Survey damp/condensation?

anselld

supernothing wrote: »

Thanks, Mickygg.

Do you think we could ask the surveyor who came any visual of damp was found rather than just a meter reading?

Also is it actually possible to have damp without any signs of it.

Presumably it is the buyers surveyor so you shouldn't really be asking them anything.

SG27

supernothing wrote: »

Thanks, Mickygg.

Do you think we could ask the surveyor who came any visual of damp was found rather than just a meter reading?

Also is it actually possible to have damp without any signs of it.

If there are no signs of it surely there is no problem?

Our mortgage company insisted on a specialist damp survey after their surveyor found high damp readings throughout. Luckily the damp surveyor was very sensible and said that while readings were high they were consistant with the age of the house (no DPC) and recommended no remedial work. A year later after the wettest winter I can remember no damp.

dotchas

supernothing wrote: »

Hi,

We are selling our 1901 mid terrace house, survey has said high damp reading in external kitchen wall.

We have no visual signs of damp either internal or external. So no moss on the bricks outside and no dark patches or mould anywhere in the kitchen. The only thing we have noticed on the wall is the paint has bubbled slightly in a small patch near the skirting boards, again skirting boards are in good condition and as far as we know never replaced. The room also doesn't smell damp.

This is the only room that doesn't have a radiator and it is very cold in winter, I'm guessing the bubbles may be caused by condensation. We noticed last week while cooking that wall was a bit shiny so open the back door.

When we purchased the property 10 years ago our survey also brought up this reading but our mortgage company where happy with a letter from a local builder saying a dpc was present, the wall looks the same as it did 10 years ago, only painted a different colour.

The buyer is sending a builder next week to price up the cost of the damp work required, I'm sure they are just going to say a new dpc is needed.

Any pointers on what we can do or what we need to look for to prove we have no damp?

I am pretty sure that you can only do a DPC once!
We recently purchased a property which had potential rising damp on the home buyers report. We asked the buyers to instruct a damp survey which came back saying it would need 1-1.5k worth of remedial work. We purchased with a discount and have since had our own independent survey done..............no rising damp.......no work required!

supernothing

Thanks again for the replies.

Out of our own curiousity we've been out and bought a moisture meter today!

The wall in question is to the right of our back door, about 1m in width before it meets the party wall. There is a small upvc window in this wall, about 1.5m higher than the skirting. This window doesn't open. It's not stuck, it just isn't an opening window. It's just there to let a bit of light in

If I put the damp prongs in the exact spot the surveyor put his, I get a high reading, fluctuates but always above 60% along the width of the wall, about an inch over the skirting board.

Any higher than this and nothing is registered.

Thoughts?

DRP

supernothing wrote: »

Thanks again for the replies.

Out of our own curiousity we've been out and bought a moisture meter today!

The wall in question is to the right of our back door, about 1m in width before it meets the party wall. There is a small upvc window in this wall, about 1.5m higher than the skirting. This window doesn't open. It's not stuck, it just isn't an opening window. It's just there to let a bit of light in

If I put the damp prongs in the exact spot the surveyor put his, I get a high reading, fluctuates but always above 60% along the width of the wall, about an inch over the skirting board.

Any higher than this and nothing is registered.

Thoughts?

As I understand it a damp meter is only accurate in wood.

From my own independent damp survey FYI:

Protimeter conductivity meter
This meter measures the conductivity of the base material it is being placed against and is a useful non-destructive tool providing helpful information when used correctly for assessing possible underlying damp and moisture content of timber. When used to record conductivity of masonry and cement-based materials the readings received are not measuring quantitative moisture levels, the meter is measuring the electrical resistance of the underlying material it’s being placed against, producing a theoretical measurement which is referred to as wood moisture equivalent or WME %.
When used on the timber the readings recorded are moisture content relative.
Care must be taken interpreting the readings when using these types of meters, contaminants within plasterwork can be electrically conductive. The readings obtained using these meters cannot be relied upon on their own to diagnose rising and penetrating damp. Conductivity meters are a useful tool helpful in producing potential moisture profiles in order to measure possible underlying damp when used correctly.
Conductivity meter readings taken from plaster and masonry of up to around 18% would generally be considered as dry and within acceptable levels in a property of this type provided there is no impact or consequence as a result of the presence of moisture.
Moisture sensitive materials will hold more free water than hard dense materials such as concrete and cement-based products, natural stone, clay brick and lime / ashlar based mortar as used in the construction of this property can absorb a great deal of moisture over time and therefore I would expect higher readings in materials of this type, particularly from external walls which have been exposed to weathering.
The relative moisture contents of skirting boards and lower door frames should be below 22% as this is the level at which decay can occur, ideally relative moisture content of timber work should be between 12-14%.
Where the potential for condensation is considered to be a significant issue a hygrometer may be used to measure relative humidity (RH), air and surface temperature gauges will be used to determine dew point.

HelenRachel

Just wondering if you've had much work done on the property or how well ventilated the room is? We moved into a rental that had just had double glazing, new kitchen and another layer Lino put in the kitchen. The result of this is the house canno longer breath and we've had a steadily worsening damp problem caused by a combination of condensation from the kitchen and rising damp from the tiled floor (which is under three or four layers of lino). Could it be something like that? Our case is quite bad and is glaringly obviouse but it started out as fairly insignificant. I'm not suggesting yours is progressing just a less extream example

xylophone

paint has bubbled slightly in a small patch near the skirting boards,

Is it possible that your washing machine is leaking? This is what had happened in my case when I noticed the same thing - I rarely needed to move the machine out but noticed the bubbling and the cause became clear....

supernothing

Looking further into this, under the window there are further high readings, but these are localised to completely under the frame of the window, nothing to either side at all.

The seal has blown in the window, so it has fogged around the base and there are some gaps where the plaster no longer meets the window frame, could condensation be getting into the wall cavity that way?

I understand that the moisture reader isn't a definitive measure of damp but as there are no other visable signs it at least gives us some indication of where the problem could lie.

supernothing

Just to update.

I've had a proper look at the window, due to it not opening we have always had a wooden blind up, mostly closed for privacy from neighbours.

Where the uvpc frame meets the internal wall there is a gap where the plaster is broken no more than 5mm deep and there is a draft from where the window meets the internal window sill, so presuming some seal has been broken there.

We are now guessing that the window has either moved or the sealant has perished thus allowing moisture into the cavity under the window.

Going to wait until the buyers builder comes to asses and mention we feel this is the cause, if he doesn't agree we are probably going to look at a I dependant damp surveyor as guessing even if the window issue is rectified a high damp reading would still be found for a while.

If this causes our buyer to pull out does anyone know if our damp surveyor report, assuming it's favourable, could be presented to another buyer in the future to show damp isn't an issue?

anselld

Condensation (if that is what it is) does not need to "get into the cavity", it just condenses on the coldest surface available.

A small gap between the UPVC and the internal wall will be irrelevant as far as any damp issues are concerned.

As far as the damp survey is concerned, if you pay for it you can show to whoever you like. However I fear you're getting too much involved. It is for the buyers to satisfy themselves (or not) and to pay for any survey.