What are damp proof creams?

Damp Proof Creams are a safe and easy to apply cure for Rising Damp in masonry walls. First created around ten years ago they are an improved alternative to traditional rising damp injection chemicals. Using silicon based active ingredients they benefit from having a low toxicity and can be easily applied by professionals and DIYers alike.

We adivise all of our customers to buy one of two types of damp proofing creams – the Damp Away cream or the Dryzone cream – depending on the severity of the rising damp issue that they face.

Click here to see all of our damp proofing creams

The chemical make-up

The active ingredients for these creams are silicone based compounds. These chemicals, once injected into a wall will bond with the pours in a masonry wall, preventing water from passing through. Therefore the capillary action which is responsible for issues of rising damp can be prevented.

A key factor when deciding between different damp proofing creams is the amount of active ingredient in the forumla. Tests have shows that some of the big brand competitors to these creams will actually have little effect due to the very low amount of active ingredient in their formula , which is too low to form a protective layer in the masonry

The graph below shows the protection offered  by our damp proof creams and competitor products – as can be seen, many of the competitor products provide very little protection to moisture.

In addition to the active ingredients, the formula must be created to maximize the dispersion of the active ingredient in a masonry wall. The Damp Away creams and the Dryzone creams have superior formulas to assist with this process.

Applying the cream

Damp proofing creams have a fairly uniform application process as is well demonstrated by a video which can be seen here. Holes are drilled into the mortar bed which can be then filled with damp proofing cream. The holes should be no more than 120 mm apart, around 12 mm in diameter and at least 120mm above the ground level

The cream can be applied you a applicator gun – the Damp Away cream using a standard mastic gun (see here) and the Dryzone using a specialised applicator (as can be seen here)

The Damp Away Premium Damp Proof Cream

Our Damp Away cream has been produced to be the best mass market Damp Cream in the market. Although it contains less active ingredient than the Dryzone, it beats all other cartridge based creams in its effectiveness in combating rising damp.