Advice on below dpc finishing material/paint

[Alistair 2004]

Hello all,

Property: 1917 mid terraced property with single skin walls and exterior rendering. Front garden slopes down towards front wall causing some damp problems.

Work thats been done: As a result of reading advice on this site (thankyou!) I removed the rendering below the DPC to stop the damp bridging and dug a trench at the front wall so there was at least 150mm from the ground to the DPC level (previous to this they had both been at the same level!).

The result: That was 4 months ago and the wall appears to be drying out nicely. The only thing is that I want it to look a bit more presentable without storing up any problems for myself. The exposed brickwork below the DPC doesn;t look too good, I've done some pointing and such - but the brickwork was never meant to be seen (as it had been covered with rendering). My dilema is what should I do now? I have a tin of waterproof masonry paint ready to cover it all and then backfill the trench with some shingle (maintaining a good 100mm DPC clearance). Is this a good plan of action or shuld I consider covering it with something else?
Any help appreciated
Cheers
Alistair

[Tony McC]

The waterproof masonry paint sounds ok, or you could use a 'tanking' paint, which are normally based on a bitumen. We used to use one called "Synthaprufe" which was jet black and lasts for years.

[Alistair 2004]

Thanks Tony!