Wet walls after heavy rain

[Mr Creosote]

The initial message was deleted from this topic on 27 July 2026 at 09:10

[Lotobear]

I wouldn't worry - the cavity will prevent any water reaching the inside surfaces and brickwork is 'designed' to get wet and then dry out.

Furthermore unless I'm mistaken I seem to see a weepvent at DPC level so you have probably got a stepped DPC to address the external levels issue

[abzmike]

That’s rookie damp walls compared to mine under where gutters have been pulled down by snow and I’ve not had a chance to put them back.

[p1doc]

abzmike said:

That s rookie damp walls compared to mine under where gutters have been pulled down by snow and I ve not had a chance to put them back.

same here in aberdeenshire lol, took 3 days and a lot of skinned knuckles but sorted snow vheavy this year though!

[Panamax]

I don't understand the brickwork at that corner closest to the camera. What's going on with the bonding?

[JoshSm]

Panamax said:

I don't understand the brickwork at that corner closest to the camera. What's going on with the bonding?

The angle makes it look weird but it's just a slightly projecting quion on the corner.

[Wacky Racer]

If you are concerned you can always paint a couple of clear coats of "Thompson's water seal" on the bottom five courses but I wouldn't bother, bear in mind sometimes it changes the colour of the brick work slightly.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/thompsons-water-seal-cl...

[shtu]

The gound is a little high relative to the DPC and air brick level, but it's not awful, and think about the work needed to reduce that level - not worth it.

The "french drain" is probably a sprinkle of gravel over the top of the soil, so maybe dig down and see what's really there. Not hard to dig it down a foot or so and make sure it's gravel all the way.

[wolfracesonic]

Mr Creosote said:

JoshSm said:

The angle makes it look weird but it's just a slightly projecting quion on the corner.

Quoin. That's a new word for me. Every day's a school day

Snecking is the new word you want. The brickwork will cope ok OP but it’s not great to have the air bricks half buried in what is effectively a soak away. I’m guessing the paving was laid after the building was done.

[wolfracesonic]

Mr Creosote said:

It was all done when the house was built, but I guess that patio went down last.

The air brick thing came up on the survey, actually, but the surveyor said it wasn t a huge issue - just need to keep the air bricks clear of leaves etc. it is a bit naff though, I agree.

I think at some point I will dig down two bricks and add a brick s worth of gravel so the level is just below the air bricks.

Not sure how involved you want to get but these would solve any issues re. Water getting in/blocked with leaves.
Periscope vents.

[Mr Whippy]

Yep I’d want the air bricks un-occluded.

Is it a solid floor or floating? Do those air bricks go to those periscopes to the sub-floor cavity? Some new builds have a floating slab… deffo don’t want that filling up with water.

[Simpo Two]

wolfracesonic said:

Mr Creosote said:

It was all done when the house was built, but I guess that patio went down last.

The air brick thing came up on the survey, actually, but the surveyor said it wasn t a huge issue - just need to keep the air bricks clear of leaves etc. it is a bit naff though, I agree.

I think at some point I will dig down two bricks and add a brick s worth of gravel so the level is just below the air bricks.

Not sure how involved you want to get but these would solve any issues re. Water getting in/blocked with leaves.
Periscope vents.

Presumably the high end goes inside!

[hidetheelephants]

shtu said:

The gound is a little high relative to the DPC and air brick level, but it's not awful, and think about the work needed to reduce that level - not worth it.

The "french drain" is probably a sprinkle of gravel over the top of the soil, so maybe dig down and see what's really there. Not hard to dig it down a foot or so and make sure it's gravel all the way.

That would be my concern; where is the DPC relative to all this? It's not obvious which course of mortar it's in. Judging from the air brick things the patio is rather high; lowering it would be rather a lot of work, I'd content myself with lowering the level of the french drain and if the OP is still not happy perhaps trim back the slabs a few inches to reduce splash back.