It is an unfortunate truth that damp conditions can occur at any given time, even if you have the best-kept house on the street! While damp walls can cause all manner of problems for your property, but also for your health, as well as for anyone in your home. Therefore, the moment you notice a wet wall in your property, it’s always a good idea to get it checked out.
Damp proofing and damp wall treatment can help to turn your property around without you even realising it. Unfortunately, there are all kinds of things that can cause damp and mould in your home, and none of them are particularly pleasant. Therefore, if you are starting to notice the cold and wet coming into your house, it really is worth reaching out to damp experts who can help make things crisp, dry, and warm again for you.
A damp wall is going to be a cold wall as it has significantly lower thermal properties than a dry one. The temperature of a wall is influenced by the rate at which it exchanges heat with the environment. Since water has a considerably higher heat conductivity than air, the wall will lose heat more rapidly when it’s covered in water. When a wall is wet, the property will lose heat more rapidly than when it is dry. As the Second Law of Thermodynamics informs us, two independent systems (A radiator and a cold wall, for example) when brought into contact seek to reach the same state of thermodynamic equilibrium. A cold entity absorbs heat and vice versa. In practice, this means lot of that heat you are paying for could be drawn out through damp patches on your wall.
Think about the problems this may cause if, for example, you have a radiator or heater on the wall that’s growing progressively wetter or colder. It’s going to negate the effect of the radiator being there! The colder your wall gets, the less radiant heat you’ll benefit from it. That might just mean you end up wasting more energy fixing the problem by cranking up the thermostat. That, as you might imagine, is not advisable if you want to save money.
Are you looking to insulate your home? You may want to consider damp first! It is a fruitless endeavor to put energy saving measures into a damp property. The moisture it creates can travel through the insulation and damage whatever is closest to it. Furthermore, insulation can aggravate damp issues, so mechanical ventilation needs to be considered when installing any energy efficient fabric measure.
Ultimately, a damp wall is something that’s going to need fixing sooner rather than later. Damp proofing, or damp wall fixing, could mean you end up wasting less energy and therefore less money.
A wet wall isn’t just going to be cold or unsightly – it is a genuine hazard. If something as nasty as black mould is left to fester and persist, you could be causing serious breathing problems for anyone in your property, especially for any asthmatics or smokers. Even if that’s no issue, there’s the unavoidable, musty and lingering smell that you’re never going to be able to get rid of with an air freshener alone.
Consider, too, how much of a problem a damp or wet wall is going to do for the value of your property. If you are considering selling up in the near future, you might find that a damp wall has already done enough damage to your property to harm it’s value. Painting over the damp won’t be enough, you’re going to need to deal with it at the source.
If any of this sounds like a bit much, there’s no need to worry. That’s what the experts here at LABS are on hand to support you with! Our Damp wall treatment will ensure that what could be a recurring problem is eradicated once and for all.
You might even wish to set up damp proofing elsewhere in your home, too, if you are worrying that wet walls are likely to become a further issue for you further down the line.
The moment you notice wet walls in your home, the best thing to do is get in touch with a team of experts at LABS who can help you and your property recover. A small patch of damp can become a big problem in no time at all! We have years of experience in Sheffield and beyond helping homeowners recover from these problems.
We will conduct a full inspection of the problem and will suggest an affordable, swift plan of action to get your walls back to their former glory.
Call us now on 0114 230 2865 or admin@l-a-b-s.co.uk and start saving yourself time, money, and any further stress!
Radon in Sheffield
Despite working in the city for many years now, Radon was not on our radar until recently. We noticed a rise in our clients having queries on the subject and have since then done some research into the matter.
What exactly is Radon? It is a noble gas that occurs as a product of Uranium decay in rocks and soils, building materials and, to a lesser degree, water (95% of exposure to Radon is from indoor air and about 1% is from drinking water sources). It is radioactive, with a half-life of 3.82 days, colourless, odourless and tasteless, with the potential to cause significant health issues.
From this we have decided that Radon should be part of our considerations when waterproofing basements to the British Standard BS8102. As we begin our journey into tackling this issue, we would like to share these 4 things we believe you need to know about this potentially harmful ground gas.
Please note we are far from experts on this subject!
1. Health implications:
First and foremost, just how damaging is radon exposure to our health, and should you be concerned? As has been proven, Radon is a hazardous element that can lead to the following problems:
Smokers and ex-smokers are at a much greater, essentially doubled risk as the correlation between Radon exposure, smoking and lung cancer is a linear progression. It is estimated that 2,500 lung cancer deaths a year in the UK occur due to Radon exposure. All in all, it’s better to be safe than sorry on this one.
2. Detection and Measurement:
Radon can be measured in the unit of becquerels (Bq) using a specialist tool. A Becquerel is a minute measurement (a single nuclear disintegration per second) and is often prefixed with Mega, Giga, or even Tera, but don’t let that intimidate you!
One can be excused for assuming that radon is not a problem for us in Sheffield, a cursory look at the Radon map for the UK identifies Sheffield as a low Radon risk.
Feel free to examine the UK Radon map for yourself! (UKradon – UK maps of radon)
However, as is the case with all forms of radiation, it can spike in very concentrated spots and present the same issues as high-risk areas. Conversely, areas in high-risk zones can have individual properties that are well within the safe limits outlined by public health England.
Contrary to our initial interpretation and seemingly others within the industry this is only a snapshot as we have since learned. We have found this in several properties we have carried out measures on.
For reference, Public Health England have set an action level of 200 Bq per meter cubed (BqM3), and should a home meet or exceed this, measures should be taken.
Their recommended target level is 100 Bq per meter cubed or less and is the ideal result remedial works or preventative measures on new buildings. These levels refer to the annual average concentration in a home and have been endorsed by the UK government. They recommend a measurement should be taken with two detectors, placed in a bedroom and living room of a property, for 24 hours to gain an accurate reading.
3. Managing radon exposure and remedial works:
What can we do at L.A.B.S do to help you with this? On our end, the main measures we can take are:
4. Further information and resources:
At LABS we never like to sit still, our company ethos focuses on continual learning and developing our practices by applying the highest standards and waterproofing methods that are backed by empirical research. We as a company have enrolled on some basic online training and have also become members of the UK Radon Association. Further to this we have purchased our very own testing kit.
Additionally, we have devised our working policy on Radon. This is an ongoing policy that is subject to amendment the more we learn about the topic. In summary;
In summary, while this new development may seem potentially dangerous and unsettling, we here at L.A.B.S. are committed to doing all we can to help deal with Radon and the associated issues across Sheffield.
