Coverage · Clapham, Battersea, Wandsworth, Dulwich, Wimbledon, Croydon, Bromley, Sutton and Kingston
Basement waterproofing in South London.
South London covers an enormous range of ground in a short distance. Inner south is London Clay; by the time you reach Croydon and Sutton you are onto sands, and further still you are on Chalk. A specification that is right in Clapham can be actively wrong in Purley, and the difference is not marketing — it is a different mechanism putting water into the building.
The ground across south London
What you are building into.
| Geology | London Clay across the inner south, giving way to sands and Chalk further out |
|---|---|
| Groundwater | South London is stitched with culverted rivers — the Effra, the Falcon Brook, the Wandle and the Beverley Brook. Their old courses are still the wettest lines in the area, and they rarely follow the modern street pattern, which is why one house takes water and its neighbour never has. |
| Housing stock | Victorian and Edwardian terraces, large villas in Dulwich and Wimbledon, 1930s semis further south |
| Planning | Basement policy is generally less restrictive here than in the central boroughs, but Wandsworth and Lambeth both take a close interest in excavation near culverted watercourses and in the effect on neighbouring properties. |
We survey to establish which mechanism is actually at work before proposing anything. On the clay, ingress is usually lateral seepage and failed historic tanking. Nearer the old watercourses it is genuine groundwater under a head. On the sands and Chalk further south it is seasonal and can be dramatic. Same trade, three different designs.
9 areas
Find your area.
Each area below has its own notes on the geology, the groundwater and the housing stock, because the right specification genuinely changes from one postcode to the next.
What we do
The systems we install.
Request a quote
Book a survey across south London.
Tell us what you're seeing and we'll tell you honestly whether it needs a full waterproofing system or something much simpler.