Damp proof guarantee question

Tabatha_Kitten

Please can anyone give me advice.
The situation briefly is this:
We had a survey done on our 4oo year old cottage when we bought it 4yrs ago. No sign of damp was reported at the time and we were given copies of a guarantee from when a damp proof course was done in 1996. The walls were also dry lined at this time and the exterior of the house re-rendered .
I have recently noticed signs of damp on one of the walls which was done. This consists of two circular damp patches in the window recess, one about 3ft and the other about 5ft up the wall and also a section of skirting board which has gone rotten.
I have contacted the company who issued the guarantee and they have sent me back some forms to fill in with details, but they also want me to send them some money.
Their letter says “We are often called back to re-inspect a property only to find there is no relationship between the problem and the effectiveness of our work. Because of this we find it prudent to administer an administration fee of £65 +VAT. In the event of your problem being directly related to our work we will of course remedy any defect free of charge in accordance with our guarantee and at the same time refund this fee”
This seemed fair reasonable to me at first, but then a friend mentioned that they will probably do everything they can to say it has nothing to do with their work (and lets face it – we don’t know who did the dry lining work and rendering etc as it was 8 yrs before we moved in!)
Is this normal practice?
Do I go along with it or do I cut my losses and get a reputable local builder in to redo the one wall?

dampdaveski

Hi tabatha,
As a damproofing surveyor it is a fact that as soon as people see anything wrong with a wall that has a guarantee on it they automatically assume that the DPC has failed, even if the guttering is missing etc. (You have to remember that the guarantee is only against rising damp returning)
what they have said is not unreasonable in my opinion, the things to ask are
Are they in the property care association? www.property-care.org if they are a trustmark contractor and are bound to give you a level of service etc etc
If the skirting has gone rotten there may be a more obvious cause? such as a leaking gutter or water pipe
I would be tempted to simply tell them you don't know whether it's a claim or not and can they give you a price if it isn't? they might waiver their charge? worth a try
DD

David_Aldred

Hi
Dampdaveski makes a very good point that the dpc contractor cannot be held liable for 30 years for every bit of dampness that occurs to each and every property they treat with a dpc. If this were the case the amount of re-inspects would cripple the firm involved the more jobs they do. Let's face it who do you have in your home who issues such a long term guarantee - even windows are only usually ten year guarantees and yet dampness is such a vague thing it can be due to a thousand and one reasons and each time it appears out comes that dpc guarantee and sometimes its not just a denial of liability it solicitors letters and court etc.

You could do with looking on the information that was passed to you when you bought the house. Try and obtain the contractors survey report, sketch of areas treated and on the guarantee it should say who was responsible for the plastering - either the contractor who did the dpc or somebody else. If it was somebody else there is little point chasing the dpc contractor for that issue as the design function of the plaster is to hold back a certain degree of moisture and salts.

In addition you say the damp spots are around 3ft and 5ft up the wall and this is just about at or above the level of normal dpc associated re-plastering though not always the case. If you can show the dpc contractor did plaster these areas then you may have a case so long as the house is in a reasonable state of repair. Be honest if the window sealant / windows / gutters / cills etc are poor and there is an avenue fr penetrating dampness or condensation is chronic then it is unreasonable to blame the dpc contractor.

A glimmer of hope for you if you still want to chase the dpc contractor is the British Standard for chemical damp proof courses BS6576 recommends the contractor should ensure the timber skirting which you say is decaying does not do so under normal circumstances if the house is kept in reasonable repair and free from significant condensation. That is to say the contractor should have ensured the cavity wall was free of debris to below dpc level if walls are cavity walls and that damp vapours did not emerge from the floor / wall joint to decay the skirting.

If you have to get in a car to travel there and back, undertake tests and write a re-inspection report for something that isn't your fault then £65 is more than reasonable as a call out charge to have a look at it. If you feel you are being fobbed off by the dpc contractor then get somebody in who knows what they are on about to look at the situation.

Kindest regards,