Preventing moisture from damaging your walls

Whether your house is constructed out of wood, stone, concrete blocks or bricks, it has to be protected from external natural causes to ensure good living conditions. Apart from promoting mould growth and rotting, damp walls could reduce the air quality of the interior of the house and can create health problems to its inhabitants.

Usually, an external coating of weather-shield paint could prevent moisture from seeping through the wall and make its way to the internal wall. But in the event of tiny holes or cracks, the weather-shield coat does little help. If these cracks are closer to the floor, it could cause rot to develop on your floorboards as well. In order to keep problems from spreading, it is necessary to close the cracks. Rather than cement, Formaldehyde Foam is a better option as after it is applied in its liquid form it expands to cover the crack completely and hardens to prevent any water from seeping in.

During the construction of a house, cavity walls are usually insulated with glass wool or an equivalent to prevent heat loss as well as to provide acoustic insulation. If the house is located in an area with high possibilities of rain or humidity, it would be a good idea to take extra precautions and lining the outermost layer of the cavity wall with an impermeable membrane to prevent damp from seeping to the inner walls. In some cases, a layer of absorbent, sponge like material is integrated in to the cavity. The problem with this particular method of damp proofing is the fact that a pump has to be installed to make sure that none of the absorbed water remains inside the wall cavity to create complications.

Polystyrene beads are another maintenance free non-degradable moisture barrier which is more suitable for cavity walls. In the case of solid walls, polystyrene boards introduced externally can be used with good results.
Apart from insulation methods, ensuring that the house has a good airflow with proper ventilation will avoid moisture laden air from getting trapped inside the house and reducing the quality of the air.

About the Author

Katie Thompson has more than 5 years experience in copywriting. Presently she is writing articles about damp, damp proofing and damp walls.

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