Tanking slurry on work shop wall

[Djwilliams37]

Hi
I have been getting water seepage through the insulation of one of the walls in my work shop and I removed the insulation and tanked the wall with 3 coats of the slurry. This was a couple of months ago and the wall still doesn't look fully dry. Do you think I can replace the insulation now? Or should I wait until the weather warms up to dry the wall out?

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Have you just covered the problem rather than find the cause?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Djwilliams37]

Hi Colin
I used to have water ingress in a couple of places. And as I cannot gain access to the exterior of the wall I decided to tank the inside. I did go round the neighbours last year and repointed and applied waterproofing to the bricks but have fallen out with the neighbour hence the tanking. I do think this has worked as there have been no pools or damp patches on the walls since it was applied. The wall is drying from the top down and does not feel wet but is darker in colour towards the bottom. I am keen to get the insulation back and the panels back on the wall
Cheers
Dave

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Dave for your comprehensive reply. Neighbours can be a real pain can't they; we have a wonderful family next door with a history of beatings; burglary; car theft and drugs; the family have now grown up to accept responsibilities and set up their own homes just leaving the old couple who for the last 34 years have declared war on each other; it's been like living next door to WW3.

Good luck with your damp problem; it's seldom easy to sort such problems out; we here in the UK might have a decent summer allowing the wall to dry out?

I'll reply more fully when I get a bit of time to show the water ingress problems we've had here.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Damp is always a problem and seldom easy to get rid of. What a shame you can't access the other side of the wall Dave which might have helped a great deal.

Our bungalow has caused us a lot of grief over the years; six weeks after moving in water was pouring through two ceilings when it rained which it often does here in Yorkshire; it took 18 months to save enough money to buy materials because the insurance company stated it was lack of maintenance? We installed the new roof ourselves. Then came leaks a big one ending up with a pond under the front room floor and leaks in the garage. It just went on and on causing us a lot of misery but now everything is dry but it hasn't been easy.

The water leak flooding under the bungalow was a failed wall to foundation mortar joint; I raked out the joint and repointed but then I ran a course of engineering bricks right along the joint to seal it once and for all; next I bought a cement mixer and created a channel as seen this to catch under patio water and allow it to discharge into the side garden; whilst the flags were up I might as well replace all the drains.

Another picture of the channel under construction; the concrete base is 4" thick; I only want to do this job once and then forget it.

Problem after problem besets us living here; above is a picture of the motor mounting bracket on the brand new cement mixer.

Here's the faulty mortar joint.

Who would guess what lies beneath.

Please see another problem solved; for years we suffered blocked up drain hoppers full of leaves and slimy slugs smelling awful; I came up with this idea to replace the hoppers whilst I was installing the new drains; no more hopper cleaning or bad smell; the 4" drain is terminated with a plastic end cap made to accept kitchen outlets and the gutter fall pipe. Works a treat.

My answer to a broken bracket; make a new bracket this one out of Whale Tufnol.

I appreciate leaks and damp can be a real headache but I'm not happy covering such things up preferring to sort the problem once and for all; this one job involved many weeks of heavy work doing everything on my own with my lovely wife keeping the mugs of tea and biscuits in plentiful supply for me.

I kept the cement mixer for six weeks then sold it on only losing £20; it was still like brand new because I look after all my kit.

Good luck Dave I'm sure its causing you lots of frustration.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Djwilliams37]

Hi Colin
Thanks for the informative post. I must say that you're problems were far worse than mine. Seems like you were unlucky but glad you sorted it out. There is nothing worse than leaks inside the house. I have had a couple of such cases. When I installed the bathroom the tap flexi connector although tight had a slight seepage that over a number of weeks leaked down into the alcove in the corner of the room and started to drips steadily in synch with the clock tick. It was my wife who eventually noticed it. What a mess it had made. Another was the conservatory roof that decided to leak last spring. It took several attempts to seal it. Every time it rains hard I dred it starting again

 

[Retired]

Hi,

You're most welcome; I once removed the toilet pan in order to lay cushion floor neatly; having reinstalled the pan I flushed the toilet but had forgotten to recouple the cistern to pan pipe; after a panic mopping up with towels I flushed the toilet again still having not connected the pipe; oh dear I often make the same mistake at least twice. I always win though in the end.

Here's the water ingress into the garage; our garage is beneath the bungalow with a steep path up the side blocking access to the outside wall.

I removed three bricks at a time in order to access the leaking mortar joint; having sealed the leak by repointing I installed a drain this being a length of plastic oval conduit with many holes drilled into it and this was extended to the front of the garage so any future water should simply drain clear but so far it's been perfectly dry. Engineering bricks were used and I also used additive to make the mortar waterproof.

This is how it looked but now I have benches against the wall without damp problems. Living here in Yorkshire we virtually live underwater anyway; it's been snowing again for a change today. I initially used hammer and cold chisel to remove bricks but it was taking too long so I attacked it with my big SDS drill in chisel mode. Just another leak. No easy simple jobs here.

Kind regards, Colin.