Buying a flat, damp smell, help!

DieHard

I am not sure if this is the right forum but I have been in the process of buying a flat for a few months now and I have been to see it a few times while the owners were still living there.

The first time I went with my dad, he said he could smell something that smelled like a wet dog. When I went with my mam she said she could smell a damp smell, I didn't smell anything either time but I did notice the vendor had all the windows open.

I have just been to see it again today, the vendor has not lived in the flat for a few weeks. This time I could smell a foisty smell. It smelled like the wall in my bathroom if I forget to wipe it down after I have a shower. With hindsight I think the vendor was aware of this smell and that is why they had all the windows open.

What is worrying me is that this smell is really noticeable even though no one has lived there for a few weeks. If anything it must have got stronger if I can now smell it, when really any smell should fade if no one is living there unless it originates from the flat itself. I looked in all the rooms and the cupboards and there is no sign of damp at all.

I have two questions:

What could cause a damp/wet dog/foisty smell in a flat when no one is living there and there is no signs of damp?

Would it be costly to remedy it?

It is really concerning me because the flats are only three years old. I am at the conveyancing stage at the moment. Would I be better off just walking away at this point. At the moment I might be down a grand. What I am worried about is having to spend a load of money on a problem which does not seem like it will go away by itself and is in fact connected to the flat and not the people who used to live there.

Wings

Get a survey carried out on the property, some damp/condensation problems can be sorted out by additional ventilation, but there are some properties that due to theway the property was constructed, wrong materials, cold North facing walls, that it can be very, very costly to cure the damp/condensation problems.

DieHard

I got a home buyers report when I got my mortgage and it didn't mention anything about damp/condensation problems. I realise you are talking about a survey but would that sort of thing not be covered in a home buyers report? The reason I went for a home buyers report is because they are so new.

I am sure the vendors where aware of it which would suggest that they used additional ventilation such as opening windows etc but there was still a smell which clearly gets worse when no one is living in it. The funny thing is I looked at a few flats in this block (it has about three storeys) and this is the only one that smelled like this. The other flats were all empty. The flat I am buying is at the end of the block where as the others with in the middle

I am starting to get a bad feeling about it.

Errata

Revisit it with a damp meter http://www.hss.com/g/49420/Damp-Meter.html

DieHard

Thank you Errata that is a very good idea!

gratefulforhelp_2

Or read Jeff Howells' book "The rising damp myth". It may be simply that the heating has been off? It has been very cold...extractor fans, heating on and a dehumidifier may well fix it.

I should have thought that a homebuyers report would have detected damp if there was damp. You could maybe contact that surveyor and ask them?

G_M

Errata wrote: »

Revisit it with a damp meter http://www.hss.com/g/49420/Damp-Meter.html

There is no real specification for this product, but I suspect it does not measure damp, it measures electrical conductivity. If used on wood, it would be a very effective test for damp, as wood does not conduct electricity unless damp. But other materials (plaster, mortar etc) may well conduct electricity even when dry, depending on their composition.

This is one of the problems with damp detection.

Which floor is the flat? Ground? Could be a broken damp proof course or more likely a pi;e of earth/whatever outside breaching the dpc.

Top floor? Are the gutters leaking?

Another possbility is a burst pipe either ongoing or fixed. If a pipe leaked, it may be fixed now but have left damp under carpets, in wooden flooring etc. Same with a washing machine flood.

How big is the flat and what ventilation does it have? Is there a window in the bathroom, or a fan? Does the fan work effectively?

Are there any signs of damp on wallpaper (stains, peeling etc). Or has wallpaper been very recently put up (to hide evidence of damp!).

Much more info is needed.

Wings

DieHard wrote: »

I got a home buyers report when I got my mortgage and it didn't mention anything about damp/condensation problems. I realise you are talking about a survey but would that sort of thing not be covered in a home buyers report? The reason I went for a home buyers report is because they are so new.

I am sure the vendors where aware of it which would suggest that they used additional ventilation such as opening windows etc but there was still a smell which clearly gets worse when no one is living in it. The funny thing is I looked at a few flats in this block (it has about three storeys) and this is the only one that smelled like this. The other flats were all empty. The flat I am buying is at the end of the block where as the others with in the middle

I am starting to get a bad feeling about it.

Smell and windows open are visible signs of damp problems, a full building survey, will if directed to, direct what is causing the problem/s. If the flat is within a block, early one morning take a walk bye the block, and look for streams of condensation on the windows.

In Bristol i own a BTL property/cottage, the last tenant vacated th property due to damp/condensation, a recent survey, by both a damp proof company and surveyor, suggests taking off all plaster within the property, and re- plastering using lime plaster. I am not saying this is the same with your property, but a property constructed wrongly, can involve lots of money putting right.

DieHard

The flat is on the ground floor. The brick work outside the kitchen was (soaked in) wet outside (but not inside) and it wasn't like that the other times I went to view it. I think it was like that now because snow has been piled up against that wall as there is a slight incline and it has thawed out. The dampness went half way up the wall at the kitchen. There was no other signs of dampness on any outside walls anywhere else in the block. The heating has been on but at a very low level.

There is no signs of damp or wetness on any of the carpets or the floors inside the flat. The living room and bedrooms are carpeted, the hallway, kitchen are laminate. There is no wallpaper, it is all bare walls which have been painted with magnolia. There is no discolouration on any of the walls, floors or carpet.

The bathroom has a window, I did not think to try the extractor fan. There was no leak around the bath or no signs of any dried up flood in the bathroom or kitchen. There are no stains at all and there are no signs that any part of it has been redecorated recently. Although I did find some small tins of magnolia paint in the kitchen cupboard when I was looking for leaks/damp patches. The size of the tins did suggest they were for repainting damage as opposed to redecorating.

One of the bedrooms had minor marks that had clearly been made in the course of living there (scrapes, marks round the light sockets, plugs) but no attempt had been made to use the tins I had found in the kitchen in there.

G_M

Hmm. Sounds OK. Well you only really have four more options:

Walk away cos you've got doubts but no evidence.
Buy it and keep your fingers crossed.
Send in an expert (damp specialist/surveyor)
Or use your nose to try to identify the source of the smell!

Wings

Is it a converted or purpose built flat, if the former it may be of a single brick construction, so the cold outside walls mixing with the warmth of the modern heating system creating the damp condensation. Magnolia tin of paint and laminated flooring two other signs of attempt to hide damp.