Areas covered
Damp proofing in Clevedon
Clevedon's Victorian seaside villas and terraces are handsome buildings with a recurring set of damp issues: rendered elevations, deep bay windows, and lower-ground rooms that were never meant to be habitable.
Rendered elevations and sea weather
A lot of Clevedon’s housing (Hill Road, the streets around Six Ways, Old Church Road) carries painted render over solid walls. When that render cracks or the paint film traps moisture, penetrating damp gets behind it and can’t dry out. On the sea-facing side of town, driven rain makes this worse.
Where the render has been patched with hard cement over an older lime background, it often debonds and holds water in pockets. Thermal imaging shows this clearly during a survey.
Lower-ground floors
Many of the larger villas have semi-basement rooms (original kitchens, sculleries and cellars) now used as utility rooms, studies and bedrooms. These sit partly below external ground level, so managing water means tanking or a cavity drain membrane, not a chemical DPC. Getting the specification right for the actual water pressure is the whole job.
Rising damp and timber
In the terraces and smaller cottages, bridged and failed DPCs cause classic rising damp, and the resulting damp in floor timbers brings wet rot and woodworm. Bay windows and cellar heads are the first places we look.
What we treat in Clevedon
Damp proofing
Diagnosis and treatment of rising damp, penetrating damp and water ingress. Root cause first, then the right fix.
Rising damp treatment
Chemical damp-proof course injection and waterproof replastering, only where rising damp is actually confirmed.
Penetrating damp
Finding and fixing water getting in through walls, roofs and around openings, including high-level defects via drone survey.
Timber treatment & rot
Dry rot eradication, wet rot repair and structural timber treatment, with the damp source dealt with too.
Woodworm treatment
Identifying active woodworm and treating every accessible timber with Biokil Crown approved products.
Damp & timber surveys
Independent surveys using calibrated moisture meters, FLIR thermal imaging and drone roof inspection.
Nearby places we also cover
Not listed? See all areas covered, or ask us. We often travel a little further.
Common questions about damp proofing in Clevedon
How is a damp lower-ground or basement room treated?
Below-ground rooms can’t be treated with a damp-proof course alone. The usual options are cementitious tanking or a cavity drain membrane system. We survey the structure, water levels and how the room is used before recommending one. See damp proofing.
Our house is in the Clevedon conservation area. Does that affect the work?
It can. On listed and conservation-area properties we favour breathable, reversible repairs: lime plaster and render rather than cement, and dealing with water ingress at source.
The bay window floor feels bouncy. Is that rot?
Often, yes. Clevedon’s Victorian bay windows have shallow, poorly ventilated sub-floor voids that trap moisture, leading to wet rot in the bearers and joist ends. We’d lift a board to check.
Damp or timber problem in Clevedon?
Call or request a callback and we'll arrange a proper look at the problem.