i live in a ground floor maisonette with stairs to the upstairs outside and against my bedroom wall. i want cavity wall insulation but i have been told to get the water saturation in the wall and stairs fixed first. there is a outhouse underneath the stairs and its all ways wet in there.

Julie Griffiths, February 2009

Sounds like you have water penetration coming off the treads into the wall.You need to stop any water sitting on the treads from soaking into the brickwork - go out on a wet day and see if any water is sitting on the treads or maybe running through open joints then you know where to seal. Let it dry and start by pointing up any cracks with mastic - it needs to be flexible because stairs always seem to move relative to the building causing cracking.You could seal over the joints with a flexible roof sealant such as "acrypol" but it is messy if you are not used to handling it!!. Also you could put a couple of airbricks or vents in the outhouse to help dry it out. Good luck

Barry, February 2009