Franz Heymann wrote in message ...

"Martin Sykes" wrote in message
...
"Jimbo" wrote in message
...
I am thinking of removing a 300mm (2 ft) deep flower bed from
beneath my

300mm is 1ft

front bay window - because I have been told it may be causing
dampness
and
damaging the brickwork.
The thing is, what is the best way to remove the soil and to what
depth
?

You should be fine as long as you're 150mm ( 2 courses of bricks )
below
the
damp proof course. ( You can usually see it poking through the
pointing
somewhere round the house. )

also how do I prepare the ground - i.e. DPM ?
or stone etc ?
And do I then concrete with a DPM butted up to the brickwork or
what ?

Not completely sure but I think as long as you're below the damp
proof
course and the concrete slopes away from the house then there's
nothing
else
necessary. The 150mm is important because otherwise rain splashes up
above
the DPC and causes the damp.

I don't get this splashing lark.. What about the rain which quite
normally
falls on the brickwork above the damp proof course?

Splashes are no problem it is only a problem if something causes
bridging from below the DPC to above it so water can constantly wick up
into the wall. My house had a damp problem when I moved in, but that was
because some SOB had rendered the outside wall right down to the ground,
including over the engineers bricks that the house is built on. An early
job was removing that rendering, and repairing the plaster work indoors,
result, no damp problem.

Mike
www.british-naturism.org.uk