Damp wall - air bricks?

[toast1]

We have a wall that is below the pavement, in a well going down to a basement door. The wall is always wet, due to water behind it.

It is brick.

Could we put air bricks in the wall, or a tube with holes that would allow the water behind the wall to come out?
Perhaps at the bottom of the wall, thus relieving water build up, as this water comes into the below ground rooms.

In europe.

 

Thank you

[Andy from Kent]

 

You probably realize you describe great conditions for the growing of Black Mold which is a serious situation.

[sometimewoodworker]

5 hours ago, toast1 said:

We have a wall that is below the pavement, in a well going down to a basement door. The wall is always wet, due to water behind it.

It is brick.

Could we put air bricks in the wall, or a tube with holes that would allow the water behind the wall to come out?
Perhaps at the bottom of the wall, thus relieving water build up, as this water comes into the below ground rooms.

You certainly can stop the water coming through the wall. A french drain is often part of that prevention. 

Unfortunately any effective prevention must be done on the outside face of the wall. There is little to nothing thats going to last long you can do to the inside that will do much. 

[sometimewoodworker]

4 hours ago, Andy from Kent said:

 

You probably realize you describe great conditions for the growing of Black Mold which is a serious situation.

Black mold needs a source of cellulose, so that may not be true

[KhaoYai]

Tanking......................the only way.  You can waste your money trying all sorts of fixes but if you want to fix the problem, you need to have in tanked.  Explanation below:

 

https://www.petercox.com/specialist-expertise/waterproofing-tanking/walls/

 

If the problem is severe, you might also have to dig down outside, below the floor level inside and put in a drain.

[RocketDog]

9 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

You certainly can stop the water coming through the wall. A french drain is often part of that prevention. 

Unfortunately any effective prevention must be done on the outside face of the wall. There is little to nothing thats going to last long you can do to the inside that will do much. 

Agreed, but a French drain needs a lower place to drain to as well. That by itself could be the real sticking point.

[sometimewoodworker]

12 minutes ago, RocketDog said:

Agreed, but a French drain needs a lower place to drain to as well. That by itself could be the real sticking point.

Not really, as fitting the french drain first requires excavating all the way down the outside of the wall, so tanking can be installed  (very expensive) to the correct depth (probably below the footings) and almost certainly a sump pump. 

[RocketDog]

1 minute ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Not really, as fitting the french drain first requires excavating all the way down the outside of the wall, so tanking can be installed  (very expensive) to the correct depth (probably below the footings) and almost certainly a sump pump. 

No doubt that would work, but not appealing. French drains (and the tank) could require periodic cleaning as well, which could be problematic at that depth. Of course a flush system could be installed, etc etc.

So much for compulsive engineering!

Much more fun to plan than to do.

[chilly07]

You will need a new internal solid wall with a gutter at the lowest level sloped towards an automatic sump pump draining to an outside drain. The new internal wall should be rendered with waterproof render. Don't forget butterfly wall ties between the old wall and new and a 1m return at either end

[Kinok Powell]

Any building that is below the outside ground level is a big problem. Air bricks or breathing pipes will do absolutely nothing.The solution is so dig down to below for floor level and "TANK" 

 

the outside wall.

Lots of new buildings are built with cellars underground in Germany but always tanked.

Sorry mate but it will be a dirty costly job that I would only do it it was really important.

Maybe cladding your inside wall with aluminium lathes and boarding it over would be a quick fix.

[toast1]

Thanks for the info.

 

I can't put in a French drain, thought some air bricks might help the moisture in the wall come out easier.

 

I guess not

 

[sometimewoodworker]

38 minutes ago, toast1 said:

Thanks for the info.

 

I can't put in a French drain, thought some air bricks might help the moisture in the wall come out easier.

they will. but be like lipstick on a pig 

[canopy]

22 hours ago, Kinok Powell said:

The solution is so dig down to below for floor level and "TANK" 

Sounds interesting. I am not familiar with the term and don't see search matches. Can you provide any more detail on what this is about?

 

[sometimewoodworker]

54 minutes ago, canopy said:

Sounds interesting. I am not familiar with the term and don't see search matches. Can you provide any more detail on what this is about?

 

It’s about waterproofing walls mostly under ground 

the search under works

google.com “what is tanking a wall”

Edited June 10, 2021 by sometimewoodworker

[Kinok Powell]

7 hours ago, canopy said:

Sounds interesting. I am not familiar with the term and don't see search matches. Can you provide any more detail on what this is about?

 

I am only a bricklayer and no expert on tanking as the last buildings i tanked were maybe 35 years ago and there will be new methods nowerdays.It has all to happen on the outside face of the damp wall.

1,excavate down to 6 inch below your inside floor level.More if you want to put a land drain in.

2,Dry the wall out from inside.

3,Clean the outside of the wall.

4 Paint the wall with  bitumen.

5,Stick on rolls of bitumen paper a bit like wallpaper.

6,Backfill the hole ,re-pave and hope for the best.

Good luck.

[toast1]

Thanks!