Stonehouse Property Care

Creating and maintaining waterproofed and structurally sound basements is no small undertaking. It requires skill, expertise, specialist training and the technology to create underground rooms that are resilient, dry and useable. That's why you should consider installing an integrated structural waterproofing system at the time of your basement construction or conversion, and not as an afterthought. Bringing in experts like Stonehouse at the start of a project means that you can do all the necessary surveys, planning and budgeting at the very earliest stages, negating the need for any costly and time consuming remedial or modifying work later on.

Since 2000 Stonehouse has been at the forefront of the structural waterproofing and property care industry in the UK and abroad. When we started out we were focused on solving the problems of timber decay and dampness, services that are still very much part of our work. But demand for our expertise soon led us underground to basements and cellars, giving us the opportunity to expand our breadth of structural waterproofing services and the variety of clients we can support. We now handle an exciting range of work, from the more challenging new-build commercial city-basements to the sympathetic preservation of the Country's most treasured historic buildings.

While most people will pay to regularly service their boilers, the need to similarly maintain a property's pump system can be forgotten, mostly because they are hidden out of sight. So long as it's still doing its job the need for regular servicing is sometimes overlooked. If you've used Stonehouse to install a 'Type C' cavity drain membrane the pumps will need regular maintenance to keep them working efficiently. So it's essential that the system is regularly serviced to ensure efficient, reliable performance.

Condensation is caused by warm air migrating to cold surfaces when humidity is high within a property. Condensation is the most common cause of dampness and resultant mould growth in buildings. In our hermetically sealed modern homes where ventilation and circulation are restricted, condensation can lead to unhealthy living conditions. The symptoms of condensation are easily misdiagnosed for other issues of water ingress. It is a greater problem in winter months when properties old and new are heated.

Some of the most satisfying work we undertake is helping with the transformation of previously unliveable, dank and damp basements, cellars and vaults into dry welcoming, useable, useful living and working spaces. Stonehouse regularly converts existing under-utilised basements and cellars into home offices, playrooms, wine cellars, gymnasiums and large kitchen/living spaces. The options created with basement conversions are huge and can often be done at relatively low cost and minimal upheaval to property owners or residents.

The installation of a waterproof membrane to the roof deck of the basement in accordance with BS8102: 2009 is known as a 'Type A' form of barrier protection. This type of basement waterproofing is required where a basement extends beyond the footprint of a property. The resulting external concrete roof, podium or deck will need special attention, and external waterproofing will be required. In these cases we'll use a 'Type A' liquid waterproofing system. Applied directly to the surface, 'Type A' is fully bonded, flexible and reinforced.

Penetrating damp is the horizontal movement of water through walls. Our survey will investigate the source of moisture - we need to be able to exclude poor maintenance which can easily be corrected such as defective gutters, down-pipes, poor pointing or plumbing leaks. In considering the most appropriate solution for penetrating dampness, our first suggestions will usually be to reduce any high ground levels surrounding the affected structure. If there is a well-ventilated timber floor, we often choose a cavity drain membrane system, extending the membrane down into the sub-floor void.

If realising your dream home means improving rather than moving but the options for extending are limited, then one of the most cost-effective ways to create additional living space in your home is to convert your cellar or basement. A converted basement provides optimal floor space and head room, making it suitable for a more flexible range of uses as well as increasing your home's value. But although cellars are common in pre-war houses, they were rarely designed to be living spaces, and early building practices meant that most basements didn't include any form of waterproofing, making them cold, wet and uninviting.

With the soaring cost of land and increasingly complex local planning constraints, including a basement in a new-build design makes absolute sense. We see more and more developers keen to maximise space in this way and it's been our pleasure to contribute our basement waterproofing expertise to new-build projects for both main contractors and self-builders. A basement can change a dwelling from merely being a place to live into a lifestyle home with any number of different below ground rooms for a whole host of uses.

The impressive mushrooms of active dry rot, the bore holes of death watch beetle and woodworm are always an indication that timbers are in contact with moisture. Wood-boring beetles thrive on damp conditions within a property and can have a lifespan of between 3-5 years, the most common being the 'Common Furniture Beetle'. Dry rot is a wood-rotting fungi that occurs through damp conditions such as penetrating damp or rising damp. The moisture content needed for dry rot to occur is over 20%. We have a great love and respect for timber and all its various species and prefer to treat the causes of any infestation and eliminating them, rather than the symptoms.