possible damp behind plasterboard?

dilby

Hi all -

Currently stressed out purchasing a house and was hoping someone could give me some feedback.

We've had an offer accepted on our house we're selling, and have one accepted on one we're buying, and I have sent around a company to do a damp and timber report on the property.

I'm yet to receive the actual written report as it takes a few days to prepare, but I have just spoken to them to chase up how the inspection went. In short, they've said that the downstairs of the house has been plasterboarded over stone (no stud frame), and they have a strong suspicion that the stone has damp. As they've said, there's no way of telling without removing the board, but if they tap to find the adhesive and do readings there, they are higher, suggesting it's soaking up moisture.

There's no visual sign of damp, and I didn't really notice a smell at all, although the surveyor said he could (the only thing i could smell was a damp smell from the bathroom, but that was just stagnant water.)

The property is currently empty, and it doesn't look like anything 's been freshly painted, so I'm wondering just how bad the problem really is. Obviously boarding can be a way of hiding things, but there was also building works done at one point to knock a wall through and install an rsj, as well as adding an extension, so it also makes sense to me why they would have just boarded up the downstairs.

I'm really unsure of what to do next; we love the property and it would be a shame to lose it, but we also don't want to have to do work. I'm considering getting back to the estate agent and trying to find out if the current owner is the one who did the work, and if they know if a dpc was used, if the boards were foil-backed etc. Would that even make a difference? Is there anything else I should know?

I'm just new to this, and I need to know how common is this, and how much of this is likely to be overcautiousness, or is this really a stupid property to purchase knowing those details?

Also, is this something I could ask for the sale price to be reduced for, or am I likely to be rejected?

(They've also mentioned that the alley way between both properties which is currently gravel needs digging down as it's too high and can create further damp, but I'm not sure of the details of that yet as I didn't fully understand. That seemed to be more of a side issue.)

Thanks for letting me vent - I'd appreciate any input of any kind!

DRP

Why did you initially contact the d&t company?

After the survey, what did the d&t salesman/rep suggest doing?

Obviously you don't want to store up problems for the future, but if there's no sign of damp damage and it doesn't seem recently decorated, then is it worth worrying about?

As our (independent) damp surveyor told us - yes there is damp, but it is manageable.

I owuld be checking for obvious signs poor maintenance in the gutters/roof/pointing etc, smell of damp inside, damp marks on the interior walls, any bounce in the floorboards, the presence of (blocked?) airbricks...

Also can you have a look under the floor boards? that was where the damp horrors were located in our new house...

cyclonebri1

dilby wrote: »

Hi all -

Currently stressed out purchasing a house and was hoping someone could give me some feedback.

We've had an offer accepted on our house we're selling, and have one accepted on one we're buying, and I have sent around a company to do a damp and timber report on the property.

I'm yet to receive the actual written report as it takes a few days to prepare, but I have just spoken to them to chase up how the inspection went. In short, they've said that the downstairs of the house has been plasterboarded over stone (no stud frame), and they have a strong suspicion that the stone has damp. As they've said, there's no way of telling without removing the board, but if they tap to find the adhesive and do readings there, they are higher, suggesting it's soaking up moisture.

There's no visual sign of damp, and I didn't really notice a smell at all, although the surveyor said he could (the only thing i could smell was a damp smell from the bathroom, but that was just stagnant water.)

The property is currently empty, and it doesn't look like anything 's been freshly painted, so I'm wondering just how bad the problem really is. Obviously boarding can be a way of hiding things, but there was also building works done at one point to knock a wall through and install an rsj, as well as adding an extension, so it also makes sense to me why they would have just boarded up the downstairs.

I'm really unsure of what to do next; we love the property and it would be a shame to lose it, but we also don't want to have to do work. I'm considering getting back to the estate agent and trying to find out if the current owner is the one who did the work, and if they know if a dpc was used, if the boards were foil-backed etc. Would that even make a difference? Is there anything else I should know?

I'm just new to this, and I need to know how common is this, and how much of this is likely to be overcautiousness, or is this really a stupid property to purchase knowing those details?

Also, is this something I could ask for the sale price to be reduced for, or am I likely to be rejected?

(They've also mentioned that the alley way between both properties which is currently gravel needs digging down as it's too high and can create further damp, but I'm not sure of the details of that yet as I didn't fully understand. That seemed to be more of a side issue.)

Thanks for letting me vent - I'd appreciate any input of any kind!

And there you have it in a nutshell, all if's/maybe's and but's

teneighty

If you can get the vendors permission the easiest way to check is to drill some small holes in plasterboard in discrete places and use deep wall probes to check the stonework behind. Not a 100% reliable method but should give you a pretty good indication if anything is wrong.


I'm surprised the damp proofing company did not suggest this. Might be worth trying a different company.

new_owner

Plasterboard will not stop damp. If the Plasterboard has been dotted on then damp will show through quite quickly if there is damp.

Surprise that a damp company suspect damp...

There is no way I would let anyone drill a hole through my plasterboard to check for damp.