Browse Forums Building Standards; Getting It Right! Re: Damp proof course 2Aug 22, 2013 10:35 am I'd approach a builder or a builders organisation. Do you have plans etc. It might be a case of - yes - but you get what you pay for ... Re: Damp proof course 4Aug 22, 2013 3:08 pm A weatherboard wall does not (in normal construction) have a damp proof course. Peter Clarkson - AusDesign Australia www.ausdesign.com.au This information is intended to provide general information only. It does not purport to be a comprehensive advice. Re: Damp proof course 6Aug 22, 2013 5:12 pm The short answer is no rain. Maybe you could supply more info as to the problem with a detail of the construction. Peter Clarkson - AusDesign Australia www.ausdesign.com.au This information is intended to provide general information only. It does not purport to be a comprehensive advice. Re: Damp proof course 7Aug 22, 2013 5:37 pm I'm not sure what you mean by detail of the construction but I'll give it a go. The house is on a concrete slab, has a timber frame and weatherboard cladding. The pictures are of the wardrobe floor which has not yet been tiled. The wall is an external wall and the external walls are supposed to have Tyvek Homewrap breather sarking on the outside of the timber frame. The ground around the house slopes up and this problem is appearing at the back of the house where we have less than the recommended clearance between the floor level and the ground level outside. Re: Damp proof course 8Aug 22, 2013 6:03 pm OK, so is there a minimum of 150mm from the floor level to the finished ground level & does the ground slope away from the slab for a minimum of 1 meter. If you answer no to either or both then the construction does not meet building requirements. Peter Clarkson - AusDesign Australia www.ausdesign.com.au This information is intended to provide general information only. It does not purport to be a comprehensive advice. Re: Damp proof course 9Aug 23, 2013 8:29 am I don't want to appear to be labouring the point but it might help other people avoid this problem. So if the damp is due to the lack of clearance between the ground and the floor and/or absence of grading, would you experience the same problem with a brick veneer wall? Or is there something about weatherboard construction that makes this more likely? Also, given that it is a weatherboard house, should the above ground slab height be higher than for a brick veneer wall? Re: Damp proof course 10Aug 23, 2013 8:47 am The clearance requirement is the same for all forms of construction types. A brick veneer wall, with the required flashing, (damp proof course) which goes from a brick course within the rebate up & across to the stud wall may help slow down water ingress but at the end of the day if there is not clearance from the slab floor level to the finished ground level then it will be prone to moisture problems. Peter Clarkson - AusDesign Australia www.ausdesign.com.au This information is intended to provide general information only. It does not purport to be a comprehensive advice. Re: Damp proof course 11Aug 23, 2013 4:58 pm I'm no expert but can I add something? As I understand the damp proof course stops water seeping vertically up. Sounds like your problem is water entering horizontally because of the slope towards the house and not enough space for it to drain away like it should. Have you gone outside to take a look during the rain? We use to get a pool between our house and the slope despite the builder having said we didn't need anything there. Just as well I went outside first time we got a good rainfall and took a look! I don't know what difference brick and weatherboard makes, perhaps its that bricks are capable of absorbing more water? Either way you don't want water pooling though. We got ours fixed. Good luck with it, I hope you get yours solved soon. Re: Damp proof course 12Aug 28, 2013 10:35 am Hi JazzyJess, Excuse the late reply. I've had some bug for the past week and haven't felt like doing much. We did have a lot of rain recently and the paving outside has not only been raised to just under the last weatherboard (about 30mm below floor level) but does not slope away from the house. (I really don't get how concreters can stay in business for years when they don't know what they are doing!) We are just going to have to rip it all up and do it ourselves. Thank goodness we hadn't tiled the wardrobe and so can see the problem. The garage wall is going to end up with the same problem eventually as there doesn't seem to be any freeboard between the neighbour's land level and our floor level. How these things get past the building surveyor I don't know. Sigh! Another letter to the building surveyor on the horizon and some evasive reply no doubt. Re: Damp proof course 13Aug 28, 2013 10:42 am Actually just found some interesting articles on "damp" on the Archicentre website (which seems to have been massively overhauled since I was on there last): http://www.archicentre.com.au/publications Scroll to the bottom to "Information sheets inside your home" and there are articles on "Falling Damp", "Horizontal Damp" and "Rising Damp" - every damp you could wish for! Re: Damp proof course 14Aug 28, 2013 1:10 pm JazzyJess We use to get a pool between our house and the slope despite the builder having said we didn't need anything there. Frustrating experiences about the most basic of requirements like this just should not happen. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Damp proof course 15Aug 28, 2013 5:19 pm Just to clarify some points in case there is a confusion or misinterpretation of 'damp proof course'. With a slab on ground construction there is no 'damp proof course' as such. There is a plastic membrane under the slab to prevent moisture rising. In a brick veneer type construction on a slab there is a 'cavity flashing' which has the 'major' purpose of re-directing moisture that may penetrate the brick wall & then seep down the inner face, back out via weepholes. The flashing extends, horizontally, between courses which also limits moisture drawn up through the wall from ground level. In a brick veneer construction on a strip footing (floor on stumps) there is a 'damp course' in the brick work to limit moisture drawn up. Moisture penetrating the outer face, running down the cavity, ends up seeping to the subfloor area without reaching the frame of the building. Hope that clarifies. Peter Clarkson - AusDesign Australia www.ausdesign.com.au This information is intended to provide general information only. It does not purport to be a comprehensive advice. Re: Damp proof course 16Aug 28, 2013 9:31 pm Thanks Ausdesign - I think I understand that. So with a weatherboard house on a slab we have the plastic membrane under the slab which I presume is the black plastic you can see in the photo
Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ and, as the paving at the back is now virtually level with the floor, we are getting moisture ingress horizontally under the weatherboards and through the base of the frame. Re: Damp proof course 18Sep 24, 2013 12:19 am Hi Liliana, have a look at this document: http://www.concrete.net.au/publications ... mpness.pdf Page 5 has the detail for timber framed house. Unfortunately I think you are going to have problems from what you have described. As a side point, I'd always install a flashing or DPC under an external frame. Granted I don't generally do house framing so not sure if it is mandatory but anytime I have, I've always rolled out a flashing under the frame. Just gives me some piece of mind. Not that it would prevent the moisture you seem to be having. Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Have look at your house plans and you will probably find that brick articulation joint has been missed. Maximum allowable spacing is 6M or 5.5M for a wall with window… 17 16592 Hi all Am new to this forum. I want to get some ideas/info about how to manage an 80 year old factory restoration to convert to a residence. The factory floor is concrete… 0 3394 Hi We have a road close to our place and only an old flimsy wooden fence between us and the Neighbour closest to the road. Any ideas on a sound proof modular fence. Like… 0 5664 |