Building advice Strip paint off wall?

[toast1]

In the Uk, a 10' x 10' brick wall below the pavement leading to a basement is very wet. There is water leaking from an underground stream, that builds up in the earth behind and comes into the cellar.

The bricks and mortar are soaking wet, from all the water that builds up behind it, I assume.

 

The wall has a lot of paint on it, which makes a waterproof layer.

 

My question is - should I strip this water off, to reveal the bricks, would this let the water evaporate. Moisture in the bricks is higher than the outside air, even in an English winter.

 

Would this make much difference? 

 

I was thinking of stripping off the paint then putting on a breathable layer of paint, in the hope that water might evaporate, and reduce water leaking into the cellar, which is behind the wall.

Because of this we have to have a dehumidifier going 24/7.

 

Any opinions?
Thanks

 

[steve187]

stop the leak, chop off any plaster/render allow to dry and go from there, no good rushing

[Crossy]

You're going to need a competent builder I'm afraid, at least in the UK you stand a chance.

 

I'd leave it alone until summer when your water source is reduced.

 

I'm no expert, but I'd be looking at sealing the OUTSIDE of the wall which is not going to be a low cost job ????

 

[tjo o tjim]

You should install either a french drain on the exterior or a sump on the interior to try to lower the local water table.  As others said, you need to strip everything down or you will have mold problems.

[Denim]

Damp course ?

[sometimewoodworker]

10 minutes ago, Denim said:

Damp course ?

They only work above ground to stop capillary action.
 

Tanking is what is needed

[toast1]

Thanks for the info

[Morakot]

Quote

There is water leaking from an underground stream, that builds up in the earth behind and comes into the cellar.

 

Start dealing with the source, before you do anything else. Like a poster suggested above, a French drain or something like it.

[toast1]

We cannot find the source.

Will check out this drain.

But thinking that stripping the brick work of all paint, allowing dampness to evaporate, over 100m2 would help remove some moisture. 

Is this logical?

Thanks

 

[sometimewoodworker]

6 hours ago, toast1 said:

We cannot find the source.

Will check out this drain.

But thinking that stripping the brick work of all paint, allowing dampness to evaporate, over 100m2 would help remove some moisture. 

Is this logical?

Thanks

 

No. All it’s going to do is add a lot of humidity to the air in the house. So making even more problems for yourself.

 

Until you address the cause of the wall getting wet there is absolutely no point in doing anything much to the inside, you could actually make the situation worse by exposing the bricks.

 

The only real way to address the problem is to expose the wall on the outside and add tanking, but you will still have water under the wall so you will probably need to tie the tanking into a DPC at the bottom and tie that into a waterproof layer across the floor. I hope you have £,£££,£££. to spend. ???? 

Edited November 6, 2019 by sometimewoodworker

[tjo o tjim]

The only “cheap” solution that might work is to dig a sump

6 hours ago, toast1 said:

We cannot find the source.

Will check out this drain.

But thinking that stripping the brick work of all paint, allowing dampness to evaporate, over 100m2 would help remove some moisture. 

Is this logical?

Thanks

 

The water has to go somewhere. If you strip the paint, that will allow it to go into your home, both as humidity and likely liquid. 
 

There are temporary types of solutions where you drill a weep hole into the wall and epoxy a temporary drain tube in (which will eventually get clogged by sediment), but you need to know what you are doing with them; you could yourself with a nice artesian spring. 

[toast1]

We can't stop the water, it appears to be an underground stream, we are just trying to let the water evaporate, as it builds up behind the exterior wall, then leaks into the cellar.

 

If we tank the wall, then even more will build up, and leak into the cellar behind.

Thanks

 

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, toast1 said:

We can't stop the water, it appears to be an underground stream, we are just trying to let the water evaporate, as it builds up behind the exterior wall, then leaks into the cellar.

 

If we tank the wall, then even more will build up, and leak into the cellar behind.

Thanks

 

Tanking goes on the outside of a wall, so why and how would water go into the cellar?

 

if it’s an underground stream then you need to divert it away from you walls or waterproof the outside of the walls or both.

[BritManToo]

On 11/1/2019 at 5:12 PM, toast1 said:

There is water leaking from an underground stream,

Underground stream or broken sewer/water main?

The latter two are more likely.

 

I'd call the water company and ask them to fix their pipes.

Edited November 6, 2019 by BritManToo

[toast1]

Tanking the wall will force water into the cellar, the water company has already been involved, the cellar is behind the wall.

Thanks

 

[sometimewoodworker]

11 hours ago, toast1 said:

Tanking the wall will force water into the cellar, the water company has already been involved, the cellar is behind the wall.

You have still got me confused.

 

usually you have ground - wall - cellar 

 

from what you have said you seem to have 

very wet ground/underground stream - wall - cellar 

so the normal procedure would be

 

very wet ground/underground stream - tanking-wall-cellar 

 

the tanking would go on the outside of the cellar walls so protecting it.

 

If that is not correct then your explanation of the problem, where the wall is and what exactly you’re trying to do is lacking in clarity to say the least.