Damp : detection, cause, prevention & cure - Essay Example

It is important that the mind and the body recover, through recreation, rest, and sleep, from the mental and physical fatigue resulting from the activities of the day. The comfort of a house is in the internal condition of the house. The issue, in this case, for the person to provide advice includes issues regarding the climate and the external environment. This will also involve dealing with the building fabric consisting of walls with openings for doors and windows as well as the fabric of the roof.

The constructional barrier between the external environment and comfortable internal conditions. It is important to note that it is not feasible to regulate outdoor conditions or other the external environment (Burkinshaw and Parrett, 2003, p.26). . Causes of dampness The dampness is due to rising dampness. Rising dampness is different to water overflow. The problem noted in this case is the dampness and not water overflow. However, the effects are the same as they both cause the wall to become damp.

Rising damp has its origin in water from the soil and moves up from the foundation walls. In this case, the water evaporates inside the dwelling leaving tidemarks on the wall. This is due to the salts that are left when the water that carries them evaporates. This characteristic serves to identify rising damp from the moisture sources such as roof leaks and plumbing problems (Douglas & Ransom, 2007, p.28).. Principles of defect analysis The diagram below shows the cognitive branches of building diagnostics.

Figure: The main cognitive branches of building diagnostics Diagnosis is a key professional judgment process in building diagnostics. This concept has its roots in medicine and derived from the Greek word ‘dia’ meaning distinguish and ‘grnosis’ meaning knowledge. The building expert has to distinguish the signs which are the direct clues obtained on the site, which is usually visual. These include cracks and distortion of render. Building diagnosis also includes aspects that are non-visual such as bossing of rendering being symptomatic of detachment.

This is the process used by an engineer to fill the maintenance feedback report about a building. An initial activity in diagnostics is the need to ask diagnostic questions. In using the diagnostic questions the building expert is able to decide whether a test or further investigation is worth doing. The building pathologist may want to know how good a test is at distinguishing elements that have a certain defect or condition from those that have not got it. A test might be considered better if it is safer, cheaper, or less disruptive than others are.

Such decision could apply to the use of specialist investigative equipment such impulse radar or infrared thermography (Douglas and Ransom 28). In this case, the problem is straightforward and it concerns the dampness of the house. Broadly speaking, there are five main information needs associated with diagnosis in building diagnostics. The first is the judgment of the severity of the dampness. The building in this case is not severely affected as there are people still occupying the building.

The issue for them is the lack of comfort. The second judgment concerns the causes of the defect. This has been discussed in the above section. The following section will handle the other three information needs, which include the subsequent course and prognosis of the defect, estimating the likely responsiveness to a lasting solution, and finally the actual response to the decided