Damp Proofing in Gateshead
Gateshead runs from dense Victorian streets in Bensham and Saltwell, through the interwar semis of Low Fell and Sheriff Hill, to stone-built villages like Whickham and Ryton on the hills. Each brings its own damp. We work across the whole borough, with no travel charges, and we start every job by finding out which kind of damp you actually have.
Damp in Gateshead homes
Bensham and Saltwell have some of the densest Tyneside flat and terrace housing on the south bank of the river. Solid brick walls, shared party walls, back lanes that have been raised over the years, and a lot of cement render added in the 1970s and 80s. The classic result is rising damp in the front room and hall with salts and blown plaster, and we see the same thing in the older streets of Felling and Dunston. A chemical damp course and a breathable renovation plaster puts those walls right.
Low Fell, Sheriff Hill and Wrekenton sit high and exposed, and the interwar semis there catch the weather on their west and south-west gables. Pebbledash and painted render that has cracked lets rain into the wall, and by the time it shows inside the plaster is soft. We repair the render and pointing outside, then replaster inside once the wall has dried, so the problem does not come back with the next storm.
Whickham, Ryton and Blaydon have older stone and brick cottages with thick solid walls and sometimes no damp course at all, alongside modern estates with none of those problems. Stone walls need a careful survey because damp in them can be rising, penetrating or simply the wall being cold; we take the readings and explain what we find before suggesting a fix.
Parts of Gateshead we cover
We work across the whole of Gateshead and the streets around it, including Low Fell, Whickham, Felling, Birtley, Dunston, Saltwell, Bensham, Wrekenton, Ryton, Sheriff Hill, Pelaw, Heworth, Wardley, Lobley Hill and Teams. There are no travel charges anywhere in Gateshead.
Before we quote in Gateshead
Gateshead's 1930s semis in Low Fell, Sheriff Hill and Lobley Hill are a common source of confusion, because owners are told they have cavity walls and so cannot have damp. Early cavities were often built with mortar dropped onto the wall ties or debris left at the base, which lets moisture cross to the inside leaf. On a survey we look for damp that sits in patches in line with the ties, or low down along the whole wall where the base of the cavity is full. Sometimes the fix is clearing the cavity or replacing ties rather than anything inside the room, and we will not inject a damp course into a wall that does not need one.
On the steeper streets of Bensham, Saltwell and Felling, houses are often stepped down the slope, so one end of a terrace sits higher against the ground than the other. That changes where damp appears and how high it goes. We take readings along the length of each wall rather than at one point, and we check the back lanes and the drainage at the top of the slope, because water running down a hill finds the lowest wall in the row. On the lower houses we often find yard drains choked with silt and leaves, or a gully that overflows against the back wall in heavy rain, and clearing or relaying that drainage is part of a lasting fix rather than an extra to be argued about afterwards.
How we do damp proofing
The full process, step by step, and what it involves.
location_onOur Gateshead guide
The homes in Gateshead and the problems they tend to have.
photo_libraryCase studies
Real jobs written up: the problem, the work and the result.
menu_book5 warning signs you have rising damp
Our guide, written for homeowners.
Our 20-year guarantee
Where we install a damp proof course, you get a written 20-year guarantee against rising damp coming back through it, and it transfers to a new owner if you sell. For penetrating damp, condensation and the replastering that goes with them, our workmanship promise applies: if something we did is not right, we come back and sort it.
Damp Proofing jobs we have written up
Rated by customers across the North East on Checked & Vetted, MyBuilder and Google. Read the reviews.
Damp Proofing questions from Gateshead
Sometimes, but often not. Many of these houses have a damp course that still works, and the damp comes from a bridged cavity, a raised path or a failed render plinth instead. We check those first. If the readings really do show rising damp, we will say so, but we would rather fix the actual cause than inject a wall that does not need it.
It can. The lowest house in a stepped row has more ground pressing against its walls and collects water running down the lane and the yards above. We check drainage and ground levels outside as well as the wall inside, because the outside fix is often what stops the damp coming back.
Yes, across the whole borough, with no travel charges. The older stone cottages in those villages need a slightly different approach to the brick terraces near the town centre, and we survey them with that in mind.
More of what we do in Gateshead
Damp Proofing near Gateshead
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