high water table and damp from neighbour

Elaine, I think you've taken enough professional advice now, it must be costing you a fortune at this stage. Fingers crossed that the guy next door fixes his problem in order to secure a sale. If he does this then the bulk of your problem may be gone and your place will just need time to dry out. The OP is correct about water finding an out I'm afraid but I think I know the type of kitchen you have and tanking should be ok.
 
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Hi! Lurdemor and Liteweight. Thanks again for your replies. Liteweight, unfortunately the neighbour next door has decided to take his property off the market - it did't even attract one offer - and to rent it out again to students. He has been approprached about the leak but to no avail. He doesn't want to sepnd the money on it - though the issue of insurance covering it was also mentioned. I have photographs of the leak in his house, but because I entered the house under a deception - i.e. that I was interested in buying it - these photograps cannot be used in court. Nobody, either architect or engineers seems to be willing to write a report stating that the dampness in my kitchen is due to the shower next door without seeing the neighbour's house, though they have admitted that this is likely to be a contributory factor.Unfortunately, I cannot get in to inspect the neighbour's property without a Court Order. It's completely mad!!

I have decided on tanking the kitchen. The kitchen is lower than the rest of the house by 3 steps. However, it is slightly higher than the ground outside in the yard. I think about an inch higher. I am looking at a sump and drain for yard area. Hope this works.

Any more insights appreciated, and yes Liteweight, the whole process is costing a small fortune, but the stress of it all is the worst part.

The damp proof specialists I have in mind to do the job are either the one in Blackrock or another well known firm in Crumlin. Has anyone experience of either. I know Lurdemor you said the ones in Blackrock are very reputable. Do you know anything about the ones in Crumlin?
 
hi! everyone. Was in my house Dublin yesterday. Noticed that some of the internal walls were slightly damp after rain - is this high water table?

Also on the kitchen floor, anywhere it was covered by a mat or bin, there was a small puddle of water under it. Is this damp coming up from ground due to bridged damp floor membrane, or a leak or hydrostatic pressure. I'm really confused now.

Would a drain and sump help.

Thanks.

Elaine.
 
I got a good dehumidifier last week, and now, the damp patches on the walls - which were appearing during rain - are no longer present. As an interim solution, I would recommend this - if you haven't already tried it.

With regard to damp proofing companies, I dealt both with the people from Blackrock, and those from Crumlin - the former were quite brusque, pushy and expensive, the latter competitively priced and charming. So we went with the latter. Unfortunately, as mentioned, our builder did not strip the affected plaster - so this may be causing our ongoing problems. I would say, however, that the Crumlin guy advised us to live with the damp plaster, whereas the B'rock guy wants us to contract him to replaster for what other posters think is a crazy sum. Make of that what you will.

Best of luck with it - damp in old houses is a knotty issue!
 
Thanks simp for your reply. I had the same experience as you. Much preferred the guy from Crumlin, though he felt it was a leak and not much he could do with it. The guy from Blackrock said it wasn't a leak, but rising damp, and wanted to tank the wall, and bring the dpc on floor up to meet the tanking. He and my architect, who are both friends and colleagues, got really annoyed when I challenged them, and suggested that it may be either a leak or something to do with high water table.

I will definitely try the dehumidifer.

Do you know what these puddles on the floor are - they appear when something like a bin or mat has been placed on the floor?

Do you have any opinions of whether it is better to tackle the damp before selling. I really want to sell, but don't want to put buyers off.

Thanks again for your reply.
 
Hi elainem. My experience exactly. I really did feel that the Blackrock guy was trying to sell me the maximum no matter what; whereas his Crumlin colleague was trying to help me do the mimimum. When the latter came back to look at the damp plaster, his comment was that the "cure was worse than the disease" - whereas B'rock guy - who's coming round next week to take another look, wants to rip the entire wall apart. I don't know who the hell to believe!

All I know is that the surveyor from McGovern's, who kindly gave me 15m of his time on the phone, was very reluctant to attribute the problem to rising damp. While there is general consensus that it does exist, most experts would say that it is quite rare.

I would hazard a guess that your floor puddles are condensation caused by your leaving something on the floor - water vapours getting trapped between the two surfaces. It sounds - no matter what the cause - that you definitely have higher than normal humidity in the room - so do put in a dehumidifier. We got one with a visible humidistat, so you can see what the average humidity in the room is. It's been on for a week, and we've gone from an average humidity of 70, down to 50. Be warned that your plants will need more watering, though! This should hopefully bring things under control. We found that Argos had a good range of models - DeLonghi and eBac have good reputations.

As to whether to tackle the damp before selling - I would ask myself whether the buyer will be likely to be doing major works to the kitchen. If you think they will, then why go to too much expense in the kitchen when your works will probably end up being dug up anyhow? If, however, you think that the kitchen is a selling point, then by all means solve the damp problem first.

But for the sake of your peace of mind - I would define a reasonable point beyond which you will walk away from the damp problem - otherwise you could be trying to solve it till doomsday! Hopefully the dehumidifier will stabilise things in the interim.
 
Hello,

Just wanted some advice. About 2 years ago we decorated our while basement to be a games room. The floor is tiled and there is waterproof membraning on the concrete base.

Everything was fine till October this year. Now we are getting gallons of clear water coming in and up through the tiles. We have thoroughly investigated our drainage system and water pipes. Everything is fine.

We notice that the water ingress is much worse when it rains. When it stops raining for about 3 weeks, the floor drys after continous vacuuming of the water.

I have been told that my property is in a very high water table. If the water ingress is due to this, I have the following questions:

1. Is the water normally clear? ( looks like drinking tap water)

2. I can empty out about 30 litres of water every 15 mins. Is this a normal flow rate for water ingress secondary to a high water table?

I would appreciate your advice. Many thanks.
 
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