What do I do about this?

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Discussion

tozerman

Original Poster:

1,200 posts

234 months

Wednesday 24th July
quotequote all
This image is the inside of my detached garage wall that is on my next door neighbours side.
He recently (3/4 years ago) had a small extension which butts up to my garage wall (small gap of about 3cm) he also has a decking outside his extension.
Due to the slope of the ground his decking comes about 40/50cm up the side of my garage wall.



He is a good neighbour and I don't want to fall out with him. I have spoken to him about this and he simply says "what do you want me to do?" Obviously he can't demolish his extension/decking !

I was thinking about putting some kind of membrane up and then battening and ply boarding that side of the garage, would this be a good solution ?

Cheers.....Tony..

Jeremy-75qq8

1,186 posts

99 months

Wednesday 24th July
quotequote all
Was there a party wall agreement in place when the work was done ? If so pass it to the surveyor to sort it

Did he have appropriate planning including the deck of more than 30cm off the ground

Fastchas

2,697 posts

128 months

Wednesday 24th July
quotequote all
I had this but much worse in a property I moved to. It was an unattached garage so didn't bother me too much at first but it kept creating a mess. I decided to go to the neighbour in a street adjacent to mine and we both went and had a look.

It turned out he had made a concrete shed base, butted up to my outer garage wall, and the shed roof was slanted towards my garage with no guttering. The damp was crossing over into my wall as it was butted up higher than the DPC.
He was told to either move the concrete base, or create some kind of clearway at the back where the concrete didn't touch my garage. I seem to remember he cut away about 6" of the base from the back. He also fitted guttering.

It was this, or expect a solicitors letter and a claim for damages from his house insurance.

KTMsm

27,655 posts

270 months

Wednesday 24th July
quotequote all
You can either regularly vac the debris up (using a long pipe etc)

Or do what I did - stick a white plastic trim against the wall (I used PU but silicone would probably do) to act as a skirting board biggrin


Snow and Rocks

2,419 posts

34 months

Wednesday 24th July
quotequote all
Jeremy-75qq8 said:
Was there a party wall agreement in place when the work was done ? If so pass it to the surveyor to sort it

Did he have appropriate planning including the deck of more than 30cm off the ground
Ignore these options unless you really want to fall out with your neighbour and rack up a lot of unnecessary cost.

There will be a sensible and practical solution with a bit of thought.

Most decks are pretty well ventilated underneath so shouldn't cause much of an issue even if above the DPC. Have you been round to his side to see if you can why the wall is apparently getting/staying wet?

JimM169

566 posts

129 months

Wednesday 24th July
quotequote all
I'm no expert so just some observations from an untrained eye

Is your issue just the at the bottom or also the flaking paint further up the wall?

Looks like there might be a DPC running along 2 courses up so anything below that is presumably going to be subject to damp.

Does the neighbours decking slope so that run off is towards the wall

Can you fit a french drain along the wall?




dickymint

25,815 posts

265 months

Wednesday 24th July
quotequote all
As it's in the garage i'd start by knocking a brick out (or drill a hole) and have a look to see what's going on. Borescopes are cheap these days and useful for other stuff anyway. If you're really lucky ventilation with a brick or two might solve the problem?

ManicMunky

544 posts

127 months

Wednesday 24th July
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If there's no workable solution externally, then your best bet may be to tank the inside of the wall

tozerman

Original Poster:

1,200 posts

234 months

Friday 20th September
quotequote all
Sorry for the late reply.
Thank you all for your advice and help.

Unfortunately my neighbour has been diagnosed with terminal cancer cry
Needless to say this is something I need to put on the back burner for the time being...

rossyl

1,162 posts

174 months

Friday 20th September
quotequote all
tozerman said:
Sorry for the late reply.
Thank you all for your advice and help.

Unfortunately my neighbour has been diagnosed with terminal cancer cry
Needless to say this is something I need to put on the back burner for the time being...
A gigantic dose of perspective for all (particularly those hitting the nuclear option). Poor chap.

You could in the meantime use this: https://www.zinsseruk.com/product/watertite/

Should work, yes, the moisture will find another route, usually that is down not up.