ABSTRACT
The climate of the UK can be described as ‘warm and wet’. The influence of the sea and the weather systems that follow the Gulf Stream make sure that dampness is the dominant element of our climate. People living in the west of the country will be acutely aware of this (Lacy 1977, p.24). As a consequence, the exclusion of moisture is one of the biggest challenges that any building has to face. The BRE estimates that over two million houses in the UK suffer from ‘severe’ levels of dampness with another two million affected to a lesser extent (Garrett and Nowak 1991).
