The patio is built behind the back wall of his house. Some of it is the same level as the rest of his garden, and the bit directly behind his back wall is lower than the rest of the garden (and some of the patio). After reading your comments, it does strike me that the lowest part of his patio, where it meets his back wall, is only just below the bottom of his back door. It's definitely not as much as 6 inches below. So you're probably right, it might be bridging any damp course he has as well, because there's no room for it between the patio and the back door. I think the main patio level has been raised up a bit. The patio levels drop towards a drain just behind his back wall, which is on the other side of the garden from our wall. So I guess that directs the water away from our wall, which is something:-;
Thank you, reading your post has given me a bit of hope that we can resolve the issue. We're going to take the damaged plaster off the wall inside, and use a dehimidifier for a while before we re-plaster. We're hoping that taking the old concrete render off the wall and replacing with lime render will go some way to solving the problem, now that the water can escape from the wall. We're just keeping our fingers crossed that he doesn't decide to paint it with masonry paint and trap the water again:-; If that doesn't work, we'll go to a solicitor and put some of the points you've raised, and see what can be done. Thank you again, I really appreciate your time.
My neighbour had a terrible damp problem last year - tiles falling off walls etc.
Experts came and searched out the area of the greatest damp and found the cause was underfloor water pipes whose joints had corroded and been leaking for years.
They took her vynil flooring up in the kitchen and saw the evidence in the wet concrete underneath. Took week to dry out and had to fight tomget insurance to pay up but no problems since repaired
I'm not telling you this to frighten you, only to suggest you give a thorough investigation of all the possibilities. Eg:
Wet floor: do some of your pipes run under the concrete floor?
Damp floor: has floor membrane been punctured or poorly laid?
Damp wall/floor eg behind units: has DPC of wall been breached?
Walls Damp at top: is the rain overflowing gutters?
... or is there a roof leak?
You don't want to go through expensive repair processes and find you have attended to the symptoms (eg by replastering) but not the cause which is something else.
We're just keeping our fingers crossed that he doesn't decide to paint it with masonry paint and trap the water again
Unless I've misunderstood, the above refers to the outside surface of your kitchen wall. It's yours - not his - so he has no right to do anything to it that compromises your property.
i don't known whether you can still talk with your neighbour but if you can, I would be inclined to explain you are trying to resolve a damp problem and need nothing to be done to your wall to jeopardise your investigation of the cause.
We thought it was a roof problem at first, since it is damp where the bottom of the roof meets the wall. We had a few roofers around to look, and they couldn't find anything wrong with the roof, which is one relief I guess:-; The floor isn't damp, but it's hard to tell because it's concrete overlaid with modern tiles that damp wouldn't be able to get through. You're right though, we could have a leak, perhaps we'll investigate. We probably do have pipes underneath, but I'm not sure. Don't worry about scaring me, to be honest it would be a relief if it was the floor, at least that's something we could get fixed without our neighbour's permission!
I spoke to a party wall surveyor about our rights over the wall. Sadly because it's a party wall, he's entitled to do what he likes on his side, even though for example painting it with non breathable paint like masonry paint would damage the lime render we've had put on, and stop the wall from breathing again, making our damp problem worse. Apparently we could pursue him through the courts for damage to our kitchen, but apparently it would be costly and we might not win. Nuts isn't it? We've asked our neighbour not to paint it, that we would lime wash it if he wanted, and explained to him why. I guess we just have to keep our fingers crossed. To be honest we're seriously thinking of just selling the house and getting a nice modern one with a damp proof already built in:-;
You really have done the right thing by putting lime render on your outside wall. This allows the wall to breathe.
Our neighbours put a waterproof coating on their gable-end, which they have to come onto our land to maintain. It would never occur to us to stop the workmen coming back to re-do it, over and over again! The only stipulation we make is that they clear up after themselves.
Both our and their house are stone built. Fingers crossed, we have lime render which should not need anything done to it for at least 10 years. I love the way it changes colour as it dries out and then when it gets wet when it rains.
We have no damp course and I would assume, not much foundation either.
Gail Peacock said: Sadly because it's a party wall, he's entitled to do what he likes on his side, even though for example painting it with non breathable paint like masonry paint would damage the lime render we've had put on, and stop the wall from breathing again.
That seems tantamount to saying:
his actions on the wall are allowed to affect your side of the wall, in particular - in this case its effectiveness as a barrier againt the elements (which compromises one of the purposes of a wall which is to protect from the elements) -
but that your actions on the wall are not allowed to affect his side of the wall - in his case due to his 'asthetical response' to a finish that is not to his taste.
That seems too one sided (no pun intended) to stand in law.
My instinct would be to get a second opinion on that specific point in terms of your respective legal rights - party wall legislation is one thing but I would have thought that protection of property from the actions of a-n-other would take precedence here.
"Unfortunately," I hear something reminding me, " the law has nothing to do with common sense!" ... But I would try for a second opinion.
Hi Welshonion, I agree, lime looks beautiful on a wall doesn't it. I wish we had you as neighbours instead of who we have:-; He was in the garden recently cutting back some roses that were overhanging our wall. I didn't mind them being there, so I never asked him to prune them, looks like he's gearing up for litigation. I wish he'd just discuss it with us instead, save us all a lot of trouble!
Hi Birdy, I know what you mean, it does seem very one sided! I think we will get an opinion from another surveyor, none of this seems fair at all. And as you say, the law doesn't seem to bear much resemblence to reality! I'm thinking the Party Wall Act certainly doesn't, I hope the bloomin wall collapses into the neighbour's garden. The solicitor I was speaking to advised me to look into keeping the wall dry on our side instead. I looked into it, and apparently we could get it tanked (like they do for cellars), but unfortunately we're in a conservation area and so we'd need planning permission to do it. (Because it's damp proofing.) The surveyor who looked at the wall and who knows the local conservation committee said that they'll very likely tell us no, that we'd have to deal with the neighbour and get it sorted with him. So back to litigation.
Posts
Hi Birdy,
The patio is built behind the back wall of his house. Some of it is the same level as the rest of his garden, and the bit directly behind his back wall is lower than the rest of the garden (and some of the patio). After reading your comments, it does strike me that the lowest part of his patio, where it meets his back wall, is only just below the bottom of his back door. It's definitely not as much as 6 inches below. So you're probably right, it might be bridging any damp course he has as well, because there's no room for it between the patio and the back door. I think the main patio level has been raised up a bit. The patio levels drop towards a drain just behind his back wall, which is on the other side of the garden from our wall. So I guess that directs the water away from our wall, which is something:-;
Thank you, reading your post has given me a bit of hope that we can resolve the issue. We're going to take the damaged plaster off the wall inside, and use a dehimidifier for a while before we re-plaster. We're hoping that taking the old concrete render off the wall and replacing with lime render will go some way to solving the problem, now that the water can escape from the wall. We're just keeping our fingers crossed that he doesn't decide to paint it with masonry paint and trap the water again:-; If that doesn't work, we'll go to a solicitor and put some of the points you've raised, and see what can be done. Thank you again, I really appreciate your time.
My neighbour had a terrible damp problem last year - tiles falling off walls etc.
Experts came and searched out the area of the greatest damp and found the cause was underfloor water pipes whose joints had corroded and been leaking for years.
They took her vynil flooring up in the kitchen and saw the evidence in the wet concrete underneath. Took week to dry out and had to fight tomget insurance to pay up but no problems since repaired
I'm not telling you this to frighten you, only to suggest you give a thorough investigation of all the possibilities. Eg:
You don't want to go through expensive repair processes and find you have attended to the symptoms (eg by replastering) but not the cause which is something else.
Gail Peacock said:
We're just keeping our fingers crossed that he doesn't decide to paint it with masonry paint and trap the water again
Unless I've misunderstood, the above refers to the outside surface of your kitchen wall. It's yours - not his - so he has no right to do anything to it that compromises your property.
i don't known whether you can still talk with your neighbour but if you can, I would be inclined to explain you are trying to resolve a damp problem and need nothing to be done to your wall to jeopardise your investigation of the cause.
Hi Birdy,
We thought it was a roof problem at first, since it is damp where the bottom of the roof meets the wall. We had a few roofers around to look, and they couldn't find anything wrong with the roof, which is one relief I guess:-; The floor isn't damp, but it's hard to tell because it's concrete overlaid with modern tiles that damp wouldn't be able to get through. You're right though, we could have a leak, perhaps we'll investigate. We probably do have pipes underneath, but I'm not sure. Don't worry about scaring me, to be honest it would be a relief if it was the floor, at least that's something we could get fixed without our neighbour's permission!
I spoke to a party wall surveyor about our rights over the wall. Sadly because it's a party wall, he's entitled to do what he likes on his side, even though for example painting it with non breathable paint like masonry paint would damage the lime render we've had put on, and stop the wall from breathing again, making our damp problem worse. Apparently we could pursue him through the courts for damage to our kitchen, but apparently it would be costly and we might not win. Nuts isn't it? We've asked our neighbour not to paint it, that we would lime wash it if he wanted, and explained to him why. I guess we just have to keep our fingers crossed. To be honest we're seriously thinking of just selling the house and getting a nice modern one with a damp proof already built in:-;
You really have done the right thing by putting lime render on your outside wall. This allows the wall to breathe.
Our neighbours put a waterproof coating on their gable-end, which they have to come onto our land to maintain. It would never occur to us to stop the workmen coming back to re-do it, over and over again! The only stipulation we make is that they clear up after themselves.
Both our and their house are stone built. Fingers crossed, we have lime render which should not need anything done to it for at least 10 years. I love the way it changes colour as it dries out and then when it gets wet when it rains.
We have no damp course and I would assume, not much foundation either.
Gail Peacock said: Sadly because it's a party wall, he's entitled to do what he likes on his side, even though for example painting it with non breathable paint like masonry paint would damage the lime render we've had put on, and stop the wall from breathing again.
That seems tantamount to saying:
That seems too one sided (no pun intended) to stand in law.
My instinct would be to get a second opinion on that specific point in terms of your respective legal rights - party wall legislation is one thing but I would have thought that protection of property from the actions of a-n-other would take precedence here.
"Unfortunately," I hear something reminding me, " the law has nothing to do with common sense!" ... But I would try for a second opinion.
Hi Welshonion, I agree, lime looks beautiful on a wall doesn't it. I wish we had you as neighbours instead of who we have:-; He was in the garden recently cutting back some roses that were overhanging our wall. I didn't mind them being there, so I never asked him to prune them, looks like he's gearing up for litigation. I wish he'd just discuss it with us instead, save us all a lot of trouble!
Hi Birdy,
I know what you mean, it does seem very one sided! I think we will get an opinion from another surveyor, none of this seems fair at all. And as you say, the law doesn't seem to bear much resemblence to reality! I'm thinking the Party Wall Act certainly doesn't, I hope the bloomin wall collapses into the neighbour's garden. The solicitor I was speaking to advised me to look into keeping the wall dry on our side instead. I looked into it, and apparently we could get it tanked (like they do for cellars), but unfortunately we're in a conservation area and so we'd need planning permission to do it. (Because it's damp proofing.) The surveyor who looked at the wall and who knows the local conservation committee said that they'll very likely tell us no, that we'd have to deal with the neighbour and get it sorted with him. So back to litigation.