Moisture reading

flight1

I had a home report carried out and he detected higher than average moisture readings in one of the basement bedrooms and in the first floor bedroom. I live in a Victorian split house. Recommendations were for a specialist company to inspect. I have received an offer and timber expert is coming on Thursday. No signs of damp in either room, really worried about this, any ideas?

sulphate

We are in the process of buying a Victorian house and the homebuyers report said similar, "damp is affecting the ground floor walls, I suspect this is due to rising damp, you now need to get a damp/timber contractor round to give an estimate of cost".

Instead of a contractor we got an independent damp surveyor round who said there were no real problems and the only issue was the ground level needed lowering in places. As I understand it, damp contractors are basically just salesmen offering "free" surveys trying to sell damp proofing courses in houses that may not need it.

G_M

Read

http://www.askjeff.co.uk/rising_damp.html

of course a basement is potentially a different kettle of fish....

Is the 'timber expert' fully independant, or do they do remedial work? If so, I guarantee they* will find damp and recommend..... they can solve it for £X000 !!

* the guy who comes will call himself a 'surveyor'. He is not. He is a salesman.

flight1

The potential buyer has arranged the specialist and they carry out repair works, branches throughout scotland. Wonder if it would be worth getting our own report following his or perhaps buyers mortgage company would not accept this. Fingers crossed it is nothing major. We have had a leaking drainpipe at both of these bedroom windows so this may be the cause, if so would this clear once pipes replaced or could this cause major issues?

G_M

I doubt the mortgage lender would accept, but as the is is Scotland who knows! Wierd system up there!.

Leaking drainpipes are an obvious cause of damp, and normally once they are fixed (very easy/cheap job) the wall should dry out... over time.

But that won't make money for the damp specialist firm, so who knows what they will say.....

sandsni

On the face of it a leaking drainpipe could have been the cause (or part of it at least), but damp walls can take quite a while to dry out. Unfortunately, since you're selling, you don't have the luxury of giving it time. You could try using a dehumidifier in the offending rooms which might help the walls dry out a bit quicker.

But AFAIK the "moisture meters" used measure conductivity rather than actual moisture content so they don't really prove anything, but are often used by "specialists" who then go on to sell you their own remedial works. If you decide to get a report of your own, make sure the surveyor is independent and has no vested interest in finding damp.

G_M

sandsni wrote: »

But AFAIK the "moisture meters" used measure conductivity rather than actual moisture content so they don't really prove anything, but are often used by "specialists" who then go on to sell you their own remedial works. If you decide to get a report of your own, make sure the surveyor is independent and has no vested interest in finding damp.

Yup.

See link in post 3.

flight1

Specialist company was out yesterday and it looks as though if any work is needed it is minimum. He said all he could see was a small area of damp in corner at window, nothing to worry about,possibly rising damp or caused by the drains which he went to look at. No issues in basement. Report should be in to buyer by next week and then we will hear officially, this has been so stressful, hope we are over the worst!

sandsni

Thanks for the update Gill. Glad to hear there's nothing too serious :-)