FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Well, while a specialist can consider existing conditions and give balanced advice, the British Standard to which we work - BS8102 - states that one must act as though ground water pressure will come to bear at some time during the life of the building. Also, while as far as you are aware your basement may have been apparently dry to date, there may be hidden existing drainage below the floors (very common in Victorian houses because they copied the way the Romans did it in forming channels below solid floors) that will be disturbed by any new works, particularly if the floors are dug out.

Indeed making any changes in a basement can disturb the equilibrium that has existed for years, so what was just a damp basement can easily become a wet one with water standing. This often occurs where existing reasonably drained but damp floors are taken up, with new concrete laid on a polythene dpm, resulting in free passage of ground water being blocked. So instead it emerges under pressure up at the wall and floor joints. A BS8102 specification will include waterproofing to both floor and walls to prevent this and create a fully dry space.