A Diary of a damp new build house; searching for solutions…with commentary on the land accesed from Hexton Road behind the development…now being offered for sale by the developer.
Added on 4th April 2025
Should any people interested in buying the land at Hexton Road, Glastonbury find themselves here looking for further information on the history of this development; please be aware that the geology of the hill indicates it is made up of upper and lower Lias clay and as such is full of water and prone to random “spring water” issues depending on the level of the water table.
The builder and developer abandoned the plot in question because of this situation.
Adequate drainage from the site is impossible to achieve and the slope has a gradient of approximately 1 in 2.
The image below illustrates the entrance to the site and the hill slopes steeply down from here. The box to the right is an electricity generator and as such can not be moved.
The information (below) and on the rest of this site represents a journal I have kept documenting the nightmare I have endured trying to fix myriad issues with the property which I bought nearly three years ago. All the other houses on the plot have issues too.
20th September 2023, garage screed removal day.
The first four images below are of the garage before the screed was lifted, with minor pre-excavations, which reveals the edges of what appears to be a green plastic sheet…across part of the garage…approx one third…
There is no evidence yet of a DPC along the house side of the garage.
The developer, said “paint over it all with garage floor paint”.
The builder said “the green plastic sheet was not part of the damp proof course…”
“What then, was its purpose”… I’m wondering?
Screed in the process of removal 20th September 2023…revealing the mysterious green membrane covering one third of the floor which was sandwiched between the screed and the concrete raft…
Green plastic over one third of concrete block beneath screed. Why?
Day 1, 21/09/23
First day after the screed removed along with green plastic sheet; revealing harder, lumpy pitted concrete residue on the surface of the block at the 6 o’clock position.
Wet, windy.
Image below showing original level of garage floor before screed removed with damp concrete raft below. Green polythene sheet showing between the two levels. This is, I suspect, a part of the problem.
The downpipe showing here at the front of the property.
There is a lot of pooling water on the drive brickwork. To the left in the image above.
Day 2, 22/09/23
I left garage door open all day; floor dried out somewhat.
Windy, showery, sunny intervals chilly.
Day 3
Left garage door open all day
Dry overnight, dry morning.
Noticed a lot of wetness on rear wall, outside, around downpipe…
Day 4
I left the garage door open all day. Rain overnight. Rear wall wet around downpipe.
Windy, light rain showers.
Day 5
I left the garage door open all day.
Very wet overnight, wall wet around downpipe on rear wall.
GUTTERING NEEDS ATTENTION.
Wondering if guttering waste water drains blocked or damaged?
Sunny morning. Dry forecast today.
Image above indicating the gap between the concrete raft and the damp proof membrane one block up after the removal of one block from the wall. The ragged profile on the bottom of the hole is the membrane which was damaged during the removal process.
All of the indentations at bottom right are filling with water during windy and rainy conditions.
Image above showing wet blocks around downpipe outside.
Outside back and side walls NOT rendered.
Day 6
Heavy early morning rain. Garage wet in vicinity of removed green plastic sheet.
Dry sunny all day.
Guttering and downpipe wall area soaked.
Decided to lift the small manhole on drive to try to work out water flow from 2 downpipes and aco drain. Poured 5 full watering cans down each drain and saw some water flow through confluence from each, BUT…
Above. Another part of the problem…the whole guttering/drainage system needs attention.
Day 7
…garage floor much wetter in the green sheet area and beyond.
Could it be that a wastewater drainage pipe is blocked or damaged? The drainage pipe should run from back left to front left and then to an inspection chamber under the small manhole cover on the drive, against the wall.
Weather dry this morning…windy with storm Agnes showers later. Still v wet in garage.
Day 8
Dry overnight. Garage drying out a little…
Dry morning…showers pm…wet night in prospect…
Day 9
As predicted lots of rain overnight and a lot of wet in the garage, ingress under door quite bad and the green membrane area is sodden again…
and… the back wall (images above) and internal wall showing signs of more wetness; the downpipe is connected poorly at swan neck and urgently needing clips down its whole length. It moves and pulls out of position during windy weather.
Sunny dry day.
The front downpipe is located at the outside top left in image above.
Day 10
Dry and mild overnight. Garage drying very slowly back to walls. The residue of concrete (builders mixed concrete here perhaps) on top of the block may be facilitating the “wicking” of water from the side wall.
Day 11
1st October…no rain overnight. Mild today 21C forecast, so perhaps no rain; and further drying out in prospect?
On the other side of the wall from this image (above) is the rear downpipe.
Day 12
Some rain over a mild night. Misty and damp this morning. Garage showing damp in all the usual places; but no random tracking across the floor from the outside wall. Not really drying out. Wastewater drainage from downpipe at front and back a concern. Heavy rain forecast. Images taken before rain; in am.
Day 13
Rain overnight. Very heavy prolonged showers this morning. Guttering a problem again. Lots of water under the garage door which is pooling in the divots in and around the conrete mixer residue and along the side wall.
This is …I would hazard a guess, one part of the problem manifesting between the screed and the concrete raft. The green plastic sheet was contributing to the wicking across the floor as well and not helping the situation at all….
I put cardboard down to mop up the surface water.
Day 14
A dry night. Still a lot of moisture in garage. I’ve renoved the sodden cardboard this morning.
Damp meter readings are high along the left inside wall into the habitable area… image below.
Small manhole on drive with confluence of wastewater pipes beneath. Whole area showing some subsidence…(sand beneath being washed away perhaps)
This whole area from downpipe to manhole collects water during wet weather.
Inside the garage adjascent to the outside down pipe is very wet. Not all the wetness is explained by poor/no weatherstrip on bottom of garage door…
The remainder of green plastic sheet located between the garage screed and the concrete raft beneath. On the outside, adjascent to this site is the front downpipe.
Day 14
Dry & mild overnight. Garage drying out.
Day 15
Dry and mild night. No rain. Sunny day in prospect.
Image above; inside wall top right, house side.
Day 16
Dry, Mild conditions. No rain.
Drying, but very slowly…
Day 17
Dry warm, no rain, drying slowly.
Damp/wet around rear down pipe.
Day 18
Dry overnight. Misty this morning. No rain in prospect.
Little change in damp area.
I poured a watering can of water down the rear downpipe…I will check in the morning again.
Day 19 10/10
Dry overnight.
PC passed by…he secured the swan neck at the top of the rear downpipe…Many thanks!
Decided to keep monitoring the situation… little change in damp outline on garage floor. Marked with chalk.
Day 20
Dry overnight.
Heavy rain predicted later, with much cooler weather later in the week.
Day 21
Rain overnight. Damp morning…
Revealing at least one part of the problem, which is…Water dripping heavily through gaps in the boards of the balcony, then pooling under the balcony in front of garage and then running under the remainder of the screed and green plastic; then finding its way between the plastic, screed and the concrete raft. Water pooling in the indentations left by the concrete mixer, the residue which was beneath the screed.
The rest of the garage showing little change.
Day 22
Mild but very wet and windy night. Heavy SW wind which has pushed a lot of water under the garage door and between the remaining screed and the concrete raft. The water is pooling in the garage itself in a surprising way and explains some of the damp readings in the house, I think. Before the screed was removed, this standing water would have been sandwiched between the garage screed and the concrete raft and “wicking” in all directions. I would need a mop to deal with the amount of water sitting on top of the concrete this morning tbh…thinking about it…the water would have found its way beneath the green plastic and in that part of the garage and end up sandwiched between the concrete and the green plastic with no where to go. Evaporation would be painfully slow, especially during periods of winter wet weather. The two black “dots” in the middle of the images is pooling water…and they were visible as damp on the surface of the screed before its removal.
This, as shown in images below, is after two days of wet and windy weather.
The remaining damp as mapped by the chalk line on 10/10 has barely changed…
Sodden tissues indicating amount of wetness…(image above)
lunchtime 13/10/23
Showery morning.
Wet afternoon leading to pooling water in garage. This water will have been sandwiched between the screed and the concrete raft through all of a very wet last winter…
Prolonged rain this p/m…water in garage worsening and moving front to back.
With the screed (before it was removed) effectively sandwiching the water, capillery action would have squeezed water to all four corners of the garage.
After a day of very heavy showers the water has just about covered the garage floor.
Images below.
Image above showing water nearly at the chalk line drawn 10/10/23
Day 23
A dry night after a wet day yesterday and the water in the garage has permeated its way to the back wall of the house. The wall on the house side is soaked and may account for the damp inside the house. The chalk line area has dried back a little in that corner and the water from the front of the garage has not quite reached this area yet. It seems there is a gradient front to back and a slight gradient left to right as the water reached the wall at the back on the house side first and the wall on the habitable area side front to back, is now sodden. (see images below)
With prolonged daily rain through the winter leeching into the garage between the garage screed and the concrete raft, this area would be permanently soaked particularly on the house side of the garage.
Ironically, the area which we thought might be the source of the problem wetness is the dryest part of the garage. Again however, if the screed was still there then this area too would also be wet. The green plastic over this area with the screed on top would have created a situation in which the water had nowhere to go, either by evaporation, or drainage and explains why the screed was always wet.
Much of the water originates from the balcony above dripping down and working its way under the screed; perhaps because of the front to back and left to right gradient in this whole area…as well as under the garage door on wet days with windy conditions…
The images below were taken after a dry night. The water is still sitting on top of the concrete raft in pools throughout the whole area.
Image above showing chalk line drawn on 10/10 drying back a little probably after PC reconnected the swan neck on the rear downpipe which had detached.
Image above shows water pooling (see reflection of blocks) on the house side of the garage.
Day 24
Dry and chilly overnight.
The water has dried out overnight, but the house side top right corner and back wall looking in to the garage is still very wet.
The chalk line corner has dried back further.
Image above showing drying back from the chalk line drawn on 10/10…this was the only area the water did not quite reach during the wet weather over the past two days.
(above) The water has dried back quickly here…from the garage door to the internal door. The area on the habitable side of this wall has high damp readings and was the first to show visible signs of dampness…two images below.
Day 25 16/10/23
After a dry and chilly night the garage floor has dried back even more. The wettest part is now the area on the house side at the back.
The area behind the chalk line has dried too; so there is a connection with the ill fitting guttering and downpipe at the rear…although with the green plastic sheet and screed covering this area then the damp would be amplified along this outside wall.
The green plastic sheet under the screed does indicate that the builder and developer saw/envisaged problems…
The image immediately above shows the floor drying back from the chalk line drawn on 10/10…
Images below taken in the afternoon of 16/10/23
Image below showing the decking through which most of the water drips; the garage gradient is higher at the front forecourt and water drained under the screed, to the back of the space.
The whole area looks dryer than it ever has today!
One solution might be a very wide ACO drain across the front of the garage draining into the downpipe tube to the left in the image below…and then tanking the garage!
Day 26
Dry overnight…
Damp residue around the perimeter. Chilly, sunny morning.
Rain forecast tomorrow…let’s see what happens.
Image below showing forecourt blockwork through which the water from the balcony drips pools and permeates… The water collects on the concrete raft beneath and drains back into the house, under the screed into the garage and then into the house.
Under the blockwork/brickwork drive is a continuation of the concrete raft at the same level as the garage as shown above. There is a slight slope of the concrete raft towards the back and side wall …
The builder, without my permission, has painted bitumen around the bottom block all around the back and side of the house; perhaps making matters worse by sealing in the moisture.
There is heavy rain forecast tommorrow so I have placed a tarp over the garage forecourt to see if this deflects any rain and keeps the garage from flooding…
Day 27
Dry overnight. Started raining at 8am.
Garage drying back further. Tarp in place…
Movie above taken after 2 hours of rain. Water pooling on tarp along the door side, although there are puddles all over the top of the tarp.
The balcony/terrace slopes towards the house with no drainage system at all and the forecourt area which is covered by the tarp seems to slope in to the house as well…
The image above taken after 3 hours of rain.
The garage is relatively dry. Very slight signs of ingress.
The movie below taken after 6 hours rain; some heavy…
Without the tarp…all of the rain water is collecting under the blockwork on the concrete raft beneath the building and then tracking under the screed and into the garage and the rest of the house, which explains why the screed was always wet.
The below images taken at the same time as the movie above and the garage is relatively dry. The tarp I stretched over the forecourt is very rudimentary…
Some ingress shown above…
but not at the back..
The heavy rain is forecast to continue for the rest of the day. Well see how the tarp and garage are in the morning…
Day 28
Wet, windy overnight. The garage floor is mainly dry, with some water ingress via the remaining green plastic area and under the remaining screed.
No further wetness at the back or sides.
The image above shows the remaining screed which is “relatively” dry…the water is passing under the remaining screed and green plastic.
I had to rearrange the tarp position after a wet night to remove the pooling water on top of it, so this might have caused further/more ingress.
The image above shows that the rest of the garage is drying back…and this is after some very wet weather initiated by storm Babet.
Day 29
A dry night, foggy am…rain forecast later. Tarp still in place.
Ingress around/under screed and green plastic in the garage is drying back.
Rest of garage slowly drying?
Day 30
Dry night, tarp still in place. Garage drying slowly.
Two images below; top corner back, house side.
Day 31- 22/10/23
Dry night and dry, sunny day forecast. Tarp in place, garage drying slowly.
Day 32
Dry weekend and dry last night; the garage has dried further. Some damp in the bottom corners of the garage frame. Perhaps to be expexted with such an ill fitting door.
The garage “feels” drier than at any time since I moved here. Some rain forecast for later in the week.
I will re-adjust the tarp before then…
Day 33
Rain overnight and some water has crept under the remaining screed and into the garage…
as can be seen below the water ingress is not under the door…but under the remnants of green plastic and screed.
Day 34
Heavy early morning rain left a lot of water on the top of the tarp. Water creeping into the garage space under the blocks sitting on concrete raft outside; mainly in the area of the green plastic and around the downpipe outside.
The sliver of screed under the garage door, remains dry and the water is entering under the blocks via this corner of the garage supposedly protected by the green plastic…
…however this water would, when this plastic sheet was in place, be sandwiched between the concrete raft and the plastic and the screed sitting on top.
…without the tarp outside, the garage floor would be sodden this morning; with the screed on top the water would be permeating through to the house.
I have swept away a lot of standing water this am and I dread to think where this water would go without intervention…(which is what has happened over the period since the house was built; at least a year.
Apart from this corner of the garage the rest remains dry.
Day 35
Some rain ovcernight. Swept the tarp removing the standing water outside and rolled up a towel to pick up any water inside…the damp is drying back again.
Heavy shower this afternoon.
I’ll look in the morning…
Day 36
A heavy shower left a lot of standing water on the tarp…
I swept away the excess water; fortunately none went into the garage area and the point of ingress stays relatively dry, as does the rest of the garage.
Day 37
A dry night…
Day 38/39
A dry night but a very wet afternoon.
I’ve swept the water pooling on the tarp away a few times and added a second tarp and the garage remains relatively dry.
Dry overnight and the garage has stayed dry. Clocks back early this am…
Four images below taken morning 29/10/23
Day 40
After a sunny breezy day with a few showers yesterday and with a shower overnight…the garage has stayed dry.
Re-positioning a tarp seems to have cut some water out too.
Still wondering if there is a DPC along the house side of the garage. No evidence so far.
Here are some images of the balcony…
Day 41
Dry overnight. Storm in prospect later and lots of rain predicted
Image below after a heavy shower in the afternoon.
Day 42 – 01/11/23
Lots of rain overnight…
I’ve swept the tarps to clear the water three times now and the garage remains relatively dry.
A very blustery storm passing by left this…(below) even after removing the standing water on the tarp outside…
Day 43
Heavy and continuous rain overnight. Water slowly creeping into the garage despite multiple attempts to clear the pooling water on the tarp. Alideck contractor here today to assess the situation and provide a solution.
The rest of the garage is dry. However, without the tarp outside and sweeping away the water on top of it, the garage area would be flooded completely. I dread to think where all this water has gone over the year since I bought the property.
Day 43
Quieter overnight, with little rain. The garage is drying out again.
Day 44
Heavy rain overnight. The tarps blocking and my sweeping water away has kept the garage relatively dry. Up at 4.30am to begin the process.
The image below illustrates what would happen without some ingress prevention. This picture was taken after only one day of showery rain. Until the screed was removed this water would have pooled under the screed surface in the garage and entered the house horizontally.
There is no evidence of a DPC along the right wall of the garage and there are high damp meter readings in the house along the inside wall, rear utility room and under the stairs which are adjacent to the garage space.
There is no drainage system to deal with the water from the balcony which slopes into the house, so the water pours through the gaps in the boards.
There are three downpipes from a pitched roof…two at the front and one at the rear and none of them have been incorporated to at least drain some of the water from the balcony…
The image below shows a very rudimentary water blocking tarp with weights which stops some of the water entering the garage.
Day 45
A drier quieter night after so called storm Ciaran and its aftermath passed by and the garage has stayed relatively dry. Possibility of a few showers later.
More heavy showers throughout the day…
Above and below the remaining apron of screed is dry with evidence of water passing under it…more than I would like. It’s difficult keeping the water out… Hoping for a dry spell 🙂
Right hand side wall drying.
Back left drying
Day 46 – 06/11/23
Prolonged four hour rain storm early this morning…re-arranged the tarps again as more water is percolating its way into the garage…
Day 47, 48, 49, 50
The rain has been heavy and showery over the past four days and even with the tarps down I am struggling to keep the water out of the house. The tarps stop most of the water passing under the door, but not the water disseminating through the blockwork drive then onto the concrete raft below and under the screed apron at the front of the door.
Before the screed was removed this water woud have been sitting sandwiched between the concrete raft and the screed and permeating into the house via the wall adjacent to the gareage which does not have a DPC. The blocks at the side and rear of the house have not been rendered either which further compromises the waterproof envelope.
The water moves from right to left…(img below)
Day 51
A dry night.
Day 52, 53
Heavy intermittent showers. Garage slowly getting wetter again.
Day 54-14/11/23
Storm Debi.
Tarp blown out of position. Water ingress under screed apron at front.
Conclusions 20/11/23
After yet (five in total) another survey the surveyor is advising that a “robust” barrier across the forecourt in front of the garage be put in place.
One solution will involve removing the blockwork driveway to reveal the concrete raft below; then utilising a concrete cutting tool to cut a channel into the raft across the front of the garage to insert an “industrial aco” drain. This will have to drain somewhere and digging into the concrete raft may weaken this structure as we do not know the depth/thickness of the reinforced(presumably) raft; however, the water from the balcony will still be a major issue. To make this idea “robust” at least three possibly four aco drains will have to be constructed strategically by digging into the concrete raft to facilitate the drainage of water…
The garage will need to be tanked.
This development does not have any foundations and the blocks were laid directly onto the concrete raft with a DPC(where it actually exists) to be found one block up from the raft and block intersection highlighting a major vulnerability in the operation of the “envelope”.
Another solution might be to remove the garage door completely and build up a wall/window in its place. This will involve removing all the blockwork drive in front of the garage and re-instating a brick wall with a proper damp proof course and an aco drain inserted into the concrete raft in front of it. The concrete raft slopes into the house and at its best is level in parts; the water drains into the the garage and settles alog the wall which does not have a DPC. There is considerable evidence that this is causing a damp problem inside the house itself.
Or we try to find a solution to the water dripping from the balcony which is a high percentage cause of the problem we have…
This amount of water being absorbed into the house day after day during a wet winter is a big future problem waiting to happen.
Image below showing unrendered wall aspect beneath the balcony after the decking removal on 4th December ’23
Image below showing poorly engineered balcony sloping left to right and into the house.
The visible concrete “tongue” at the end of the decking is level…and the front edge of the balcony is considerably higher than its supposed to be. It is 250mm higher at the front than the back.
When the decking was removed, it revealed a use of single width blocks immediately adjacent to the worst water ingress, which is next to the downpipe that I thought might be the problem. The builder has tried to hide this dicrepency, using a plank of wood.
The water passes down this “funnel” and into the garage.
The image below shows the outside of the area in question with the board hiding the fault and the rendered board hiding further use of single blocks.
The image below shows the “funnel” into the garage from above and the single blocks.
19/12/23
The “hiding board” is stained wet this morning after overnight rain showing evidence that water funnels down here and into the garage. This will be stopped when the corresponding area of the new balcony is established; but not if we leave the old construction in place. This is another vulnerable part of the build; resulting in wet and damp corner in the garage.
