DPC Installation in Whitley Bay

Many Edwardian houses in Whitley Bay still have their original tiled hallway floors, and the hall is one of the most common places for rising damp. The tiles run right up to the wall, so the skirting has to come off and the plaster be taken down without damaging the floor. We protect the tiles, cut the old plaster cleanly above them and work by hand along the bottom course. The skirting goes back on once the renovation plaster is finished, and the floor is left as it was. Where the tiles have lifted at the edge because of damp beneath, we can reset the loose ones, but we will tell you before touching anything original. Encaustic and geometric tiles are not easy to replace, so they are treated with care from start to finish.

Front gardens here often have raised flowerbeds or soil banked against the front wall, sometimes higher than the damp course, and that is enough to feed the wall with water all winter. Clearing the soil back from the wall is part of the job. For sellers, treating a known damp wall before the house goes on the market, with a written guarantee to hand, avoids a buyer's survey turning into a price reduction later. Bay fronts in Whitley Bay also have a brick base under the window that sits on the ground and often has its own damp course issue, so we survey the bay separately from the flat walls either side. Front steps and tiled paths up to the door are checked for the same reason, as they often run straight against the house.