GOVERNMENT POLYTECHNIC

ASTHAWAN
MINOR PROJECT 1
DAMPNESS AND ITS TREATMENT FOR BUILDING

A PROJECT REPORT IS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DIPLOMA IN CIVIL ENGINEERING(2021-2024) IN
MINOR PROJECT

SUBMITTED BY :-
NAME ROLL NO
1. NITISH KUMAR 511281521015
2. SHIVAM KUMAR 511281521058
3. SACHIN KUMAR 511281521029
4. SATYAM KUMAR 511281521043
5. RAJU KUMAR 511281520605

UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF

PROF. NEHA KUMARI
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
 INTRODUCTION
 TYPES OF DAMPNESS
 CAUSES OF DAMPNESS
 EFFECTS OF DAMPNESS
 TREATMENT METHODS
INTRODUCTION 3
DEFINE DAMPNESS

 Dampness is moisture in the air, or on the surface of something.

 I could see big circles of dampness under each arm.
 The tins had to be kept away from dampness.
 Dampness is the quality of being damp .
 The dampness of the forest did not agree with him physically.
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TYPES OF DAMPNESS

 Condensation
 Rising Damp
 Penetrating Damp
 Damp caused by Water
Systems/Leaks.
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TYPES OF DAMPNESS
CONDENSATION DAMPNESS
 Condensation is the most common form of damp and appears on
glass surfaces as tiny droplets of water.
 It’s virtually impossible to eliminate condensation because the air
within your home is full of moisture from various sources, including
breathing, bathing, cooking and cleaning.
 When the moisture-laden air meets a cooler surface, the moisture
condenses, damping the surface. Sometimes this can occur beneath
the surface, in the structure itself, and this is known as interstitial
condensation and is more difficult to recognise.
 Condensation on glass is not usually a problem until it runs down
and lands on a horizontal surface, such as a window frame. If left
there, this can lead to mould growth and, ultimately, rot.
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CONDENSATION DAMPNESS
 TYPES OF DAMPNESS 7

RISING
DAMPNESS
 Rising damp is caused by capillary action. I.e. moisture in the
masonry below ground rises through the porous brickwork and mortar
joints.
 Typically, the wall’s damp proof course (DPC) prevents this. However,
if the DPC is defective, missing, or bridged by rendering, damp will
rise into your home.
 You may also experience rising damp through a concrete floor if this
is laid directly onto the ground with no damp-proof membrane.
 TYPES OF DAMPNESS 8

PENETRATING

DAMPNESS
Penetrating damp is similar to rising damp in that it is usually
caused by capillary action — this time horizontally through the wall.
As with rising damp, the absence of a functioning damp-proof
course around openings in the wall causes this issue.
 Penetrating damp may also result from poorly fitting doors and
window frames, allowing driven rain to penetrate inside.
 TYPES OF DAMPNESS 9

DAMP CAUSED BY WATER SYSTEM LEAKS

 Water comes into your house through a series of pipes that feed
all your appliances, such as the central heating boiler, washing
machine, showers and taps in your kitchen sink and wash basins.
 Each of these has the potential to create or contribute to a damp
issue. This moisture can be in the form of water vapour (e.g.
boiling water) or water in its liquid form (e.g. leaks).
CAUSES OF DAMPNESS 10

 Leaking Roofs
 Lack of or Defective Damp
Proof Membranes
 Defective Building Work.
 FAULTY PLUMBING
CAUSES OF DAMPNESS 11

LEAKING ROOFS
 Stains on a ceiling are a sure sign of problems above, often due to
missing roof tiles, inadequate flashing around a chimney or a
blocked gutter.
 Modern homes have an underfelt that stops water from dripping
onto the ceiling below. However, this membrane isn’t intended as
a first-line defence against water penetration. In high winds, water
can be blown up the roof and enter through the joints in the felt.
 CAUSES OF DAMPNESS 12

Lack of or Defective Damp

Proof Membranes
 When I say “damp-proof membrane”, I’m referring to damp-proof
courses, vapour barriers and breathable membranes.
 If damp-proof membranes are missing or damaged, this provides a
direct route for damp to penetrate the outer fabric of the building and
reach the inside.
 CAUSES OF DAMPNESS 13
DEFECTIVE BUILDING WORK

• Building defects such as bridged cavities in walls or

defective pointing in brickwork can lead to penetrating
damp.
• Cavity wall construction is perfect for keeping out driven
rain, but if mortar drops down the cavity during
construction, it forms a bridge when it hits a wall tie. This
bridge allows water to cross over to the inner leaf of your
home.
• The mortar can become soft and porous in older houses
with solid brick walls. Constant freezing and expansion of
water in the brick can force off brick faces — known as
spalling — allowing moisture to penetrate the inner
 CAUSES OF DAMPNESS 14

FAULTY PLUMBING
 Leaking pipework, dripping taps, and faulty sealant around baths
and showers contribute to damp problems, either by direct water
damage or by adding moisture to the air.
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EFFECTS OF DAMPNESS
 Dampness causes the following harmful effects.
1. Dampness is responsible for breeding of mosquitoes and creates unhealthy living conditions.
2. Due to dampness, moisture travel through walls and ceilings and creates unsightly patches and affect
the aesthetics of the building.
3. In case of lime plaster, moisture travel causes softening and crumbling of plaster.
4. Dampness in the wall cause efflorescence and sometime dampness is responsible for disintegration of
bricks, stones, tiles etc.
5. The wall decoration (like painting) gets damaged due to dampness.
6. The flooring get loosened because of reduction in the adhesion when moisture enters through the floor.
7. Timber fittings (such as doors, windows, almirahs) when come in contact with damp walls or floors,
gets deteriorated because of warping, buckling, dry rutting etc of timber.
8. Dampness in building can be very dangerous if any form of electrical fittings come in contact with it.
9. Floor coverings are damaged. Therefore no floor coverings should be used on damp floors.
10. Dampness promotes and accelerates growth of termites.
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TREATMENT METHODS

1. Membrane Damp-proofing,
2. Guniting
3. Surface Treatment
4. Integral Damp-proofing
5. Cavity Wall Construction
6. Pressure Grouting or Cementation
 MEMBRANE DAMP 17

PROOFING
 Membrane damp-proofing consists of a layer or membrane with a water-
barrier material between the dampness source and the part of the structure
that needs to be protected.
 Membrane damp-proofing is commonly known as a damp proof course (or
D.P.C.), and materials such as mastic asphalt, bituminous felt, polymers,
plastics, silicone, epoxy, cement concrete, etc. are used in this method of
damp proofing.
 Based on the source of dampness, the Membrane damp-proofing method
can be applied horizontally or vertically on floors, walls, etc.
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GUNITING
 Guniting is a Damp Proofing technique in which a rich mortar mix of 1:3 is
applied or shot on the exposed surface under very high pneumatic pressure
using a cement gun”. Guniting is also known as shot concrete.
 In the guniting method, a waterproof layer of rich mortar is spread or shot over
an exposed surface to make it water-resistant. The exposed surfaces can be
any part of the structure, such as inferior concrete, masonry walls, pipes,
cisterns, etc.
 The applied mortar becomes very hard, strong, and water-repellent on that
surface. This method of damp proofing is very useful during structure
retrofitting and repairing old concrete works or monument structures.
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SURFACE TREATMENT
 Surface treatment is a method of applying a layer of water resistance
substances or compounds on the surface to be protected to restrict moisture
from entering the structure.
 Many exposed surfaces of the structure are given surface treatments such
as pointing, plaster, and painting. While the most common surface
treatment given to walls is lime cement plaster (1 cement: 6 Lime).
 This treatment is done by mixing plaster coating with any waterproofing
admixtures like aluminum hydroxide, sodium, or potassium silicates.
 The exposed surfaces of the structure must be Painted and plastered
carefully, using water-repellent agents like aluminum or zinc sulfates,
sodium or potassium silicates, magnesium sulfate, and barium hydroxide,
etc.
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INTEGRAL DAMP
PROOFING
 In the integral damp proofing method, the waterproofing compounds
are mixed into the concrete or metal of the structure to make the
surface impermeable.
 Compounds like talc, fly ash, Chalk, etc., fill the pores in the concrete or
mortar and make it hard and less porous. Some waterproof compounds
like sulfate and calcium chloride chemically react with concrete and fill
the pores to make them water-repellent.
 While Some compounds work on repulsion principles like oils, fatty
acids, soaps, and petroleum compounds such as stearates of calcium,
when these compounds are used as an admixture in concrete, they
react with it and make it water-resistant.
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CAVITY WALL
CONSTRUCTION
 Cavity wall construction is one of the damp-proofing methods in which a
cavity or gap or space is formed between the main wall and cavity wall,
which helps resist the entry of water or moisture into the main wall, thus
making the structure waterproof.
 Due to minimal or zero contact between the outer and inner walls of the
cavity wall, there is less chance of moisture penetration, and the
transmission of heat through the wall is prevented cavity wall.
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PRESSURE GROUTING OR
CEMENTATION
 In this damp proofing method, the mixture of cement mortar (cement,
sand, water) of fluid consistency is used to fill the voids and cracks or
fissures present in the structure known as Grouting.
 This grout mixture differs from conventional mortar in terms of fluidity
as it is filled in cracks not to be spread like mortar. In the case of wide
cracks, grout is poured at high pressure to fill the crack.
 This method of damp proofing is widely used in foundations to repair,
harden and set concrete, and consolidate ground to improve bearing
capacity; this helps to prevent water entry into the structure.
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CONCLUSION
 Dampness is evident on a number of walls within the property. This has
caused some spoiling of the decoration in some of these areas. The
dampness has most likely largely been caused by an effective dpc not
being present, causing nature ground moisture to migrate into the walls
via capillary action. The walls are contaminated with hygroscopic Nitrate
salts. The dampness in the walls is being exacerbated by high vapour
levels due to ventilation not matching moisture produced by the
occupants. Following the recommendations in this report will prevent
dampness to the walls and improve ventilation and moisture control.
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REFERENCES
[1]. Asian Conference on Environment-Behaviour Studies Chung-Ang University, Seoul,
S. Korea, 25-27 August 2014 " Environmental Settings in the Era of Urban
Regeneration" A Case Study on Moisture Problems and Building Defects Nur Liyana
Othman* ,Mastura Jaafar, Wan Mariah Wan Harun, Fuziah Ibrahim
[2]. Development of a method for drying out the damp walls of buildings in Venice V.
Apih, M. Makarovic Institute for Testing and Research in Materials and Structures
(ZRMK), Ljubljana, Slovenia
[3]. ScienceDirect www.sciencedirect.com
[4]. Kofi Agyekum1 , Karen Blay2 , & Alex Opoku3 1 Building Technology Department,
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana 2 School of
Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough,
UK 3 UCL Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management, University College
of London.
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THANK YOU