Debris between walls causing damp garage

jeremygerbil · Post by **jeremygerbil** » Mon May 04, 2020 4:46 pm

My garage wall (single skin breeze blocks) adjoins the neighbour's retaining wall for their side access path. The gap between the two is 2-5cm wide, 130-150cm high, and 4m long. It's open at the top and the front of the garage, and over the years debris (leaves, crisp packets, stones and other gunge) has build up to a depth of around 60-70cm in the gap. This retains rainwater (which otherwise would run along the concrete base slab to a drain at the front of the garage). The hydrostatic pressure of this (I assume) forces water through the mortar joints into the garage near the floor level. I'm using dryrod and tanking slurry to waterproof the interior but I feel I need to stop the problem at source as well, otherwise it will eventually fail again.

So step 1 - clear out gunge, step 2 - fit flashing to prevent further debris ingress. Except I cannot find a tool that enables me to clear out the gap. A long pole from above doesn't work as there are stones and things wedged in various places preventing sideways movement. I tried a pressure washer, but the debris is too far down to get a decent water jet onto it, and it won't shift wedged stones.

I'm thinking what I need is a telescopic pole (up to 4m long) with some sort of hook on one end and a pulling handle on the other, so I can pull out the wedged stones from one end, as well as the soggy gunge. And it should be no more than 2cm wide at any point. Does anyone know where you can get such a thing? Or any other thinking-out-of-the box solution to this issue?

Yours in hope
The Gerbil

toolbox · Post by **toolbox** » Wed May 06, 2020 1:35 pm

Get a long draw hoe and trim the blade to size you should reach OK from both ends.
https://www.toolden.co.uk/tools/kent-st ... w-hoe-fsc/

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Wed May 06, 2020 3:41 pm

My thoughts were a little more drastic. I think that I would chop out one block, clear the crap in the gap for as far as you can reach and then re-mortar it back in. When it is dry, I would move along and chop another block out and progressively work down the length clearing it all out. Obviously it needs some form of flashing at your garage roof level, which you need to attach to the neighbours flank wall.This plus some fairings at the front and the back should seal it nicely. The simplest way is with the stick on type flashing coupled with a hot air gun which helps it stick on much better.

DWD

Chippo1 · Post by **Chippo1** » Wed May 06, 2020 4:03 pm

Jet wash , tape the lance to a piece of wood to increase its length

All a bit dodgy I suppose , but it’s what I would do

jeremygerbil · Post by **jeremygerbil** » Fri May 15, 2020 8:32 am

@chippo1, the lance head is too wide to go down the gap (it's under 2cm in places).
@dewaltdisney, I have considered removing bricks (in fact it was the article http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/how-t ... ng-a-brick that brought me to this site) but that would be the fallback if all else fails.
@toolbox, thanks for the tip about the draw hoe, I have actually ordered the WOLF-Garten FKM Multi-Change Garden Scraper Cleaning Tool plus an extending handle, and am hoping its handle is narrow enough to go down the gap.
Thanks all for suggestions, will keep you posted on progress!

camallison · Post by **camallison** » Fri May 15, 2020 11:32 am

What I did in a similar situation, was I bought one of those very long fibre glass poles for banners or flags and fasten a blade at right angles that I made myself. The pole comes on several lengths and screws together just like drain rods. It is about 5mm dia and very strong. Worked a treat, but long hard work pulling all the crud out. The grandkids then used it to hoist the jolly roger at their caravan!

Colin

Colin

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Fri May 15, 2020 1:57 pm

Drain rods? extendable for as long as you like. Wont work instantly, but you should be able to shove stuff from one end to the other, then if your drains get blocked you have a set of............

Grendel · Post by **Grendel** » Sun May 17, 2020 5:51 pm

I've used a pig tail spike for a similar job. Cut the tail to leave just an "L" shape and that should be narrow enough to fit in anywhere. To get in deeper gaffer tape a few together.