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Author Topic: This looks bad - finished ground level higher than the air bricks and DPC  (Read 6060 times)

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dap2452

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Our new house (we complete soon) looks too low in the ground!  We visit site a lot and noticed months ago that water was pooling against the front wall.  The new path to the front door slopes down more than we were expecting and the soil level in the front garden and at the side is above the air bricks and DPC.  We have not spoken to the builder yet (we are hesitant as we can't afford for the date to be re-set by 6 months, the house is already a year late) but it looks like panic may be setting in as the soil has just been dug away from the house and some crude wells have been created around two air bricks using kerb edging.  See the pictures for more. We'd love some thoughts on the rights and wrongs of this - noting that the downstairs floor is concrete - and some advice on what to do or say next.


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Re: This looks bad - finished ground level higher than the air bricks and DPC
« Reply #1 on: November 25, 2020, 07:27:49 am »
From your photos, it would appear the damp proof course (dpc)in the brickwork is level with the finished ground.
In places the ground  appears to have been scraped back 75mm below.

Most people know that the dpc should be at least 150mm above finished ground level (except at the doorways)

I gather this from the airbricks the top of which is normally dpc level.

The damp on your walls could be from rising damp due to the buried dpc or a gutter leak or the downpipes yet to be fitted or a combination.

For sure something needs to be down to address this before you legally complete. I would expect and hope that the warranty inspector would refuse to sign it off but I doubt he would be bothered.

Finally your window look very low!
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