Work carried out by Knightstone Housing Association on the refurbishment of properties in the St. Paul’s area of Bristol, has included the installation of physical insertion damp proof courses carried out by Dampcoursing.

The company has already provided effective and reliable physical DPCs to 11 large Victorian houses in the past two years.

St Paul’s and Inner City Road are renowned for damp proofing problems that have besieged the area in the last 15 years.

A Government initiative to improve the area has seen a large investment into these properties over the past four years. Damp proofing was revealed to be a major problem in the quality of construction of the houses, a large proportion of which are to be transformed into family houses from one bed roomed units.

Because of the inferior quality of the brickwork, a typical injected damp proof course was insufficient and, following discussions with various companies, the Dampcoursing system was specified as the most suitable solution.

The physical insertion process is used to replace a failed damp proof course or to install a DPC into an old building constructed without a DPC. This extremely versatile procedure can accommodate most types of construction and various wall thicknesses up to about 1m thick.

Using the purpose designed mortar-cutting machine, which is either hand held or self-propelled on a trolley, the wall is cut horizontally through a mortar joint. This saw cutting procedure is extremely precise. The length of each saw cut can be up to one metre long into which the DPC membrane is installed before the cut is completely reinstated and the next length of wall is cut through.

Dampcoursing is scheduled to continue work for Knightstone HA with the possibility of more properties to be completed in the same way in 2006-2007.