Damp Proof Guarantee

mottyt

Hi,

Recently purchased a house and, following a survey, it was pointed out there is some rising damp in places.

The seller had the damp treated a few years ago and has a 30 year guarantee which I'm now in possession of with the intention of transferring the guarantee to my name.

The company wants £65 + VAT (!!!) in order to transfer the guarantee into my name.

I am thinking that, because the guarantee is only valid if the seller carried out the necessary reparation work to the walls after the damp treatment was installed, id rather they came to see if theyll cover it, rather than me pay nigh on 80 quid for them to just come and have a look and end up with a void guarantee if the work wasnt carried out subsequent to the treatment.

Does that seem unreasonable to anyone? Essentially i feel like im paying an excessive call out charge without any guarantee at all of the work being covered.

Doesnt seem right to me - id rather they came and looked and said "yeah thats covered" then I'll pay their ridiculous admin fee to transfer the guarantee over.

Anyone had similar experience?

Im fully anticipating that this will be a like it or lump it situation.

TheCyclingProgrammer

If you read the numerous threads on here about these damp companies and rising damp you'll discover there's a good chance that you're problem isn't "rising damp" at all.

I wouldn't pay the damp company a penny to transfer their guarantee as its probably worthless.

Where is the damp and have you had it properly surveyed (which involves more than sticking a damp meter on the wall)?

mottyt

The rising damp was highlighted in the homebuyers report and I was expecting it to be so, it is clearly visible and runs along one wall above the skirting board up to roughly the height of the socket.

My concern isn't so much that they'll say it's not rising damp, it's that they'll say the previous owner didn't do as they were instructed and therefore the guarantee is not valid - seems silly to pay to transfer a guarantee that's not valid.

I'm aware that a damp meter will pick up on condensation, but am confident that is not the case on this wall as you can clearly see it.

TheCyclingProgrammer

Is this an external wall? Have you ruled out any other causes of dampness? High ground levels perhaps? Was that section of wall treated?

mottyt

Hi,

No, internal wall. It's cupboard under stairs which also forms living room wall. the damp is showing living room side.

I haven't considered anything else as I've taken the surveyor's opinion in good faith and also father in law called rising damp prior to the survey and he's an experienced chap.

I can't really make much sense of the document that details what work should have been undertaken after the treatment, but i do know the seller wouldnt have repaired the wall themselves; do you happen to know if the process would likely incorporate any instructions from damp company? Is it easy to get it wrong and thus invalidate the guarantee.

Appreciate this is all based on very little knowledge of the issue and only my description, but am wondering whether to just put that £80 odd towards a new quote / company coming in and sorting.

The guarantee covers £1200 worth of rising damp treatment though, which is why im reluctant to let it go. This appears to be the only part of the original work where the issue has returned.

brightontraveller

Rising Damp was invented by the chemical industry, 99.9 % of meters used in the con are specifically for moisture in timber, Whatever works damp charlatans do can be done cheaper, better, faster by untrained goats , If a surveyor mentions the words in there report there are the ones that think that is not worth learning how to properly survey a property.. Save your £80 and the silly money they will ask after and get the problem properly sorted out ( unless your using the wonderful piece of paper the damp companies give you to palm the problem of to a new buyer then there worth there weight in gold :rotfl:

mottyt

Thanks for the input, which I do appreciate and it sort of makes my mind up when considering whether to pay this ridiculous charge to transfer the potentially useless guarantee.

However, this still leaves me with the issue of damp in the house; I can see it and I can feel it with my bare hands.

Therefore, what would you suggest as an alternative to using a company that deals with damp proofing?

I have a baby on the way and I don't want this causing any issues with mould/mildew growing in areas that I can't necessarily see and causing any potential respiratory issues.

Not to mention this will potentially get picked up by whoever decides to buy the house from me in future.

The walls are wet and I'd prefer them not to be. 'Rising' damp might be a myth, but the dampness in my walls isn't - what's the cure?

DRP

When you say the damp is visible - what do you mean? (growth on the walls?)

An internal cupboard with little ventilation is likely to encourage mould.

How humid is your house. How humid is the cupboard relative to the house?

When we had a damp problem, we invested a few quid in humidity sensors from amazon. This suggested the problem was (at least partially) down to high humidity.

mottyt

Visible in the sense that on a white wall, the damp patches are darker. This is the case in the living room aide of the wall; in the cupboard under stairs it seems to have risen a lot higher and the plaster is a little crumbly.

House isnt humid at all at the moment, the windows let in a ridiculous breeze as havent had chance to reallign yet (thats another problem for another day!)

Theres no mould anywhere around the damp area, so hoping that any concerns about respiratory issues with baby are misplaced at this point.

phil24_7

The damp will be coming from somewhere. Find it and stop it at source. DPC injection and most other forms of damp proofing only treat the side effects.

You may have a leak underground or water getting in under the house. Take up the floorboards in the cupboard and do a bit of investigating.

teneighty

As it is an internal wall it is likely to be a leak somewhere or possibly the previous owner has done some work which has bridged or damaged the damp proof course. Or it could be that the remedial injection damp proof course is faulty and needs further treatment under the guarantee.

As phil24-7 suggested above you need to carry out your own investigation initially. If it is a suspended floor then lift some floor boards and check the wall below. If floor is solid try to take off the skirting board and see if the plaster has been taken down to the floor and whether the wall behind the plaster is damp and whether the floor is damp etc, etc.

If you are not confident to do that yourself you can pay the call-out fee, get a different reputable damp proofing company out to inspect, get a general builder to inspect or pay an independent damp surveyor to inspect.