Rising damp is typically as a result of a failure in the damp proof course or the incorrect application or the omission there of. Moisture is drawn up in the wall, through the mortar course, thus creating rising damp.
Generally rising damp will not occur higher than 1.2m.
Blistering paintwork, hygroscopic plaster and efflorescent salting are signs of rising damp.
Since the 1950’s the conventional method of treating rising damp has been to inject a silicon diluted in water or a hydrocarbon solvent into the walls. The silicon would cure inside the wall and block any further moisture rising from the ground. This system has worked extremely well when installed correctly.
Today with advance of technology a cream based product is injected into the mortar course, the cream uses the dampness within the masonry structure to disperse its active ingredients.
This cream is injected into the mortar line or as close to floor level as possible creating a new DPC. The cream then slowly reverts to a liquid which is diffused into the surrounding masonry, particularly the mortar lines – the only continuous pathway in a masonry structure.
Once the cream has diffused, it cures to form a water-repellent barrier, halting the rising damp.
The range of the diffusion is greatly extended by the cream’s “vapour phase action” technology. As the cream diffuses, it releases a silicone vapour which permeates the masonry beyond the penetration zone. This silicone then reacts with silica structures within the masonry substrate to form water-repellent resins.