister average]

Thank you Turtle 1000,

 

I will let you know how things work out your advice is much appreciated.

 

Regards Mister Average.

[Mister average]

The conservatory company have inspected the problem and admitted responsibility. They have dug up the floor and added 2 damproof membranes. One to the inner wall (under the floor) and one to the floor itself. They said that the backfill had bridged the dampcourse of the wall and caused the problem. I am confident this problem has now been resolved. Thank you to everyone who heped me with advice.