There are numerous damp proofing systems out there which use one combination or another of strange bricks, tubes, triangles and pots stuck into holes smashed into your wall. They all claim to evaporate water from the wall by some wondrous method.
The Holland damp proofing system is one - it's sometimes referred to as the Schrijver system, although there are apparently some differences and the companies dont appear to like each other... These systems are pushed by very slick sales presentation in the UK as being the cure-all for damp. At least one of these companies have been investigated several times by the Advertising Standards Authority, and asked to remove or amend their advertising claims. The ASA stated in 2002 that 'the advertisers had proved neither that the Schrijver System stopped rising damp, nor that it reduced the moisture content caused by penetrating damp, condensation and mould'
There seem to be various versions of it - each as bad as the other. Professional videos are shown of chocolate box cottages with wallpaper peeling off the walls (in classic condensation patterns that could be cured by opening windows!). They claim to have won prizes for their system.. One was from a Dutch 'infotainment' tv show called National Suggestion Box where according to Jeff Howell, the winning 'invention' was voted for by a studio jury!!
It is based on a system of 'Knapen Tubes' developed as early as 1908, and never shown scientifically to work.There are a few variations on it - all of them involving putting bricks or porous pots of some sort into the wall.
The system uses horrible, unsightly bricks or porous tubes which are drilled into the walls all around the house which supposedly allow moisture to escape from the walls. Unsurprisingly, most, if not all of the photos and films they'll show you are of houses which are covered in thick coats of cement render. Of course the wall is sopping wet - and anything that breaks the render will release water - far simpler just to take the render off!!
The marketing pitch is one of fear - pictures of mould - wallpaper peeling off (condensation), peeling paint (coming off cement render!) salt deposits (oozing out of cement render!) Lots of stuff about people being ill and suffering from health disorders because of damp. 'Buy our product, and you'll never suffer health problems again - all that peeling wallpaper will go away, the mould will disappear - and your house will look like something out of the Alien, with horrible brick shaped blocks drilled into the wall all around it' - hardly chocolate box!
Oh... and did I say that cement is not porous? That it traps water? So whenever I do a survey and find these stupid blocks drilled into a sopping wet wall - they are fixed in place with... you guessed it... cement - so the wall could never breathe into them anyway cos the damn things are surrounded by cement.
Is there no limit to the snake oil tricks that people will use to sell rubbish. Why not just be honest and tell them that if they take the cement render off, the damp will disappear...? They'd even be able to make some money taking it off.. and go home with the warm glow of honesty in their heart..
As with all the other snake oil systems - run them out of town, push them off a cliff, send them back into the sea they crawled out of, and report them to Trading Standards. The system is NOT approved for use in the UK - The BRE has not tested and approved it, and there is a much easier and cheaper way to sort the problems out that they show on the various websites that use this ridiculous system - open a window, and follow the instructions on the site for reducing condensation and cement trapped moisture.
