What is the difference between a damp proof course (DPC) and a damp proof membrane (DPM)?
DPC is normally a course in masonry that acts as a barrier between moisture from foundation to travel up in the walls. It is normally applied at Plinth level. If you are making wall in brick masonry, at the plinth level you provide 3" thick screed or lean concrete, over it you place liquid bituminous material ( not too expensive) and final thing is laying of a thicker polythene sheet to cover whole thickness of the wall all along the length. All this section is called a DPC. If your structure is in RCC then you will have a beam at plinth level. Here you can apply liquid bitumen and polythene over beam surface before constructing walls. Damp proof membrane is a material that acts as a barrier for water or moisture. It can be Bitumen/ resin based liquids, felt membranes ( upto 4mm thick) or polythene sheets. So many materials are available in the market, choose any thing to suit your requirement budget and area of application.
Have you ever ripped a ticket in front of a cop?
I had one kinda-sorta try that in person, and watched another one on video at a vendor’s booth.On a Saturday night, I stopped two young men who were desperately trying to be players. I made the stop for a moving violation I don’t remember now, and they pulled into the lot of a popular nightclub and into a space. I don’t think they knew I was behind them, because when the passenger got out, he had an open beer in his hand. They were in an El Camino-type vehicle, kind of a pickup truck on a sedan chassis.They immediately put on the “We are WAY too cool to be bothered by this cop” routine and started to walk away, but I told them that they wouldn’t both get away from me, I could call all the help I needed, and the nicest thing that would happen was that the ElCam would wind up on a hook. Passenger tried to set the beer on the pavement and pretend it has been there when they parked. The pavement was damp. I pointed out that I had seen him get out with the beer, and that the tire track ran right over where the bottle stood.I wrote them both tickets while they delivered a steady stream of insults and put downs. As a final act of defiance, they feigned throwing their copies of the tickets away, but threw them into the bed of the El Camino.Had they been reasonably polite when I contacted them, I might not have cited them at all. I was looking for drunk drivers, and writing them those tickets meant that some good prospects were going by.The other episode was on a video being shown by a vendor of printers designed to be mounted inside patrol cars to print traffic tickets (e-citations). They used a plastic-based paper that had the look and feel of common printer paper, but was waterproof and very durable. A dash cam video showed an officer issuing a citation to an extremely irate violator. When the officer handed her the ticket, she immediately tried to tear it up. However, this paper was so durable that she was unable to tear it. Not being able to rip up the ticket made her even even angrier. He drove off with her standing on the shoulder of the road, almost jumping up and down with rage. It was pretty funny to watch.I should point out that the officer was very polite and professional. The woman who got the ticket was just determined to take it out on somebody, and the cop happened to be convenient.
My house is on a lower level than the road and when it rains most of the water gets into the compound and into the house. What can i do about it?
There are many good answers here offering large scale remediation, which may be justified. I have dealt with this condition around my own house in a more modest way.First, I'd ask if water is draining off the roof into this area. Is the roof being drained a larger area than the yard? If so, simply directing the roof water fway from this area might solve the problem.If that isn't the problem then try these two key alterations to eliminate the problem:1. Regrade the soil to make the water flow away from the house. If the ground slopes in a straight line from the road to the house remove soil to create a low area to collect water away from the house.This could be enough to end the problem and should be much cheaper than waterproofing the foundation.2. If this is not entirely successful add a "french drain" at the new low point in yard. This will hold or carry water away from the house. A french drain is a channel in the soil lined with a filter membrane and filled with gravel. A perforated, flexible pipe in the trench sloped to carry water away is the best practice. If there is no place to carry the water to, the french drain can still work. The gravel trench will act as a containment area and allow the water to slowly soak into the ground.You can do this without precise planning and be successful, but the advantage of a civil engineer would be reliable calculation of the likely volume of water, the permeability of the soil and the design of the drain system.Moving the water away from the house by this method should be cheaper, less disruptive and more successful than trying to waterproof the foundation.