Damp Proofing and 100 year old house

GoldenShadow

We are interested in house which is just over 110 years old, it is an end of terrace.

I've heard things about damp proofing, but my knowledge is lacking. 10 years ago there was rising damp and some (what I gather was) remedial work done to the tune of a few hundred pounds to the existing damp proofing from what I can gather. That work is guaranteed for 30 years, but obviously our view is that its not a big guarantee in that they only seemed to do a little work.

The property seems in good order, apparently no damp etc when previous survey was done 2.5 years ago. I am not sure quite what we are meant to expect. If a survey shows no damp do you just merrily hope it doesn't occur in the future, or should something be done every once in a while, and is it damp a really major issue or something you can work with?

This is our second attempt at purchasing, first one we pulled out of as too many issues. Hoping this one is a bit more straightforward, but who knows!!

Also, what is a firewall..? I gather it isn't a normal wall..?

G_M

Either a property has a problem which causes damp, or it does not.

And most damp is not caused by a missing or defective damp proof course. More often it's worn pointing, leaking roof, damaged gutters, blocked drains etc.

Unless you know exactly what caused the damp 10 years ago (I doubt it was 'rising damp', and what remedial action was taken, speculation is meaningless.

Any guarantee will only cover that limited work (whatever it was).

Future damp problems are always possible (eg storm blows roof tiles off) just as future breakdown of boiler is possible.

100 year old houses often/usually have a slate DPC which works fine.

Biggest issue with 100 year olds is when they are upgraded with double glazing and insulation - there is then no ventilation and you get 'condensation' - damp generated internally by cooking washing etc. Solution is ventilation. (NOT a new DPC!)

http://www.askjeff.co.uk/category/damp/

Old terrace properties with attics were often built with no dividing wall between the attics. So a fire in one house could spread via the attic to the next house - hence the recommendation to build a 'firewall' in the attic. (this also stops the neighbours crawling from their attic into yours!)