How to keep the weather at bay (From The Northern Echo)

How to keep the weather at bay

5:18pm Wednesday 4th January 2012 in Lifestyle

Changing weather patterns are putting our homes to the test. Sarah French speaks to one couple living the ‘high life’ in Teesdale and finds out what can be done to keep damp knocking at the door.

AFTER spending every summer holiday for 25 years in North Yorkshire, Keith and Jane Roberts decided finally to take the brave decision and leave behind their comfortable life in suburban Surrey.

“For the first 12 years, moving up had been a dream; for the second 12 years, it was a definite plan,” says Keith, of their cottage holidays at Dalton, near Richmond.

Last year, with their son and daughter either working or at university, the time was right to head north.

Sitting in the cosy dining room of West Pasture Farm, overlooking Grassholme Reservoir, near Middleton-in-Teesdale, Keith says: “We took a week off to see ten houses. We bought this one on the day we saw it. It’s probably more remote than we planned, but the little community up here is marvellous.”

“It was the view from the kitchen window that did it,” adds Jane. “The house also had a lovely feel. But it was a bit nerve-wracking.

Last winter when it was difficult to get oil, we had to borrow some canisters and go and find some. That was a bit of a shock coming from Woking where everything was just a phone call away.”

Inside, the house needed some TLC, including new plastering, re-plumbing and decorating.

Externally it was a different matter.

THE problems, and the solutions, were identified by Peter Lewis, director of Richmond-based Lewis Surveying Associates, who carried out a full structural survey on the property and advised the Roberts on what needed to be done.

The farmhouse and next door cottage, which the Roberts now let out to holidaymakers, had suffered because of their exposed and rain-lashed location, with driving winds coming from the west.

Major remedial repairs to stop water running down walls into the house and damp penetrating and rising from the ground up were needed. “One wall was just like a water feature,” says Jane.

Peter explains how history had played its part: “Unfortunately, the property had undergone inappropriate adaptations in its past, allowing water to ingress. We increased the size of the rainwater gutters and downpipes so they were better able to cope with the weather and fixed the flashing to stop water running down the side of the walls.

“We also improved the land drainage to stop water coming into the side of the property and causing rising damp.”

Although the Roberts were fully aware of what was needed, the scale of the work still proved daunting.

Jane, a former hospital and school laboratory scientist, says: “I didn’t realise the extent of what was involved, with the drainage and the soakaway in particular.”

Whereas water had once flowed off the hills towards the house, the land drain now directs it around the side and down towards the reservoir.

The couple are now looking forward to a warm and dry winter. IT manager Keith says: “From the initial survey to the necessary remedial works to cure damp, leaks, land drainage problems and various building defects, Peter advised and supported us. He identified the issues, devised solutions, sourced the required trades people, monitored the work done and translated it all into lay English for us.”

While geography was a major contributory factor in West Pasture Farm’s problems, older properties are being severely tested by our changing weather, says Peter.

“It’s a combination of factors. Some properties are simply of an age where they are beginning to struggle with the extreme weather, particularly those in areas that suffer from storm water and heavy downpours. This can be exacerbated where the rain is driven by high winds, increasing the amount of penetrating damp coming through the fabric of the building.

“Although ancient building techniques have stood the test of time well in many cases, they did not include cavities in the wall structure and the impermeable membranes we have available today.

‘WE also often find that old buildings have defects because of inappropriate adaptations that have taken place during their lifetime. Those that have been altered and are also located in bad weather areas are particularly at risk,” says Peter.

He found solutions at a late 18th Century cottage in the Yorkshire Dales, the holiday home of a couple who lead busy working lives in London and chose Swaledale as a place to escape to for fresh air and solitude.

Weekends there should have been a time when worries lifted and relaxation took over.

But black clouds looming on the horizon did more than simply promise rain; they threatened to cast a dark shadow over their lives.

Every downpour could bring water rushing in through their back door and flooding their kitchen. Dominated by the remnants of the area’s mining heritage and land that is too high to cultivate, there is little ground cover and once sodden, there is nowhere for the rain to run off other than downhill, in this case with the cottage in its path.

“It was a mid-terrace property, which initially gave the owners a sense of being protected, with houses on either side to bear the brunt of any bad weather. However, they were actually worse off.

With a mid-terrace, there is no easy solution to drain excess water around the outside of the property,” explains Peter. A multi-layer defence was needed.

“We designed a scheme that began with a perimeter surface drain then, because the property is built into the hillside, we put in a solution that’s normally used in subterranean cellars, lining the walls with a cavity drainage membrane. This allows water to trickle down and into a gully that drains to an underground sump which pumps the excess into the main drainage system.”

Peter says owners of older properties must take maintenance seriously. He warns: “By now you should have taken all the precautions to make sure your home is ready to withstand the onslaught of winter. Regular maintenance is a must to prevent a crisis.”

• For more information, contact Peter Lewis on 01748-824713.