Will our raised deck cause damp?

[Minnaloushe]

We built a raised deck against the side of a neighbours wall on top of a mound of soil which we boxed in. Will the soil cause damp on the neighbours wall?

We put plastic between the soil and the wall but I'm not sure this will be enough as there are openings between the lengths of overlapping plastic

I know it's a bit late now 'cos we've already built it, but I'd like to know if there will be potentially any problems in the future.

[lady_p_gold]

Did you get planning permission ... if not you might have to take it down again ..........

[Minnaloushe]

I wasn't aware you needed planning permission for a deck!!! It's only 7' x 7' and about 18" high. It's not particularly big.

[Diamondson]

You probably don't want to hear this, but putting plastic sheeting against a wall that is exposed to the weather is bad news. During heavy rain water can percolate down behind the sheeting where it gets trapped and won't dry out. You don't say if the wall is a garden wall or an external wall of your neighbours house. A garden wall should not be too a big problem as they don't generally put damp courses in them so are liable to rising damp anyway. If it is a dwelling wall then you urgently need to check the level of the damp course to see if your soil is above it. If it is then you could cause major problems if their cavities have any debries in them which will allow the moisture to cross to the inner leaf of the wall.

[Minnaloushe]

Oh.....maybe we should remove the plastic then! It won't be too difficult to do that. Just goes to to show that good intentions aren't always the best when you don't know what you're doing!!