Sub-soil moisture transit within pre-1948 building envelopes is primarily governed by capillary rise (remontées capillaires), a thermodynamic process driven by the surface tension of water interacting with the micro-porous structure of historic building materials. In the absence of a modern impermeable damp-proof course (DPC), moisture from the underlying water table is drawn vertically into the [...]

Moisture ingress remains one of the most destructive degradation mechanisms affecting historic stone buildings in France. Among the various hydrological failures encountered during a technical building survey, rising damp (remontées capillaires) requires the most careful forensic investigation to differentiate it from simple condensation or localized plumbing leaks. The mechanics of rising damp involve the upward [...]