Advice re: rain forcing through a concrete wall

[Badger74]

Hi all,

I have just moved to Ireland and the big shed that I'm storing our stuff in until we get our own place is not as dry as I remember. The recent driving rain seems to have soaked through the wall and runs across the concrete floor.

Any suggestions welcome on a fix to the wall that doesn't involve plastic sheeting on the outside as it will disappear in this wind.

Many thanks.

 

[JAG009]

Tanking bitumen a few coats should do the trick

 

[santaman2000]

Whether you can fix the wet floor or not, you should get your things op off the concrete (especially any metal things) Just put them on old pallets to raise them a few inches.

 

[Dogoak]

Thompsons Water Seal or something like that, just brush it on. Any problems with the floor? Has it got a damp course?

If it's not got any ventilation, put some in.

 

[bopdude]

As Jag009 says, some form of paint on tiling tanking system, you may have to prime the wall first, what area are you talking about ?

 

[ozzy1977]

Check your gutters

 

[Joonsy]

Are you sure it’s the walls, if the concrete floor was laid without a vapour barrier underneath it will constantly be damp/wet due to soaking up moisture from the ground beneath (a vapour barrier is just a sheet of thick poythene that lies between the ground and concrete to stop damp).

 

[Badger74]

Defo the wall. I cant bitumen as its not my shed. It hasn't anything to do with a damp course it has always been dry from what I remember. I was thinking a type of seal like Thompson's but I didn't think it would be man enough. Its blacker than a black hole outside so I'll take some pics in the morning to give you an idea. Santaman that would have been the first thought but we didn't have enough pallets. The removal mans words, "you have 15 tonne of crap". I agreed

 

[JAG009]

Defo the wall. I cant bitumen as its not my shed. It hasn't anything to do with a damp course it has always been dry from what I remember. I was thinking a type of seal like Thompson's but I didn't think it would be man enough. Its blacker than a black hole outside so I'll take some pics in the morning to give you an idea.

You could water seal the outside , and pva the inside walls and the floor it dries clear, put the pva on straight do not dilute it ,you can get this for about £7 for 5L ,give it plenty of time to dry

 

[demographic]

Is the guttering OK?

 

[rorymax]

Badger 74, I would urge caution before doing anything at all.

I would be surprised if it was rain water being driven through the walls (possible though).
I would never apply any surface water sealer such as Thompsons (or any other brand) it would be a nightmare to get any other surface coating to properly adhere once applied. I cannot think of any circumstance that would make me use products such as Thompsons water sealer.

I would suspect that the water is likely to be coming from where the walls meet the floor slab, even without a DPM the floor slab would not weep sufficient water to flood, damp maybe - but not flooding.

There are products that will seal the concrete wall (or the areas between the wall and the floor slab) effectively if that is indeed the problem, they require careful preparatory works and will definitely be effective particularly when applied to the 'positive pressure' side; too long to explain here.

I would avoid doing anything until you positively identify the source(s) of water ingress.

I have and on occasion still do work with specialist systems for the prevention of water ingress, hope this helps.

rorymax

 

[TarHeelBrit]

First off I would caution against sealing the walls until you're sure where the water is coming from.

When you say the floor is wet is is uniformly wet or just in one place? As already mentioned check any guttering, If the gutter is full of leaves it will cause the water to wick up under the roof tiles or bitumen sheeting. What is the grading like around the building? does it grade to the building or away from it. If the grading is towards the building and the wind is from the same direction it will drive ground water to the building. Are there any gaps (no matter how small) between the bricks/breeze blocks water will wick through. What's the weatherstrip like on the door is it any good?.

There's a lot of thing to look at before applying a weathercoat and it's best to find the source rather than wasting time and money on something that doesn't work. I know because I went through a similar thing with my dad years ago on the breeze block garage. It was caused by a minute gap at the wall floor joint. Everytime it rained the floor got wet.

For the time being for Gods sake get everything up off the floor or in plastic storage totes, anything to protect it from water.

 

[petrochemicals]

If it's unheated, and you wish to stop the walls becoming damp(er), clad them in slates, tiles, shingles, slats or weather seal it. If it's not heated and it's (becoming) sodden, the wall will slowly degrade. But like roymax suggests that may not stop the leak, if it is a leak.

 

[Badger74]

I may not have explained it well. The water is coming through the wall about 4 feet up and running down the inside of the wall onto the floor, and then across the floor in about 4 places. On closer inspection, the metal cladding on the dry part of the shed finishes about 1" past the top of the wall; the parts that are leaking are where the cladding stops on top of wall in places.

I will post photos this afternoon.

 

[Badger74]

Here are a few photos that hopefully illustrate what I mean.

 

[British Red]

I'll put money on that coming through the gaps in the wriggly tin

 

[JAG009]

The wall being proud of the corrugated sheeting is not going to help things ,see if you can seal that ,then a good coat of masonry paint ,then water seal over that once the paint is dry that is , that should help , but as I said you can pva the inside wall , and clear all the soil and rubbish from the back wall making sure the soil height is below the base height

 

[JAG009]

Ps seal the joint between the wall and the corrugated sheeting on the inside not the outside with mastic not silicone ,mastic will stay wet and flex with the building

 

[Badger74]

Thanks all.

Its been dry for a few hours and the floor has dried up. Until the next bout of rain and gales; which will be in about 10 minutes looking at the sky

 

[Joonsy]

In photo three it looks like the corrugated sheets are just butting on top of the concrete wall and not overlapping it (and this is how you seem to describe it), is this correct?. If this is so the wind will easily drive rain water back inside the shed and down the wall. You need to either create an overlap between sheets and wall, or seal the gap between sheets and wall. Personally I would create a ''good'' overlap as it's more permanent (either with short similar sheets or even roofing felt). Don’t underestimate wind driven rain.

Also in photo four, there is a different coloured piece of sheeting (plastic one for light? or just another metal one?), is the leak inside shed beneath that piece of sheeting and if so are the overlaps on it the right way round to stop water running down the inside.