Protecting your home against the rain
It’s been a wet and windy summer so far here in the UK, so fingers crossed for some sunny days soon! Still, all this rain can’t help but make us think about getting our homes ready for the autumn. So let’s take a look at a couple of things we can do to keep our homes warm, dry and free of damp and mould before the temperature starts to drop.
Give your house an external MOT
Examining external brickwork might not sound like anybody’s idea of a good time, but flagging up and repairing damaged bricks and pointing can prevent the whole house from ruin.
Moisture in cavity walls can lead to total insulation failure, impacting a home’s thermal efficiency and causing serious damp and mould problems.?Damaged brickwork will only become more and more damaged until the impact on your comfort and central heating bill is unignorable.?
Cracked and spalled brickwork should be repaired as soon as possible, as should damaged mortar. Remember - your wall is the single most important defence against wind-driven rain your home has.?
Consider retrofit insulation
The UK’s housing stock is woefully unequipped for colder weather. In light of constantly rising heating costs, this is a pressing issue. If your home needs it, you should explore retrofit upgrade options like internal or external insulation.
IWI is standard in new-build cavity wall homes and results in a drastic improvement of a home’s heat retention properties.
Always engage a surveyor before booking an installation - houses are delicate ecosystems of their own and the wrong insulative measure can lead to the exact outcome you were trying to prevent - out-of-control dampness and mould!
Protect brickwork with Stormdry
Building materials like brick are porous. When wind-driven rain impacts a building’s wall, it soaks into the brickwork to cause penetrating damp. Moisture damages walls over time, leading to complications like spalling, which can be caused by water inside bricks freezing and thawing with fluctuating seasonal temperatures.
Stormdry Masonry Protection Cream works by lining the pores of brick with silicone to waterproof it. It stops penetrating damp in its tracks, letting water harmlessly bead off brickwork instead of absorbing into it.?
Don’t worry - the Stormdry formulation has been rigorously tested and proven to let moisture vapour pass freely while stopping water ingress. This means it can be applied to damp walls as part of a managed drying-out process.
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Give your house an internal MOT
Controlling condensation generation is the key to controlling dampness.
Remember, dampness breeds black mould!?
3 conditions must be present for condensation to form:
To keep them controlled, here are the 3 main variables in the home you can control:
Remember - these tips assume there is no structural fault causing a damp environment. If in doubt, always engage with a surveyor.
Upskill with August/September Safeguard webinars
Got any gaps in your damp knowledge? Check out our latest webinars, regularly updated with the very latest methods for damp-proofing. These sessions are free to book and fully approved by the Royal Institute of British Architects.
If you and your team are interested in attending one of these webinars on a date that suits you better, please get in touch at 01403 210204 or send us an email at [email protected]. We’re happy to host private sessions for housing and building professionals.
Thanks for reading another edition of Built to Protect. We'll see you here on Wednesday 16th August for the next newsletter!