Damp Proof

Jaykay7

Hi all

I have recently purchased a house built in the 1860's. The survey said there was inidications of damp & wood worm. The house had been empty for about 9 months now, as it is a repossession.

I had a remidial company have a look at it & they said there was evidence of a previous chemical damp proof injection however they could not say if it had worked. They have quoted me £1k to sort it & he found evidence of previous wood worm attack but could'nt say if it was active, but suggested treatment costing £500. Another guy has quoted me over £1.8k & found damp in other places too, but no woodworm.

How will I know if there has been a damp proofing? I feel as tho these companies are trying to have my eyes out. I am about to have the windows replaced & parts of the house re pointed as it is very poor & there is a chance that water could have penetrated the brickwork. Is it worth getting these improvements first & heat the place for a few weeks??

Thanks & any help & advice is appreciated.

Doozergirl

If they can't say then I would almost certainly take that as not being able to find any evidence. No damp & timber specialist will leave without quoting you for something unless you are paying for the survey itself and even then I'm not convinced.

With damp, I think it's really important to live in the house and see first hand. This house is supposed to have problems with the exisiting DPC and her we are nearly a year after moving in and there's no evidence of any damp to speak of. I've had every square of wallpaper off the walls now as well. If you can't see it or smell it then it isn't doing any damage to your house - old houses were made to breathe and in many cases should really be left as they always have been. If you think about it, why would it start suffering now and not at any other time in it's rather long history?

Live with it and see.

Also, if something is eating your wood it will generally also leave evidence in the form of sawdust as it's eating. I would ask anyone quoting you for work to show actual evidence of the problem - it's hardly too much to ask; a house won't fall down without showing signs of something that can be treated.

bigyorkshireman

For a better understanding of if you have a woodworm problem you need to understand the life cycle of woodworm. There is a great video explaining the lifecycle on YouTube (just search for woodworm lifecycle )

Basically it lives in the timber for 3 years and the holes are made when the woodworm emerge from the timbers. It sounds from what you have said as if the woodworm are now long gone! Spraying timbers for the sake of it is just daft!

The damp issues could be down to penetrating damp from leaky rain water goods or the like and if so are easily fixable so no worries there!