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In the first report some twenty houses were dealt with, but a
good deal of time was taken up in discussing the reports and procedure,
and a Sub-Committee was appointed by the Council to
inspect the houses in question.
After this time the work proceeded more rapidly, and at the
end of the year one hundred houses had been inspected and reported
upon in the above part of the district and four in Ferry Street.
Two of the houses in Perry Street were certified by the Medical
Officer of Health to be unfit for human habitation, and these were
afterwards put into thorough repair, and are now again occupied.
The matter requiring most attention was that of dampness.
This arose from various causes, viz., want of damp-proof course,
ground above the level of damp-proof course, defective eaves,
gutters and rainwater-down pipes, defective sills and frames of
windows, defective roofs, and from pervious brickwork.
This latter defect was, I think, the chief cause of the dampness,
and it is a very open question whether 9in. solid brickwork
houses built in exposed situations do not require cementing or
provided with some impervious surface to the outer walls. Hollow
walls would, of course, naturally stop the dampness, but this would
largely increase the initial cost of the building.
The outer walls of three of the damp houses were cemented and
fourteen were treated with patent damp-proofing solution, but it
is questionable whether the latter will have any permanent effect
Those houses without damp-proof courses were provided with
slate and cement damp-proof courses, and where the ground was
above the original damp-proof course, horizontal courses with slates
and cement were provided.
Of the 104 houses inspected, the works at thirty-four were
completed at the end of the year and at most of the other houses the
work was in hand, but it is necessary in several instances that
various work, such as cement work, should stand over until the
Spring, when the work can be more effectually carried out.
Summary of Defects. The following is a Summary of Defects
found and matters reported upon under these Regulations:—
Dampness, caused by the want of or insufficient
damp-proof courses, porous brickwork, defective
eaves, gutters and rainwater down-pipes, defective
roofs, &c., &c. 226