Rising Damp - Thoughts

osaddict

Guys,

I've just found out that a property I am in the process of purchasing has rising damp. The seller has had a survey conducted by a damp specialist who has told us this, the cost to repair it is £700, which will be split 50:50 between me and the seller. The house is circa 1905, terraced.

Right now my head is a bit of a mess with the following:

* Rising Damp - I'd always thought this was a red flag, stay away from a property which had this, big nightmare etc.

* Only 700 quid - therefore it can't be that serious or damp problems can cost tons.

* It will mean redecoration in one room which may have a cost associated with it and some disruption but I'm not too bothered about that.

* Work is guaranteed for 20 years, however, will it appear somewhere else if the property has it, or will this 'cure' the property for ages.

* Will the treatment be evident and will this impact the resell value.

* I'll lose out on what I have invested so far - so solicitor fees, mortgage fees, broker fees - so to the tune of several thousands approximately.

I guess I'm just putting my thoughts down and wondering if anyone can give more advice if they've been there or they know about this kind of thing.

The optimistic viewpoint is "Pay £350, get it sorted, do a bit of decorating, everything back on track", but I don't know how optimistic this is, the pessimistic viewpoint "This may be the start of problems which will pop up in other places of the years and cause disruption and expense to sort our and will seriously impact the resale value of the property" - I don't know if that's being overly dramatic.

Any thoughts and input much appreciated. Thanks.

TheCyclingProgrammer

Be skeptical of any free damp survey.

Normal recommendation is to get an independent damp survey which could cost as much as £250.

OTOH, it's not costing you much more than that to get the work they are quoting for done. But it might not fix the problem. You might not even have a problem that needs fixing. Be wary of any 20 year guarantee. If their solution fails (injected DPC I'm guessing) to fix the problem, I bet they won't be using a damp meter when they come back to survey the problem.

What evidence is there of damp? Were other possible causes ruled out before a diagnosis of rising damp was made?

antrobus

Google 'rising damp myth'.

G_M

osaddict wrote: »

Guys,

I've just found out that a property I am in the process of purchasing has rising damp. The seller has had a survey conducted by a damp specialist who has told us this,
Of course they did - they did the 'survey' free (??) and want to make some money 'putting things right'.
the cost to repair it is £700, which will be split 50:50 between me and the seller. The house is circap 1905, terraced.

Right now my head is a bit of a mess with the following:

* Rising Damp - I'd always thought this was a red flag, stay away from a property which had this, big nightmare etc.
Genuine rising damp is vary VERY rare. Usually either a) no damp - the 'meters' they use are inaccuarte/misleading or b) the damp has another cause, often simple to fix

* Only 700 quid - therefore it can't be that serious or damp problems can cost tons.
The company figured "if we charge too much, the purchaser will panic and the work will not be done. We get nothing. If we charge too little, we make no profit".

* It will mean redecoration in one room which may have a cost associated with it and some disruption but I'm not too bothered about that.
you buy a new house, expect to redecorate (unless it's a New Build)

* Work is guaranteed for 20 years, however, will it appear somewhere else if the property has it, or will this 'cure' the property for ages.
The guarantee (for what it is worth) will only cover the work done. Is the guarantee 'insurance backed'? If not, and the company stops trading, it's worthless.

* Will the treatment be evident and will this impact the resell value.
You have not said what work will be done!

* I'll lose out on what I have invested so far - so solicitor fees, mortgage fees, broker fees - so to the tune of several thousands approximately.
That's house-buying for you!


The optimistic viewpoint is "Pay £350, get it sorted you hope

, do a bit of decorating, everything back on track", but I don't know how optimistic this is, the pessimistic viewpoint "This may be the start of problems which will pop up in other places of the years and cause disruption and expense to sort our and will seriously impact the resale value of the property" - I don't know if that's being overly dramatic.
damp does not 'pop up' - it appears because of some reason eg an overflowing gutter/downpipe, or construction of a new patio/flower bed up against an external wall.

You need to know:

* how was the damp identified? A so-called 'damp meter'? Is there a smell of damp? Is there peeling wallpaper? Visible water on walls? Black mould? Rotting wood? There may well NOT be any damp!

* how was the damp diagnosed as 'rising'? What other sources/reasons were considered? Is it ground floor or upstairs? External wall? What is on the outside of the affected wall? Are there drains, gutters, downpipes outside? What condition is the external wall?

* what cure is the company going to provide? new dpc? injection? something else?

Now read this:

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

kingstreet

Independent damp surveyors who don't get paid for installing damp courses. You do pay for the report though;-

http://independentdampsurveyors.co.uk/

DRP

Our 1901 terrace has several rows of holes in exterior and interior walls resulting from several rounds (at least 2 possibly 3) of the treatment suggested by your expert 'surveyor'. The house was extremely damp when we moved in, which suggests to me it didn't work.

Is there visible damage, smell or mould? If not, i wouldn't be too bothered.

If there are visible problems then it is likely to be penetrating damp (gutters, high outside ground levels) or high humidity (ventilation required, lifestyle changes).

As suggested above, employ a surveyor who hasn't got a incentive to find 'rising' damp.

Perhaps spend the 350 on one after you move in?

osaddict

Guys,

Thank you for the replies, very useful, I had seen the 'rising damp myth' but I wasn't sure if it was entirely a myth or if there was some truth in it, I suspect there must be but perhaps not as much as companies would make out.

What evidence of damp is there? - The living room, at the front of the house, has cupboards at floor level, inside one of these cupboards is damp marking and one of the floorboards was replaced as a result. There isn't a smell of it and the walls don't feel wet or damp or wallpaper look dodgy or anything like that.

@GM, I'd read that page too, you make some very good points on this. To answer you questions:

* how was the damp identified? A so-called 'damp meter'? Is there a smell of damp? Is there peeling wallpaper? Visible water on walls? Black mould? Rotting wood? There may well NOT be any damp!
^ I don't know, I don't believe they did any drilling as there was no evidence of disruption. See above for my description of what I've seen so far.


* how was the damp diagnosed as 'rising'? What other sources/reasons were considered? Is it ground floor or upstairs? External wall? What is on the outside of the affected wall? Are there drains, gutters, downpipes outside? What condition is the external wall?

^ It is ground floor, I have no idea, I asked 'is it rising damp' he said yes. It's on an external party wall and also an internal wall (although I find that one unlikely). The external wall looks okay to me.

On a conversation with him he seems to think it's connected to the chimney's and fireplaces - the place has a feature original fireplace in the room which has the damp.

* what cure is the company going to provide? new dpc? injection? something else?

Injection stuff is what they said they'd do, combined with 'hack off'. These guys: http://kenwayltd.co.uk/

@DRP - see above for damp 'report' from me so to speak.

I think the most sensible approach is to obtain a second opinion, from someone who doesn't have a vested interest. I was engaging a general surveyor, perhaps he has some appropriate contacts he can suggest.

Thanks guys, I feel a bit better about it all now.

AlexMac

Many posts on this - look at my #10 at https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/67134600#Comment_67134600

But frankly, if you like the house, and it doesn't smell damp, just agree; let the vendor have the hassle and dust, and get them to do the work.

At least you have a (albeit possibly worthless) guarantee to reassure your buyer when you sell in 5-15 years...

And £350 is probably only 0.1%-0.4% of the trsansaction cost...

So even though I agree that many damp-proofing experts are scaremongering salesmen, I'd just get on with it, buy, move in, decorate, ventilate and heat well, and follow all the other advice in my post, above, which is based on absolutely no qaulification other than 40 years experience of owning several different houses dating from the mid 19th - early 20th Centuries

Oh- EDIT - we both pressed send! If it's fire-place-related it could be as simple as an unventilated chimney, with or without rain penetration down the stack. Either way, hacking off and re-rendering will sort it although the addition of a vent would be good assuming there's a vent in the cap too.

Good luck

thesaint

I entered the thread expecting to hear thoughts on the 70's TV show.

osaddict

Thanks Alex, I'll read through the thread when I get a moment, for the record its 0.12% so yeah you were pretty on the money there!

jbainbridge

What was the view of your surveyor? Ring them and have a chat - I've always found them approachable and helpful!