Damp Proofing Tips For Beginners
We’ve all experienced that terrible feeling when you walk into your lounge after some heavy rain just to find your expensive suede sofa covered in water!
As with most things in life, prevention is better than cure, so it is important to properly damp proof your home effectively from the start. Once water or dampness manages to sneak in it is a very difficult and costly thing to put a stop to. Never settle for a contractor without proper qualifications – you could possibly just end up with a house that is pretty much as water-proof as a spider web!
There are three important areas where you should take special care to properly damp proof from the word “foundation”!
Think about the order in which a new house will be built. Firstly, you will start with a ground slab which forms the basis of your house. A Damp Proof Course or DPC is a plastic sheet that is placed between the floor slab and the compacted sand below and that does not allow water to pass through from one point to another. If this sheet is not laid correctly you will quickly find that the bottom part of your walls will become moist and this could trigger structural deterioration.
After the slab is laid, it’s time to construct your external walls. You will now have to damp proof at the base of these walls level to the floor slab. This will once again be done with a DPC sheet as described above and to ensure that the damp proofing is effective, the two sheets should be connected to prevent any space for moisture or damp to sneak in.
The one area that many people ignore is the window sills as well as the tops and sides of all windows and external door frames. The easy way to do this is with silicon, but be warned that this is not a suggested method as it doesn’t last for an extended time. If an incorrect product is used you will be the lucky winner of endless maintenance problems!
The inside of your house can also fall prey to moisture issues. Should you have wooden floors moisture or water can quite quickly lead to rotten floor surfaces. As wooden floors are generally quite expensive, this ought to be prevented as far as possible. Moisture inside the house can be as a result of leak from a gutter or roof or even everyday plumbing problems! It’s very important to damp proof your floors by installing a vapour barrier.
Also take some time to properly seal your roof tiles and repair or replace broken tiles as quickly as possible. The longer a problem is ignored, the more severe your resulting destruction will be! While you’re on the roof, check to see that the balcony has appropriate water drainage and won’t be turned into a swimming pool after a little bit of heavy rain. All gutters must also be regularly inspected and cleaned.
Rather take precautionary steps and damp proof the house thoroughly – this will end up saving you tons of money and headache pills!
For more information about how to damp proof visit the website http://www.waterproofingcontractor.co.za
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