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Under the path to my front door is a small, basement level, bare brick walled room containing my gas meter.
It's an old Victorian building and the ceiling of this room looks to be concrete/aggregate.
For the past few weeks, water had been dripping in- so much that it has killed my gas meter.
Obviously I want to get this sorted- either done myself or get a builder (but preferably done myself).
Only thing is, the ceiling is soaking wet and is unlikely to dry out before summer.
Is there any way I can seal the ceiling of this room to stabilise it and prevent the water/damp from spreading?
Any products anyone would recommend?
There are a few ventilation panels in the walls.
Bitumen seal on top.
Painting it on will last for a year at most, you could put roofing felt on, that'd last a few years.
The best way is a full pour on bitumen. They put ally edges around the outside, then pour 10-20mm of bitumen on top. This is a pretty much permanent fix.
The problem is, the top side of the roof is the path leading to the front door- so treatment will have to be made to the underside/ceiling.
You'll have to take the path up.
underside repair is never gonna work long term.
just put sheet of polythene over gas meter
Can you get a heater in to help dry it?
Is the water penetrating the concrete road coming in around the edge of the cover slab and running on the soffit to the middle where it looks like it's coming through the concrete?
You can get waterproofing slurry concrete to apply to the inside walls/ceiling which will probably sort it but subgrade needs to be dry(ish) for it to work. Follow the instructions properly. You need a good few layers.
Google vandex or similar. My whole undercroft is lined with it as the cheapskate basterds that built it didn't put a dpm down. This includes a bit of concrete path over.
Can you not just get a glassfibre gas meter box put over the meter? Most gas meters sit outside in a box and do fine.
Would putting brick sealant into the concrete help any, not going to be a permanent fix once the front comes but it might slow the progress.
Waterproofing slurry concrete sounds like my best bet.
It is something I'd like to get sorted, as I don't want it spreading to the house.
It seems to be coming in all over really, as there are sections where there is missing concrete leaving a jagged aggregate type surface- which is allowing it to pour straight through.
Would a liberal application of the waterproofing slurry stuff do the job?
I might be able to dry it with a heater and dehumidifier, IF it ever stops raining...
NOt something silly like a leaking water main is it? (seeing as it only started a few weeks ago)
spooky_b329 - Member
NOt something silly like a leaking water main is it? (seeing as it only started a few weeks ago)
I will investigate, as water main is in same place.
I only really noticed it in the last few weeks, since the gas meter started malfunctioning.
We've had a serious amount of heavy rain of late. As above it would be better sealed from above. Issue this an option?
If you're not prepared to dig up your front path/ garden/ yard to renew the waterproofing from above then the next best thing is to put drip trays in to collect and divert the water ingress to some kind of sump so you can pump it out. Painting stuff on won't work.
I would get a plastic cover(bag) over the meter and then investigate where leak is coming from. Any sealant on inside will be a waste of time and money tbh.
It all depends on how the water is getting through the concrete. If it is seeping through fine cracks then painting on a slurry could do the trick (have a look at Kryton http://www.kryton.com/products/krystol-t1-t2/ ). But, if there is a crack or joint several mm wide then that approach might not work.
vandex is excellent stuff.
the amount of pressure head on the vandex could be an issue but its used for tanking basements (such as our last 2 propoerties) where external waterproofing is not possible. It does need to applied properly and extra care taken at edges/corners etc to get sufficient coverage.
You can go nuts with celotex plastic liners etc and do it 'properly' but it will cost loads unless you have drainage. If its a crappy outside area you dont need it hermetically sealed just keeping the worst out.
IIRC vandex (or another similar) is about £25 a bag.
Ive always needed to put on more than the 3 coats suggested.