Capillary active waterproofing? (for concrete).

Concrete is not generally waterproof.  Pores and cracks within will let water through and the age old problem is how to stop it. Most methods involve sticking a layer of something other than concrete on one side of the slab/wall or another.  Usually these are bitumen based, with little affinity for damp concrete.  Applying them […]

Type A waterproofing to BS8102 – here’s how.

Well, before any waterproofing is done, there’s obviously a design stage, so strictly speaking I’ve jumped the gun here – going directly to the business of actually waterproofing the building. As with all materials used for type A waterproofing, the preparation is key to success.  Skimp on the prep’ and the project will fail.  This […]

Using a membrane behind dry-linings, as a damp-proofing method needs thought….

As a damp proofing specialist I regularly use membranes to avoid damp.  However, the use of cavity drain membranes is increasing and on many occasions I find that they are incorrectly specified and cause problems. This is not the fault of the materials, merely poor knowledge of the specifyer.  Sometimes a builder, sometimes a customer […]

Why are these basement conversions so bad? And, is there anything we can do about it?

Lately I have been looking at quite a few converted basements in and around Leeds.  Many are in terraced housing, back-to-backs, and such.  Conversions are attractive on these smaller dwellings, especially if the project adds an extra bedroom or two. Add student letting into the equation and there is a real financial benefit in squeezing […]

Property Care Association awards 2010

Blimey! On Friday night, at the awards in London, I was presented with a ‘Highly Commended’ award in the PCA training category. It was a good night, spent at Lords Cricket ground with the great and the good of the preservation industry.  Guest speaker was the superb batsman Alex Stewart, who scored over 8000 runs […]

Copyright © 2010 Preservation Expert. Legal Stuff: All the advice and information in the posts on my blog is made in good faith and is based on my experience and knowledge at the time of writing. However, nobody is infallible and whilst I’m confident that most of what I write about preservation issues is accurate, there’s a good chance there’ll be an error or two somewhere. I do change my mind about stuff, as I gain more experience. In view of this you must make your own decisions on whether to follow any advice I write and think about this; I could be wrong. No responsibility will be accepted by the author for any losses anyone may suffer as a result of any mistake or for the consequence of any action you take as a result of reading this blog. If you do suffer a loss, resulting from anything I’ve written, a verbal heartfelt apology will be your only compensation.