Damp

tony6403

A dehumidifier would pick up on any moisture present but they cost £150 to £200.
Just to try to see if there is any condensation or damp you could put a cystal box type dehumidifier near to one of the claimed problem areas to see if it absorbs anything.
By no means conclusive but maybe worth doing to see if there's excessive moisture.
The sort below costs about £3 but I am sure that I saw this type of product in the Pound Shop.

lottie0311

I'll have to take a look. The specialist is coming tomorrow and I'm hoping it'll be a new DPC and can all be done externally. I'm like a mad woman, constantly eyeing the plaster round the house, poking etc. no wetness or spongey plaster, so when I spoke to him on the phone he said its not always necessary to re plaster and should be able to deal with it from outside. If it just a new DPc then I don't think we'll have a problem.

Leif

Find out who the specialist works for, and if he is independent you are okay. If he works for a damp proofing company, then there is a conflict of interest. Your builder might know this, and might rely on a false positive to allow knocking the price down.

There is a test you can try for yourself. Get some polythene sheet, transparent is best, and cut out some 30cm by 30cm squares, and tape them to the 'damp' areas. Leave them for a few days or a week. You can also tape a piece of carpet in the same manner. If the area below the impermeable plastic becomes damp, then you have penetrating damp, if not, you have condensation. The area below the permeable carpet should become damp, as warm air from the room meets the cold surface, or maybe penetrating damp comes through.

Oh, and when it rains, go outside and check your guttering. It might be leaking due to blockage.

lottie0311

oh ive never heard of that one before. i can try it but will have to be next week when the report comes back that i have my result as the surveyor is coming tomorrow.

I have asked if he is independant and he basically does the survey and that is it. he is aware that the survey is for a builder and although he will quote for the work, the builder will get a few quotes once they know what needs to be done so i suppose he has to play it kinda safe or he wont get the work anyway.

i have been walking around the house like a mad woman, staring at the plaster and prodding it. no spongy patches or bubbling etc, just this bloody meter!!

it might be a good thing for us that the builders financial year end is end of june, they want to get all of their houses legally completed by then so im hoping if theres a problem, they will fix it and still get the house through. There is no way that if they pull out now, they can get somebody else in within that timescale. so that could be in our favour