High ground levels

[Skier]

Hi
I live in an old house that does not have a DPC. Along the front of the property we have high ground levels (certainly higher than the floor level inside). We have no visable signs of damp except that the dining room can smell musty. I have cut back the the paving that abuted the external walls and have dug down well below the interior floor levels. Where the wall has been exposed I have covered them in bitumen paint. As the soil is clay based drainage is an issue and the trench does tend to get standing water in it after a particularly heavy downpour. This standing water does not reach a level where it is higher than the internal floor level. I can not afford to install an expensive drainage system and would be grateful for any suggestions as to how to proceed. I was proposing to install kerb stones to hold back the soil under the cut back patio and then backfill the trench using 3/4 inch gravel. This would look fine but the water would of course still be collecting under the gravel. Would the fact that the walls are in essence externally tanked now hold it back until it has time to soack through the clay soil and away which it does given time.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
Kind regards

[lutonlagerlout]

1 coat of bitumen isnt really tanking ,but if you give it another 2 coats it would meet dpm requirements
i take it your house is built with lime mortar?
if that is the case you can actualy cause problems by sealing water into the brick work,with lime mortar the water /damp naturally evaporates through the joints rather than the bricks,causing less damage
it wont cost a lot of money (comparitively) to run a land drain around the house,upvc land drain is cheap and this is then covered with shingle
it will cost far more if you have water laying against the house for long periods
you can also help by making sure any paving falls away from the house,or if this is not feasable have an aco drain around the house
lastly make sure your guttering does not leak and your down pipes are clear,these are major and common causes of damp
hope this helps ya
cheers LLL

[Skier]

LLL

Many thanks for your input. The house is old but the area to which I have applied the bitumen paint is a 1970's bay window and cloak room. The masonary is brick below previous ground levels with a cement morter having been applied to the masonary above ground level. I did some more digging the other day and with the heavy rain of last night the trench has not filled with water as much as I suspected it would. I think (as you state) that fixing a gutter to the bay would be a good idea as this would imediately stop alot of the water dripping directly into the new channel.
Another couple of coats of bitumen to the walls and I think I'll have to see how we go.
Regards
Skier