Suffering from a damp ground floor?

Damp in the ground-floor walls often first develops behind cupboards, sofas or at the base of the skirting boards in the living area. However, there are also clear visual and tactile signs that indicate damp in the brickwork of your ground-floor walls.

• Damage to wall coverings and plasterwork: wallpaper coming away at the seams, blisters in the paint, and plaster that becomes grainy, powdery or soft just above the floor.
• Nitrate formation: Rising groundwater contains mineral salts. When the moisture in the wall evaporates, these salts are left behind as a white, fluffy deposit on the bricks or plaster of your walls. What’s more, these salts actively draw in fresh moisture from the surrounding air.
• Dark circles and damp patches: there are also areas of discolouration that are concentrated at the bottom of damp walls and become darker after rain or when the groundwater level rises.
• Cold walls and a musty smell: damp walls feel ice-cold to the touch and draw the hard-won heat away from the living space, leading to a higher energy bill and a persistent damp, musty smell in the living room.
• Mould growth on skirting boards and in corners: just think of black specks or patches of mould along the skirting boards and in the draughty corners of the ground floor.

Are you unsure about the condition of your walls? Then have your walls checked by our experts. We measure the moisture content deep within the building materials using a conductivity test, completely free of charge and with no obligation, with our free expertise.

Damp under the ground-floor flooring usually indicates a moisture problem in the cellar. This poses significant risks to the stability of your home and the indoor environment. Without professional intervention, the evaporating groundwater slowly seeps through the floor structure, causing fungi, resulting in wood rot and thermal bridges.

• Optimising ventilation in the cellar: cellars in many older homes are barely ventilated, if at all, because ventilation grilles have become blocked or sealed off over the years. Installing a mechanical ventilation system creates a continuous flow of air that removes the condensation moisture discharges directly outside.
• Installing a vapour-proof floor barrier: by covering the loam or sandy soil with a strong ground membrane or a layer of insulation beads, the evaporation of groundwater towards the ground-floor floor is drastically reduced.
• Basement drainage In the case of excess groundwater: Does a layer of water regularly remain in the cellar after heavy rainfall due to the high water level? If so, a drainage system featuring a dimpled membrane and an automatic submersible pump is the best way to permanently lower the water level in the cellar and beneath the floor.
• Insulating the floor-ceiling: fitting moisture-resistant insulation boards or sprayed PUR to the underside of the ground floor prevents cold and condensation from entering the living areas.

Rising damp In traditional brickwork, the damp rise typically extends 80 centimetres to 1.20 metres above floor level. This is due to the capillary action of porous bricks and mortar joints, which, like a sponge, draw groundwater up from the ground. The moisture stops rising as soon as a natural equilibrium in terms of evaporation is reached. This means that, at that height, the amount of groundwater absorbed by the bricks evaporates from the wall surface at the same rate as it is being drawn up. Under certain circumstances, the moisture can even rise to 1.50 metres or higher.

• Vapour-tight finishes: Is the wall clad with non-breathable materials such as tiles, waterproof paint, panelling or insulation panels? If so, the water at the bottom of the wall cannot evaporate and is forced to rise even higher up the wall.
• Old and soft bricks: historic and pre-war houses often feature porous brickwork that allows rising groundwater to travel faster and higher.
• High concentration of hygroscopic salts: salts accumulate at the evaporation boundary and continuously absorb moisture from the indoor air, causing the wall to remain damp even above the water table.

Want to get rid of rising damp once and for all? AquaConsult puts a permanent stop to rising damp with professional wall injections. We inject a high-quality moisture-repellent gel that penetrates deep into the pores and permanently stops rising damp. Request your free expertise to.

You’ll notice moisture problems On the ground floor, the first signs are often a chilly, damp environment and a persistent, musty smell in the house. In addition, the interior walls feel unusually cold and your windows fog up more than usual due to the presence of condensation moisture.

Dark patches just above the skirting boards, peeling paint and mould stains in the corners are visual signs of damp. Do you suspect there is a damp problem in your home? With a free expertise Thanks to our experts, you’ll know straight away what type of damp you’re dealing with.

The most common structural signs on the ground floor are structural damage to your home and living spaces, such as crumbling plaster, peeling wallpaper, white salt efflorescence on the walls, and warped or rotting timber around the floor.

In addition, damp also causes physical symptoms among residents. A damp indoor environment attracts fungi and house dust mites, which can lead to respiratory infections, chronic coughs or worsened allergies. Do you recognise these symptoms in your home? If so, don’t wait too long before calling in a damp specialist. Contact contact with us.

In most cases, damage caused by rising damp is not covered by fire or home insurance policies. Insurance companies regard rising damp as a gradually developing construction defect, such as a missing vapour barrier, or a problem arising from overdue maintenance, and therefore not as an unforeseen incident of damage.

However, water damage caused solely by a sudden burst, such as a burst pipe, is usually covered by insurance. To tackle the cause of rising damp once and for all, a professional wall injection by AquaConsult: the only long-term solution.

Yes, who invests in a systematic and professional solution Those affected by damp on the ground floor can count on financial support from the government in Flanders. For the treatment of rising damp via wall injection or the installation of a mechanical ventilation system in most cases, you will be eligible for the My Renovation Grant.

The exact amount of this premium depends on your income bracket and the specific works involved. The experts at AquaConsult would be happy to work with you to determine which premiums You are entitled to this, and once the work has been carried out to a high standard, we will provide you with the correct certificates for your claim.