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"Hello All",
I am trying to find out some information to give to a Friend who is investigating the cause of Damp in his Home`s wall and has seen that his neighbours have Armoured cables entering their building through just a Hole / `Slot` in the Brickwork under ground level [Not visible at present but this is known] and wondered if the Hole in the Brickwork could be the entry point for the Damp to travel along the wall and then up into the Party wall into His property.
These Armoured cables are the Electricity supplies to 2 Flats - from the Meters / Main Fuses which are installed in an External Meter box to the Consumer Unit within each Flat - the cables run down the wall into the ground and bend through a Hole `Slot` into the Building.
I happen to know / remember that no Ducting was used through the Hole / `Slot` in the Brickwork where the cables enter the other building and the Hole / `Slot` was never made good before the trench for the new Electricity supply was filled in - as I was working at my Friends Home installing a Heating system when these cables were installed next door - I remember seeing how the Cables were installed and thinking that they should have been Ducted through the wall with the Ducting sealed at least externally.
At the time I remember that the bends on the Armoured cable would not have allowed any form of Ducting to be installed which would have run the full thickness of the Wall - I assumed that this is why none was installed.
Now that I have been asked by my Friend for advice on whether this Hole below the ground could be causing the Damp to permeate along the walls and up into the Party wall I would like to be able to let my Friend / his Neighbours know what should have been done when the Armoured cables were installed through the wall - in terms of a Duct an sealing the Duct to prevent the ingress of Water from the ground both into the Brickwork and through the Duct - ?
I am sceptical that this is the cause of the Damp in His next door property because of the amount of time that has elapsed [Years] before this Damp problem exhibited itself - but He has recently spent a fair bit of Money on Professional Damp treatments of the Walls in the area of the Damp and adjacent to it which has not solved the problem.
The Hole adjacent to the Cable entry point has not been excavated yet so I cannot post any Photos but I can still visualise what was done when they were installed.
I would like to be able to let Him know exactly what should have been done - or what can now be done to try and rule out or solve the Damp problem by Sealing the underground entry point of these Armoured cables into next doors Building - obviously ideally by being able to just Seal up the Hole / `Slot` with something that will NOT affect the Armoured cable sheathing - is this possible ?
Unfortunately there would be no way to correctly install any Duct around the Cables because of the way that they bend through the `Slot` / Hole in the Brickwork.
It is not going to be an option for an Electrician to disconnect these cables in order for them to be bent to allow a Duct to be installed [even IF there is enough slack within the Ground Floor Flat to pull back enough cable ?] because the People who now own the Flats are Pensioners who definitely cannot afford to pay for that.
As You can imagine my Friend does not want to pay for anything more than carefully digging a Hole adjacent the wall / Cable entry point and hopefully using something to Seal the Hole `Slot` in the Brickwork - which He can do Himself - will that be possible ?
I did not want to tell Him to just make good with Prompt Cement / Waterproof Cement or even Sand & Cement Mortar in case this would be corrosive to the exterior sheathing of the Armoured cable - ?
Obviously because the Hole is under ground whatever is used would have to be Waterproof.
I would really appreciate your Help and Advice on this Please.
Regards,
Chris
I am trying to find out some information to give to a Friend who is investigating the cause of Damp in his Home`s wall and has seen that his neighbours have Armoured cables entering their building through just a Hole / `Slot` in the Brickwork under ground level [Not visible at present but this is known] and wondered if the Hole in the Brickwork could be the entry point for the Damp to travel along the wall and then up into the Party wall into His property.
These Armoured cables are the Electricity supplies to 2 Flats - from the Meters / Main Fuses which are installed in an External Meter box to the Consumer Unit within each Flat - the cables run down the wall into the ground and bend through a Hole `Slot` into the Building.
I happen to know / remember that no Ducting was used through the Hole / `Slot` in the Brickwork where the cables enter the other building and the Hole / `Slot` was never made good before the trench for the new Electricity supply was filled in - as I was working at my Friends Home installing a Heating system when these cables were installed next door - I remember seeing how the Cables were installed and thinking that they should have been Ducted through the wall with the Ducting sealed at least externally.
At the time I remember that the bends on the Armoured cable would not have allowed any form of Ducting to be installed which would have run the full thickness of the Wall - I assumed that this is why none was installed.
Now that I have been asked by my Friend for advice on whether this Hole below the ground could be causing the Damp to permeate along the walls and up into the Party wall I would like to be able to let my Friend / his Neighbours know what should have been done when the Armoured cables were installed through the wall - in terms of a Duct an sealing the Duct to prevent the ingress of Water from the ground both into the Brickwork and through the Duct - ?
I am sceptical that this is the cause of the Damp in His next door property because of the amount of time that has elapsed [Years] before this Damp problem exhibited itself - but He has recently spent a fair bit of Money on Professional Damp treatments of the Walls in the area of the Damp and adjacent to it which has not solved the problem.
The Hole adjacent to the Cable entry point has not been excavated yet so I cannot post any Photos but I can still visualise what was done when they were installed.
I would like to be able to let Him know exactly what should have been done - or what can now be done to try and rule out or solve the Damp problem by Sealing the underground entry point of these Armoured cables into next doors Building - obviously ideally by being able to just Seal up the Hole / `Slot` with something that will NOT affect the Armoured cable sheathing - is this possible ?
Unfortunately there would be no way to correctly install any Duct around the Cables because of the way that they bend through the `Slot` / Hole in the Brickwork.
It is not going to be an option for an Electrician to disconnect these cables in order for them to be bent to allow a Duct to be installed [even IF there is enough slack within the Ground Floor Flat to pull back enough cable ?] because the People who now own the Flats are Pensioners who definitely cannot afford to pay for that.
As You can imagine my Friend does not want to pay for anything more than carefully digging a Hole adjacent the wall / Cable entry point and hopefully using something to Seal the Hole `Slot` in the Brickwork - which He can do Himself - will that be possible ?
I did not want to tell Him to just make good with Prompt Cement / Waterproof Cement or even Sand & Cement Mortar in case this would be corrosive to the exterior sheathing of the Armoured cable - ?
Obviously because the Hole is under ground whatever is used would have to be Waterproof.
I would really appreciate your Help and Advice on this Please.
Regards,
Chris
