Basement Damp Proofing Wellington

Let’s start with the sneaky one,  damp. Not a flood. Not a visible leak. Just that musty smell when you open the basement door, the slight dampness on the walls, the paint bubbling off the concrete, or the mysterious patch of mould above the skirting board. Sound familiar? You’re not imagining it, and no amount of air freshener is going to fix it.

Damp proofing is the process of creating a barrier,  either internally, externally, or both,  to stop moisture migrating through your walls and floor. Wellington’s geology is a big factor here. A lot of our homes are built on or near clay-rich soils, and clay holds water like a sponge. When the ground is saturated (which, let’s face it, happens about three months of every Wellington winter), that hydrostatic pressure pushes moisture straight through your foundation walls. Older homes,  particularly the beautiful character villas you’ll find in Aro Valley, Berhampore, or Hataitai,  were often built with minimal or no damp-proof course at all. That was fine in 1930. It’s less fine now.

Our damp proofing solutions range from tanking membranes and cavity drain systems to crystalline waterproofing compounds and damp-proof injection. We assess every property individually because no two Wellington basements are the same,  a flat on Adelaide Road has completely different requirements to a hillside home in Ngaio. We’re not the type to prescribe the same fix for every job, because that’s not how good tradespeople operate.

The result? A basement that smells like a basement should,  like nothing. Dry walls, protected insulation, no mould, and no more worrying every time the forecast shows that little rain cloud (which in Wellington is most of the time).