Dampcoursing help!

unicorn1984

Hi.

Myself and my partner are buying our first home, we have had the mortgage offer and we have the deposit etc, have a conveyancer, and have found a house we love, our offer was accepted and the owners are keen to move to suit us, and have given the notice on our rental house. All ticking along nicely. Today we have had the results of the survey, now bearing in mind I have no clue about this kind of stuff, the bright red scary 3's on the report did make me panic for a while! Having read through it thoroughly, it mostly looks like stuff that are more "suggestions" like having the gas boiler checked (which it has been, it was replaced recently and is under warranty) so I take it that they are just covering themselves on such points?

The one thing they did find was "with the aid of an electronic moisture meter and higher than average readings indicating the presence of dampness", in the lounge and hallway. The current owners have advised that they have had the property damp-coursed, and we have the guarantee for this, which is valid for (I think) 25 years? Would the contractors who carried out the work have to come back and do the inspection to check on the damp or would we need to pay someone again to come out and do this?

Thanks for helping!

BitterAndTwisted

An electronic "moisture-meter" measures conductivity, not dampness. There could be some condensation resulting from inadequate ventilation and/or heating rather than a failed damp-course. And unless that hallway has an external wall it's definitely not going to be damp.

If you get the original contractors back in I can guarantee that they will find some works required with a price-tag attached rather than some failing in their original works which need to be remedied.

If you haven't agreed a price and haven't exchanged yet I would suggest that handing in your notice on your rented property could be a tiny bit premature.

PerpetualStudent

Hi, I'm just about to buy my first flat, so still learning about this myself, but from my research I understand genuine 'rising damp' is quite rare, and any damp is usually due to other causes.

When was your house built? Anytime after 1870-odd houses were required to have a built in damp course anyway, like a layer of slate, though these can break over time. Damp issues in older properties can be due to things like building up the ground outside (for example adding a concreted front drive/path which meets the wall) allowing the damp proof course to be 'bridged' or airbricks to be covered.

Another issue might be the house being re-pointed with a motar with a heavy cement content - this means the house can no longer 'breath', which can cause damp - and also for moisture to instead move in and out through the bricks, which knackers them... There's quite a few awkward little things like this that can result in damp.

DON'T put your faith in moisure-meters - our check reported 'rising damp' in a cupboard which had a leaking Victorian water tank directly above it! Never mind a clever gismo, all you needed was eyes to tell where the damp was coming from in that instance!

I'd say do your reading online and in books relevant to your house - homebuilding dot co dot uk is a good place to start - and check out all the options before resorting to expensive chemical damp proofing, which might not even solve the problem...

AlexMac

I guess it really depends on ho bad the damp is, and the Firm itself. I've only once had to call on a guarantee, about 10 years after the original installation, and I was impressed that the firm didn't quibble, but simply stripped and re-instated a couple of meters of cement render and surface plaster on our 150 year-old brick wall. They also found a couple of spots which had not been treated first time round, so they got a few hundred quid out of us, which seemed fair. But they were a well known local company with a reputation to maintain; I guess others might be reluctant or might argue depending on how bad the damp was, and whether there was a clear drawing or specification attached to the guarantee, indicating that the damp was in a previously treated area.

So as regards your Q " Would the contractors who carried out the work have to come back and do the inspection to check on the damp or would we need to pay someone again to come out and do this?"...

Yes- best to invite the original contractors back. In fact, an inspection and quote should cost nothing. But whether you get the original Co. or a new firm round, do be cautious in that it's obviously in their interest to find new damp and to talk up the problem so they get the fix. As the post above says, it could well that you get a bit of a meter reading dues to condensation or poor heating/ventilation rather than the classic rising damp. All after all, all walls are a bit damp and you'd get a reading if you stuck the meter in your arm!

Most damp problems can be fixed by a general builder for a few hundred quid, but the specialists have to guarantee the work so often charge a couple of thou;

I suspect (as a complete amateur who has owned half a dozen Victorian houses- all of which had a bit of damp) that it could be trivial. If you like the house, it doesn't smell or feel damp, with no obvious discoloration or surface efflorescence etc, and the lender doesn't pick up on the issue as a cause for a retention, you could just go ahead (with or without a damp inspection/quote and/or a negotiation about a few quid off the price) and see how it is after you move in.

unicorn1984

PerpetualStudent wrote: »

Hi, I'm just about to buy my first flat, so still learning about this myself, but from my research I understand genuine 'rising damp' is quite rare, and any damp is usually due to other causes.

When was your house built? Anytime after 1870-odd houses were required to have a built in damp course anyway, like a layer of slate, though these can break over time. Damp issues in older properties can be due to things like building up the ground outside (for example adding a concreted front drive/path which meets the wall) allowing the damp proof course to be 'bridged' or airbricks to be covered.

Another issue might be the house being re-pointed with a motar with a heavy cement content - this means the house can no longer 'breath', which can cause damp - and also for moisture to instead move in and out through the bricks, which knackers them... There's quite a few awkward little things like this that can result in damp.

DON'T put your faith in moisure-meters - our check reported 'rising damp' in a cupboard which had a leaking Victorian water tank directly above it! Never mind a clever gismo, all you needed was eyes to tell where the damp was coming from in that instance!

I'd say do your reading online and in books relevant to your house - homebuilding dot co dot uk is a good place to start - and check out all the options before resorting to expensive chemical damp proofing, which might not even solve the problem...

Hi, thanks for your reply. The house was built in 1935, I do know that the house has been re-pointed, there used to be a porch over the front door, and we noticed the brickwork looked "newer" around the front door, and this was because the porch was taken down and the front re-pointed.

We have sent our queries over to the conveyancer who is going to chase them up with the owners solicitors, hoping to get a response back from her in the next day or so. Hopefully nothing too much to worry about!

Thanks

unicorn1984

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

An electronic "moisture-meter" measures conductivity, not dampness. There could be some condensation resulting from inadequate ventilation and/or heating rather than a failed damp-course. And unless that hallway has an external wall it's definitely not going to be damp.

If you get the original contractors back in I can guarantee that they will find some works required with a price-tag attached rather than some failing in their original works which need to be remedied.

If you haven't agreed a price and haven't exchanged yet I would suggest that handing in your notice on your rented property could be a tiny bit premature.

The front door is wooden with glass panes, two of which are cracked, and there is a slight draught from this, this is probably one of the only things we need to get done to the house, new front door, could this be a cause? The house is a semi-detached, with the wall of the hallway being an external wall..... we have agreed on the price, but haven't exchanged yet. I had to give 2 months notice on my house which is why I have given it already.... because we wanted a quick move and didn't want to be waiting 2 months after exchanging...

unicorn1984

AlexMac wrote: »

I guess it really depends on ho bad the damp is, and the Firm itself. I've only once had to call on a guarantee, about 10 years after the original installation, and I was impressed that the firm didn't quibble, but simply stripped and re-instated a couple of meters of cement render and surface plaster on our 150 year-old brick wall. They also found a couple of spots which had not been treated first time round, so they got a few hundred quid out of us, which seemed fair. But they were a well known local company with a reputation to maintain; I guess others might be reluctant or might argue depending on how bad the damp was, and whether there was a clear drawing or specification attached to the guarantee, indicating that the damp was in a previously treated area.

So as regards your Q " Would the contractors who carried out the work have to come back and do the inspection to check on the damp or would we need to pay someone again to come out and do this?"...

Yes- best to invite the original contractors back. In fact, an inspection and quote should cost nothing. But whether you get the original Co. or a new firm round, do be cautious in that it's obviously in their interest to find new damp and to talk up the problem so they get the fix. As the post above says, it could well that you get a bit of a meter reading dues to condensation or poor heating/ventilation rather than the classic rising damp. All after all, all walls are a bit damp and you'd get a reading if you stuck the meter in your arm!

Most damp problems can be fixed by a general builder for a few hundred quid, but the specialists have to guarantee the work so often charge a couple of thou;

I suspect (as a complete amateur who has owned half a dozen Victorian houses- all of which had a bit of damp) that it could be trivial. If you like the house, it doesn't smell or feel damp, with no obvious discolouration or surface efflorescence etc, and the lender doesn't pick up on the issue as a cause for a retention, you could just go ahead (with or without a damp inspection/quote and/or a negotiation about a few quid off the price) and see how it is after you move in.

Thanks for your reply. The house didn't smell, the decoration was in very good order, and it didn't feel damp either (other half's Step-dad was having a good look at the walls and floors and didnt notice anything). We really do love it, and got it for £5k under asking price, which I know isn't a huge amount, but we were looking for something around the £190,000 mark and found this one and have had £150,000 accepted, so we aren't spending what we anticipated. If we do need any work doing, Step-dad can do most anything, so far all we need to do is replace the front door and get a bannister put up the stairs (for my 2 year old), so we will have underspent massively. I wouldn't have been too worried at all, if it weren't for my Stepbrothers house having damp and him having to spend £1,000's on putting it right..... guess we can wait and see if the owners have had that part of the house damp-coursed and go from there. I don't mind us having to do some work eventually, but just don't fancy having to have the front room dug up months after moving in!

Thanks again!

unicorn1984

The lender also valued the property at the price we are paying...

G_M

http://www.askjeff.co.uk/rising-damp/

unicorn1984

G_M wrote: »

http://www.askjeff.co.uk/rising-damp/

Thanks for this, I feel much better about the whole thing now I have heard how common it is to be told damp is found. The current owners have been in the property for 8 years and have done so much work to it. I would have thought (maybe me being naive, but hey) that if they lived there that long and did work everywhere else, that they would have had any damp issues sorted before spending a small fortune on solid oak flooring... maybe not. Hopefully its just the surveyor being cautious, but it does seem to be a common thing found...

Thanks again

FR_262

I got a surveyor's report on a house and it said there was damp in the dining room. When the damp course man came round he couldn't find any damp. So no DPC needed!