Surveyor missed a problem

coupland

Hi, I'm a recent first time buyer, moved in 3 months ago.

A couple of months ago I noticed a damp patch on my living room wall. As the weather got worse and the weeks went on I noticed bits patches in other rooms too.

I've likely got a case of penetrative damp, rain coming through the exterior wall, but as of yet this is unconfirmed.

Before completing I paid £400 for a homebuyers report.

- Is this something the surveyor should've noticed ?
- Will I be insured for this at all ?
- If I'm not insured, would it be too bold of me to ask him to come out (for no additional fee) and confirm what the exact problem is ?

Any advice is appreciated as I'm a bit unsure on all this. Thanks in advance.

mr.broderick

coupland wrote:

Hi, I'm a recent first time buyer, moved in 3 months ago.

A couple of months ago I noticed a damp patch on my living room wall. As the weather got worse and the weeks went on I noticed bits patches in other rooms too.

I've likely got a case of penetrative damp, rain coming through the exterior wall, but as of yet this is unconfirmed.

Before completing I paid £400 for a homebuyers report.

- Is this something the surveyor should've noticed ?
- Will I be insured for this at all ?
- If I'm not insured, would it be too bold of me to ask him to come out (for no additional fee) and confirm what the exact problem is ?

Any advice is appreciated as I'm a bit unsure on all this. Thanks in advance.

Penetration damp (If thats what it is is a funny one to diagnose) Could be a number of causes..Roof,Wall ties,render coming away, etc.

Question is can you prove this fault hasnt occured after survey was done?
Also if it is penetration damp and when the survey was done and weather had been fine few weeks previous there might not have been evidence of this. On the survey did it recommend getting a damp specialist to give it the once over or not?

ariba10

I have seen the same sort of damp patches caused by condensation.

After a lot of investigation outside the building, the wallpaper was stripped off and some one had brushed gloss paint on the wall to clean the paint brush.

It had left cool areas for moisture to settle on.

benood

I'd give him a call, surveyors are in my experience quite helpful and not quite so quick to bill as solicitors, he probably won't be able to confirm what the exact problem just point you in the direction of possible solutions. I suppose the risk you run is you give him advance warning that a claim might be on its way but chances are his report is stuffed with limitations and caveats which will make it difficult for you to go down that route anyway.

I agree with ariba10 it does sound like condensation is a possibility.

coupland

Hi

Thanks for the quick replies. The problem is a strange one, obviously even more difficult to diagnose online !

Question is can you prove this fault hasn't occurred after survey was done?

I don't think so. I've recently noticed the wallpaper in the bedroom on the wall in question is different from that of the rest of the room. Doesn't prove anything, but points to previous owner knowing about it and covering it up.

On the survey did it recommend getting a damp specialist to give it the once over or not?

No. Damp coursing was done 10 years ago by a company who are now out of business. I have the guarantee from the sellers pack. 2 caveats in the survey are settlement cracks noted and recommendation of getting extractor fans put into kitchen and bathroom.

wallpaper was stripped off and some one had brushed gloss paint on the wall to clean the paint brush.

That's interesting to know and is another possibility. Will investigate further.

Main problem patch is about half a meter square, cloud shaped at a height of 1 metre. Appears when it rains, is gone after a day's clear weather.

Is going to be a bind to take off paper, but better than spending hundreds on re-pointing the side of the house to find out it was something else all along !

I think I'll give the surveyor a friendly call. When he surveyed the place the weather was good, so he was not likely to have seen the problem, besides it took me weeks to notice. Will just hope he's going to be helpful and not on the defensive.

Cheers

coupland

ariba10 wrote:

I have seen the same sort of damp patches caused by condensation.

After a lot of investigation outside the building, the wallpaper was stripped off and some one had brushed gloss paint on the wall to clean the paint brush.

It had left cool areas for moisture to settle on.

That was an incredibly insightful idea. Thanks a lot :T

I've now stripped back the paper, the only areas I have damp in the room had some form paint (could well be gloss) behind them.

I was so worried about having to get the side of the house repointed, or rising damp.

No idea why they've painted on the plaster that way but it's the paint that's causing the problem.

These forums are great

Doozergirl

Glad you got a result

If the surveyor has recommended that you get extractor fans, it could well be that it's condensation inside the house compounding the problem and maybe not just the rain outside?

Might be worth doing

missk_ensington

If it was/is damp and the surveyor missed it you would have a very valid claim against the surveyor for Professional Negligence. It is very common in law (my Mum is a lawyer and her two most common cases are Misrepresentation (usually sellers not declaring disputes with neighbour, or businesses humping up their accounts and Profession negligence against doctors/surveyors and other solicitors, particularly conveyancing solicitors)

Hope this helps people as a golden rule: If you have paid someone to act in your best interest in a field that is unfamiliar to you and due to incompetence, wrong advice or plain error they make a mistake that is detrimental to you financially, you have potential to make a claim for professional negligence.