To keep your home dry, warm, and devoid of mould, it is important to keep it as watertight as possible. There are a few essential areas where water can enter your home, and its crucial to understand what these areas are, and what checks you can perform to make sure everything is as it needs to be.
External Checks
On your external walls, check to see if there is proof of any of the following:
- Are the windows and window frames in good condition? Look for indications of rot in wooden windows likewise spaces around the window frames that could be letting in cold air and damp.
- Mortar in brickwork – is it up to scratch? Mortar joints ought to not have pieces missing or be eroded, this can cause structural weak points and penetrating damp.
- Does your home have wet evidence course and is it working efficiently? Search for a line of plastic bedded into the mortar joint roughly 150mm above you external ground level. In older structures this could be a line of bitumen or even slate.
- Are any air bricks blocked? Look for bricks with horizontal holes in them typically put at around 150mm above the external ground level, they ought to be free from blockages and obstructions to allow air movement through them.
Check your roofing to learn if there are any of the following problems:
- Are your gutters blocked or broken? Leaves and particles can collect in gutters triggering them to obstruct, when obstructed water overflows and frequently runs down walls creating moss and algae down the wall and perhaps internal wet patches.
- Do you have any missing, broken or out of place tiles? Check for spaces on your roofing system where tile ought to be, they may have been displaced by storms or heavy winds.
- Is the chimney and its surround in good condition? Flashing around the chimney needs to be sealed into the chimney and flat over the tiles. Any lifting or harmed flashing ought to be changed right away to stop roofing system leaks.
- It’s likewise important to be mindful that if you have any climbing up plants on your house, they could be concealing some of the above issues. Roots of trees near to your home might likewise trigger damage to your foundations or damp proof courses.
Internal Checks
Internally, there are a couple of areas to look out for:
- Inspect windows and walls for condensation. Normally you will see water drops on windows or cold surfaces, in more extreme cases you may even experience black mould on different substrates. Bathroom and kitchens are the areas where condensation is more than likely to form due to cooking cleaning and drying of clothing. If you find condensation, it is important to take favourable actions to manage the condensation. This can be done by setting up ventilation systems to manage the relative humidity (amount of moisture in the air) and utilising anti mould items to remove mould and stop it happening the future.
- Is all your pipes in good condition? Exists any damage or exist any noticeable fractures or leakages around sinks or toilets? Wet patches throughout floors and on walls can quite easily be from a dripping or harmed pipelines. Generally damp spots will look like dark areas on walls, floorings and even ceilings. Often once the leak has actually been remedied the wet patch will vanish. If the leakage has prevailed for a long time this may have triggered rot within lumber that will need remedial treatment by an expert.
If you identify any internal or external problems, it is essential to take steps immediately to dry any wet, and prevent further issues.
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