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We have a 20 x 30 patio which sits over a small room which sits over an unfinished very dry large storage area. The small room gets an overpowering musty smell almost every day about 4:30 in the afternoon and which gradually lessens. No there is there no animal – human or otherwise to pin this smell on. Running from the patio down through the room below (is in fact one wall) and down into the unused space is a retaining wall which shows damps on one of the 4 x 12 attached to it. The patio is presumed to have a bed of concrete over which is a two and a half in layer of some plastic with little pebbles embedded in it. We had a General come in and lay waterproof heavy black felt or paper and then set reglular sized bricks – but they were only 1/2 – 3/4 of an inch thick. The patio looks great with old brick and mortar – and has done so since the day it was installed over ten years ago. Now however the wood ceiling of the room below is showing signs of damp and the wood on the retaining wall is showing areas of wetness. Two sides of the patio slope in towards each other forming a low spot in the center which acts as a channel to the drain. Since we want to avoid destroying the brickwork we would appreciate any suggestions as to any liquid or coating we could apply over the brick to stop the leakage with as little change to the appearance as possible – for instance we would like to avoid shine.
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We have a 20 x 30 patio which sits over a small room which sits over an unfinished very dry large storage area. The small room gets an overpowering musty smell almost every day about 4:30 in the afternoon and which gradually lessens. No there is there no animal - human or otherwise to pin this smell on. Running from the patio down through the room below (is in fact one wall) and down into the unused space is a retaining wall which shows damps on one of the 4 x 12 attached to it. The patio is presumed to have a bed of concrete over which is a two and a half in layer of some plastic with little pebbles embedded in it. We had a General come in and lay waterproof heavy black felt or paper and then set reglular sized bricks - but they were only 1/2 - 3/4 of an inch thick. The patio looks great with old brick and mortar - and has done so since the day it was installed over ten years ago. Now however the wood ceiling of the room below is showing signs of damp and the wood on the retaining wall is showing areas of wetness. Two sides of the patio slope in towards each other forming a low spot in the center which acts as a channel to the drain. Since we want to avoid destroying the brickwork we would appreciate any suggestions as to any liquid or coating we could apply over the brick to stop the leakage with as little change to the appearance as possible - for instance we would like to avoid shine.