Expertreat

It will be recalled that the only serious prospective purchasers of 3 Church Walk declined our house on the grounds that "they could not afford the £55,000 repairs". One such repair and maintenance issue of which we were aware was the rising and penetrating damp to the lower ground floor in the south east corner of the basement. Now this area would or should normally be regarded as 'foundations' or 'cellarage' and not a dwelling area. However in the upper Calder Valley it has become de rigeur to think of all areas of a dwelling as habitable. Hence they ought to be made damp proof and fit to live in. Hence firms of standing such as Expertreat have developed a whole following in the district as they pioneered the extension of living below the water table by expensive improvement of the property. Indeed one can think of the firm's title as cleverly incorporating the notion of 'expensive' as well as 'expert' and 'treatment'.

This photo shows the lower ground floor at the north west corner of the dwelling facing the canal side. External entrance is via the 'patio' style door left of the Garrya elliptica.

Convert the above photo to plan view, see above, go left in the 'family room' to the 'utility' and turn right into 'cellar' and the photos below illustrate what it was like and what has been done to renovate the area.

Where it's labelled 'cellar' on the plan there is a fitted sink, washing machine H&C and a fitted bench or table. Through along the back-wall-to-earth is a 'corridor' of sorts formed on the right by the rear wall of the bedroom's shower room. Note the damp.

... and the plumbing in  a 'trench' created by earlier efforts to prevent dampness penetrating from the external wall foundations to a living area.

The serious dampness and pooling of water ingress was right at the end of that 'corridor' and round the corner.

Above we are looking back towards the utility area.

Expertreat's work in progress. Rubble and mess has been cleared up, the foundation damp proofed and then given a membrane lining within which penetrating water can flow to a drain which leads outside.

The final cosmetic finish is marine quality particle board that creates a storage area.