How do I tell if i've got damp ???

Pauls

I've recently had a quote for cavity wall insulation, and we were all booked up to get it installed on Tuesday of this week. However, due to some badly timed roadworks on our street the company doing the install had to cancel as they couldn't get their truck on our driveway.

The guy that turned up to actually do the install apparently stated that he couldn't understand why we'd ben signed up as we'd got damp. He's now spoken to his boss and we're now being put on hold as we've been advised to get the damp problem resolved first otherwise we'll cause ourselves all sorts of problems.

Obviously I'm quite happy that they won't do the job for this reason, but how do I tell if I've got damp?? We have odd patches of mould on our skirting boards (all in corners where the furniture stands very right next to it) but nothing significant??

Any advice greatly appreciated??

littlesnuggy

Mould on skirting boards and behind furniture indicates that the problem is to do with condensation not 'damp', ie moisture rising from the ground into the walls.

In any case, the best way to know if you do have damp is to get a survey done - either ask friends / neighbours for a recommendation or look on www.property-care.org and use the Find a Member facility to find someone in your area.

David_Aldred

Hi Pauls,
Please have a look at my postings on this forum regarding dampness, damp meters, condensation, decay, woodworm, cavity wall ties, plaster, chimney brests and in particular this thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2104483&highlight=cavity+wall&page=2

Rising dampness is moisture rising by capillarity from the ground and is usually contaminated with ground salts that tend to inhibit mould growth rather than encourage it and for this reason mould is often but not always associated with a purer moisture source such as penetraing dampness / leakage and condensation both upon the surfaces and within the depth of the building itself (the latter being termed interstitial condensation).

Condensation is a form of dampness and not something different and given that statistically it accounts for around 70% of all dampness seen it is the primary moisture source that can saturate a building throughout so please do not under estimate this as a trivial moisture source.

How do you detect dampness? Well most people cannot visually or by feel detect that wood is damp until it is well beyond the point at which it will support decay and hence meters that will detect the level of moisture within the wood are crucial to a survey of the property.

As indicated by the previous post you can have an inspection undertaken by an independent specialist in dampness who is insured to give you advice and qualified to do so in a completely unbiased way. Such specialist surveyors can be found upon the Property Care Association (PCA) website and if you look under find a member then select Freelance or Consultant (the rest are contractors looking for work) then should find one in your area to have a chat with and discuss the situation.

You are after a surveyor who is CSRT qualified and they should at the very least be looking at all the timbers throughout including all sub floor timbers and tell you about any and all wood that has a moisture content above the threshold of decay. Tell them to report on the condition of the cavity to the walls to all elevations both at dpc level and higher levels in respect of the condition of cavity wall ties, the width of cavity and any debris seen within that cavity and also could they inspect for dampness by using a carbide meter, conductivity meter and dew point analysis. Photographs and sketches will be required as part of their report to you and they should be on site around half a day and spend all of the following day writing and preparing tat report specific to your house with observations, conclusions and recommendations to resolve the situation.

Hope this helps, kindest regards, David Aldred Independent damp and timber surveyor

Pauls

littlesnuggy wrote: »

Mould on skirting boards and behind furniture indicates that the problem is to do with condensation not 'damp', ie moisture rising from the ground into the walls.

That's exactly what I thought tbh. I'd guess that CWI should help reduce this due to the fact the walls would be warmer ?