IN 1919, during the Great War peace conference, a member of the British military delegation noticed something interesting in the Palace of Versailles: a row of small circular vents along the bottom of a wall. After some inquiries the delegate – one General Brown – found that the vents concealed ceramic tubes set into the wall for damp proofing, a process that had been patented in 1908 by a Belgian, Monsieur Knapen.
General Brown introduced the Knapen tubes into Britain under licence, and apparently enjoyed some commercial success with British Knapen Ltd before selling up. Ceramic tubes continue to be made, marketed and installed in British homes.
The only problem is… they don’t work!
To be fair – they’re not that common but we did come across some at a recent survey in Bearsden.
As you can see… they don’t work!
I won’t now turn this into a science lesson but we only specify damp-proofing works in accordance with BS 6576: Code of practice for installation of chemical damp-proof courses
In doing this our Approved Specialist Contractors can cover any remedial works with a 20 Year guarantee.
