How to fix rising damp & penetrating damp - (PART 3). Channel drain / french drain installation. 

Really enjoyed your video thank you. For all you newbies out there any new connection to foul drainage requires building regs approval in the uk, many people don't do it but officially you should. For a new foul waste via a toilet etc a connection would have to be via an inspection chamber, for a connection from rain water an inspection chamber is recommended but a rod-able point is regarded as sufficient. For connection to a clay pipe a rubber adaptor is available which converts to the new diameter.

An excellent series of videos. Exactly what I need to sort our our damp problem. Thanks for your efforts and for sharing.

Absolute legend. Sick and tired of seeing these slug holes and the damp proof business is a con. Majority of the time is a water penetration issue from leaking gutters, poor maintenance on drainage or high ground level. Brilliant stuff mate, earnt a sub

Pousey! Thanks a lot for the nod! I've watched all 3 and know doubt watch them again as it's a certainty this is my problem

Really like the job, has a nice rustic look to it too, well done. Are you ok running surface water into foul though? I guess it's pretty minimal so possibly no issue

Just wondering how this is fairing after 5-6 years?

Great video which has given me great confidence in doing the job myself. Few questions.. what was your fall for your drains. Also I’ve seen people wrap their French drain in a fabric to stop dirt getting into the drain.. what was your reason for not doing this? Great video btw

@7:59 the job ahead is to" pull the board up and fill in between" . Must these boards be taken out? I bought a house and upon investigating wet carpet in hallway, I noticed these seperater boards were left in! I thought they might be the cause of the damp. They were wet and the skirting that sat directly above them was rotten. New builder came to do work and just laid laminate floor in hallway without addressing this issue. And already (.2 months later) I notice mould on the new skirting he relaid! Should i take up floor again and pull out remaining separator boards? If so what should I fill gap with. ( don't know if builder filled the gap created by me removing the one wet section of board before laying flooring AND he 'remembered' that he built the extension so was responsible for this! Lol) if I don't hear back and problem gets worse, I'll go ahead and do that .

Maybe should have lined the trench with permeable membrane and brought it over the gravel to keep the gravel free of fine sediment

Was your pipe still perforated when joint into your P trap? I’m doing a similar job and don’t know if I needed to join into solid pipe for the join?

I'm late to the party watching this mini series, but I'm very impressed. Excellent advice on every aspect of the job, especially the hydraulic lime repointing of the brickwork. Cement renders cause so much damage in older buildings, it's refreshing to see someone as clued up as you on the common sense way of fixing the problem. 👍

Good advice and if nothing else it demonstrates that calling in a so called damp proof "specialist" is not the best approach when it comes to damp issues. Not sure however that you are allowed to connect surface water to a foul drain as it can overload the sewage works - unless of course Building Control or the Water Authority permitted this. Drainage work requires formal consent under the Building Regs you see!

Looks good, you should bring the gravel up a little bit so that it is more level with the sidewalk cement. It would look much better!

Really informative videos for this complete novice. I have owned many houses over the years with all sorts of problems, especially damp, dry rot, beetle you name it I've had it. The answers I have always been told by surveyors, companies etc is chemical injection, beetle spray la di da. With your videos and Peter Wards videos it is obviously nothing to do with that and everything to do with removing the causes of water ingress, unbreathable render, concrete pointing, ventilating the houses and the flooring. I own two houses in France, both old, solid walls etc with loads of these problems but at last, I think the solutions are simple and going to be very effective and thank goodness I have seen your information before we really started. I have just had a very expensive survey done on my new (very old ) house that says rising damp etc but it is obviously not as there clearly is no such thing. Everything needs to breathe, and the correct age appropriate materials need to be used. Thank you so much.

Do the chippings stop the rain splashing back on the wall?

Jobs a gooden indeed. looks really well 👍

Great video. Planning on doing this myself but I have one question - why the perforated drain on one side and the channel drain on the other? If I can get away with just using the perforated drain and gravel, I'd prefer that, but just want to make sure it's the right choice. It'll run along the side of the house like yours.

Which solutions treat the cause and not just the symptoms of rising damp?

Good video mate. That music home made as well on the old synthesiser?

I hope that wasn't your Foul drain that you tapped into because you'll be smelling the Sewer you should have added a trap to Stop any smells

A nice job lad

Hi, I’ve dug all my existing concrete slab at the back of my house. I plan on putting down an Indian stone patio/path around the back and side. I want to put a drain against the house and I assumed a channel drain would have been best (that search found your video), I can’t understand as to why you didn’t install another channel drain against the house? What are the benefits to it being a French drain and not a channel drain? I’d prefer the French if I’m honest as it would be much cheaper. The cost of channel drains is a bit eye watering. AND a 15meter channel 20cm thick from the house with some nice white decorative stone covering the French will save me 3sqmish of indian stone too :D

My home in Cardiff is 1920's single skin build and I am in the process of digging a concrete driveway so it is not in contact with the wall. I have encountered what looks like a kerb stone which is bloody hard to break up and it is tripling the time it takes . Any advice on this?

Would love to see some new videos :)

i would have tested that main drain you cut into before filling in with concrete just to make sure it was ok and dry

Hi great videos really has helped me as i need to do something similar, Can i ask a question where the french drain runs along the building can you fill the gap to the level of the concrete with gravel or is that defeating the object?

very nice . ignore mikes comment . he must be a damp course injector 😂😂😂

You may aswell have slabbed the entry for the extra cost and had all new ;)

This is spot on, injection damp course does absolutely nothing! How is it still around! Simply take the water away from the wall

Hi, would you be able to come and do some work for me on my house?

Installing some drainage channels at the moment. Paving has been built up above DPC and worse, tons of sand used under it, which is one of the worst materials when it comes to bridging. Also, what I find is the manufacturers provide bugger all technical information on specification and installation.

Hi mate just a quick question, I’m planning on doing the same job on my home because of the same issues. Is there a reason why you put a French drain close to the house and not a channel drain? Thanks mate

How would you do a drain around a bay window?

Hi not to sound negative about the job but why didn't you just remove the concrete to correct level?, I had similar on my property and was not very expensive to do.

Excellent video Pouse,I have a question, I have a single skin brick porch which is open plan to the main house, I have used insulated plasterboard on the walls but my damp course is 10mm or so above my solid concrete floor, is this the normal place?Outside is fine 2 bricks above ground then damp course. Kingspan say to use pu foam under the insulated plasterboard, but will this then bridge /moisture as the foam would be both sides of the damp course?Any advice would be very much appreciated. P.s,Walls appear dry enough.

the end of the drainage channel you cut beside the p-trap did you put a stop end ,if so how because thats the part you cut,,cheers

Sorry to bug you im buying a 120 year old house here and its got the damp issue in the kitchen. Now thats a double story extension off the back of the house, and the garden slops down towards the rear. Ill have a go at the same principle as what I've seen here. But I gotta ask whats the perforated pipe in the trwnch for. Also would a simple french drain run along the wall be sufice or would it need to be the same set up as shown here. Again apologies for a long winded message.

Nice job on the drainage but my OCD wouldn’t have let me patch that path up without at least repairing in sections cut out with grinder 👍

Why did you use a French drain? Can the drainage channel run along the house?

good stuff. had similar problem but fortunately had cavity so cut a trench with cutter and neighbours concrete breaker. also removed mortar snot from cavity by removing window boards and some bricks. seems to be fixed for good

Hi, any reason why you used french drain along the side of your house and channel on the side of the path? I was thinking of doing channel along my walls and french through my garden for surface drainage but now thinking is it vest to do all french??? Help please

looks to me like you did the right job on the level etc. wall should dry out nicely. lots of hard work, well done mate!.

Excellent video, hope you're damp issues are now all solved. Some good hard graft gone into that job :)

Great video. Just moved into a house with a concrete driveway along one side that is visibly higher than the DPC. Obvious damp on the internal wall. Damp man suggested tanking all the walls! I will ignore him and try to copy what you’ve done, a bit daunted by the prospect of starting though! How to did get the neat edge in the concrete next to the trench? Just a floor saw and then break it out?

Thanks for the video very informative, I was wondering if you could help with a problem? if you had render down to the floor (bridging the damp course) could you cut back the render to bricks, 150cm above ground level Cream injection the mortar on those bricks to create a DPC, then create a render plinth with a DPC and re-render above? got some rising damp but I cant dig the floor as its on the neighbours property ( pretty much exactly the same problem as you, I just cant dig) any suggestions?, Cheers.

Love the chickens!

Hi mate. I enjoyed watch your videos. Just have 2 questions If u dont mind to answer. 1 when u cut outthe hole in clay pipe u said it might be blocked by tissues etc. Does it means is it toilet waste pipe? 2. When u conect together two flexi pipes have u seal it with anything? Maybe u was saying about that but I havent catch it. Any way great job. And waiting for your response. Take care.

Hello mate, I'm currently doing a similar thing on my home, and old terraced house. Was your choice of placement of the channel drain simply due to the camber of the pathway? For example if it was going toward the building would you have installed along the threshold between the house and pathway? Hope that makes sense

Hi, great video. When you cut the storm drain you didn't show how you sealed then end. How did you do that? Cheers

Great video and great job, well done. Question: how will rainwater end up in the perforated pipe beneath the shingles against the house wall ? The rainwater will hit the shingles and house brick wall and run down into the cut ground, how much of it will actually go into the pipe and how much will soak into the soil ? I am asking because I have the same issue and pebbledashed walls. Thanks and appreciate.

I was wondering whether you considered using a weed prevention membrane between the soil and gravel. I was looking to do a very similar thing around the bottom of my bay window to increase drainage. I lifting the 3 inch thick crazy paving last year and thought maybe I had mad a mistake as I still have the mortar bed and sub base to remove. However since then I have noticed a real improvement in the bay window in term so damp. Weeds seems to really thrive in the front garden so I wondered if weed prevention textile could be used as part of the french drain system.

Hey Pouse, great videos mate, you explain things so well! I've done a french drain around my garage very similar to yours, and it exits at the front end of the concrete slab around my garage which I cut out and then concreted the perforated pipe back in where it terminates and should take the water out onto my sloping driveway. My issue is the water doesn't seem to get taken out as I expected. I bedded the perforated pipe onto a layer of coarse gravel on top of the foundation of the garage to ensure the fall is suitable over the length of the pipe, and back filled it with smaller sized gravel. The pipe has a geofabric sock on it as well. I guess the water finds it way into the gravel and then seeps out of the drain under the foundation and adjacent concrete slab, rather than being carried along the pipe and out to where it should terminate. Is this normal or should I find a way to stop the water seeping away and guide it properly through the drain as intended? By the way I've dug the drain up already as I need to apply a damp proof solution to the base of the garage wall as it still let's in water. I'm going to do a mortar fillet along the base of the garage wall where it meets the foundation, then put some bitumen paint on top and then put the drain back in place. Hopefully it works after that but again I'm not sure about the water carrying Cheers mate!

do you work for a company? if so do you do call outs. we got a damp problem our house is rather old. and got companies telling us all different things but not where the problem is coming from..

Watched all 3 parts. Very helpful. Thank you.

have you had any issues after the work was carried out? I got a house a year ago. it had a few damp issues. the ground levels outside have been raised to create a slope which covered the original dpc level. we have had the walls injected and had someone put in a drain along one side of the house. but we are still having issues.

great videos i feel pretty prepared to go give this a go on my property now. bought near 2 years ago and refilled/plastered and painted the walls without thinking why the walls were rough in the first place. outside house is exactly the same lvl as the house. one thing i didnt see mentioned is what pipe is that black pipe you used on the floor under the gravel? also it seem it wasnt put in with much accuracy, aslong as its there its good to go? thanks in advance

Hi mate, thanks for the series...certainly given me the confidence to tackle a damp issue I have. 1950's house that I think was built with reclaimed or traditionally manufactured yellow bricks. These seem to act like sponges. The block brick patio is only about 90mm away from the DPC and that appears to be being breached, possibly with splash back. Consequently the mortar/cement 600mm from ground level and for about 2 metres is powdery and falling out.... only had it repointed about 2 years ago and it's going already. To compound the problem on the other side of the wall are the incoming cold mains pipe, heating pipes etc.... just had all these renewed (with a water softener going in) and there is considerable condensation beading on the cold pipes. So I have kind of got to tackle this from two sides. I guess sort out the internal condensation and insulate at least the cold pipes. Then drop the outside levels and I'm thinking of putting in a similar french drain, with gravel... and by the looks of it that black pipe allows water to pass into and along it? I'm not sure whether to put an air brick in as well, but I think the cavity may be insulated as well.

Thank you. You've just given me a great head start on how to fix our damp problem

French drain as a material around it

Hi, Pouse this is just the video I needed, I have sort of the same problem but mine is a bay window.. just one thing I'm not sure about is the sewer gas will this be a problem?.....

What an utter crap job cutting into a silo pipe

Great series of videos - thanks. I have a problem with excess moisture / condensation in a room at the front of my house. I only bought the house a few months ago but apart from the normal reason for condensation / mold build up could the fact the only form of drainage at the front of the house being a natural soakaway be causing excess moisture? Note no signs of damp as such.

Thanks for creating these videos Pouse they're a massive help! We've a similar damp issue with our house and my husband has started digging out the trench. However ,he's unsure how deep he needs to go, please can you offer any advice? Many thanks Sarah

if it is easy for you my friend what have you put underneath to give a call to the grill. have you put cement or gravel?🇬🇷👍

Brilliant video, when lowering and laying a new path after adding the drain, is it optimal for it to be straight or slightly sloping away from house?

Nice job thanks for the video's

Thank you so much for this video. Did it solve your problems?

Well explained & edited, and a lot of practical tips & observations - good stuff & thank you. My questions is about how the french drain works, which is a mystery to me. If it is perforated all round, water will run out of the bottom as fast as it comes into the top. And water draining down through the gravel bed anywhere except directly over the top of the french drain pipe will bypass it and end up below it - and so will never get into your sewer. Do you not need a v-shaped impermeable membrane or surface that the perforated drain sits in to direct the water to reach the solid pipe? Sorry if there's a bleedin' obvious answer to this I'm unable to see.

Really good work:)

Thanks for posting !

I love it ... thanks a lot for the details

You are a LEGEND. I have exactly the same job to do around the house we bought for the investor. The same issue with dump and condensation inside the property and around the external walls of the terraced house. Loved it.

Did I miss something or did you not seal the brick up to the top of the French drain. Surely water can go down the gravel and enter the exposed brick before it gets to the pipe? Would it not also be good to add a waterproof membrane right at the bottom of the trench and seal the brick up to top of the trench with that black paint?

Great stuff

Awesome video!

Have you ever heard of Heath Robinson?

Nice one mate. You've given me a great start with regard dealing with penetrating damp in my Victorian end of terrace. Cheers.

Brilliant work, thanks for the guidance , I'm just doing it on my 150 year old cottage. I have rising damp all up the wall. So fitting a gulley system. Great video 👍

How do you clean out the trap that you created..

Great video. I have just recently brought a semi detached house with similar issues. I'm getting damp patches on the lower wall and I want to get the same drainage system as you, but wanted to know whether you think I should deal with the internal plaster aswell. There's black spots on the lower wall inside the house and was wondering if these would go if the wall dries up or do you think i should hack off and replaster the lower wall.

Absolute smart guy

Great channel!

Sound advice from you...well done.

Hi dude, hows the french drain going for you? I need to do a similar installation for my victorian house but I am thinking of just running a plastic sheet along the footings against the house, and then filling with shingle. Not planning on putting a pipe in there as there isn't loads of water to drain. Do you think this would work? Thanks! Loving the videos. Been watching for years while I was renovating my house.

Mate this is excellent, soo informative and actually exactly what i need! U even had the chickens interested 😂

I enjoyed watching your videos. They brought some questions to mind: 1- Did you consider using Black Jack and applying it to the house walls below grade for waterproofing? 2- Has the grated channel loosened with time on the side pressed against the red bricks? 3- On the portion of the wall that sounded hollow, have you needed / considered doing work on it? 4- If you were to start again what would you do differently? 5- What was the effect on moisture, humidity, or visual signs on the inside of the house?

No such thing as rising damp!

I mentioned in part 1 how foolish it was of you to make a simple job into something far bigger, something that could cause you all kinds of future difficulties. This is a DIY job indeed. Why you put it up for public viewing indicates that you really dont know what you are doing. Any DIY'ers watching this weird business - do not do it this way if you have similar damp problems.