Rising damp ?

steady__eddie

I am thinking about buying a property which ticks virtually all the boxes and I have had a building survey done which dropped into my inbox this morning. Most of the issues raised I consider to be purely cosmetic for a 60 year old property but one problem identified by the surveyor concerns me. The seller tells me that a complete damp course was done in January 2015, he has the certificate and a 25 year guarantee. The surveyor, "Tested all accessible internal parts of the property with an electronic moisture never. Rising damp was detected to the majority of the walls". Methinks somebody COULD be telling porkies here or have I got it completely wrong, ? Do successfully installed damp proof courses eliminate rising damp ? The seller lives overseas so I can't very well pop round and ask to see the certificate. He tells me that upon completion, I will have to have the details on the certificate changed to my name in order for it to be valid. I reckon that he has had the work done but I want proof. I know who the firm was who did the work but the cynic in me suggests that I MAY not get a truthful answer from them if I ask them to investigate the presence of possible rising damp. The seller has suggested that the walls may not yet have dried out yet. The property may have been empty for some period of time since the work was carried out. Could this be correct?
All answers greatly appreciated.

flashg67

A damp course should eliminate damp if installed correctly, presuming it did exist in the first place - often debatable. 'All accessible' areas sounds a bit vague - rising damp doesn't go above, say 1m high. Can the surveyor clarify this?

I can't see replastering taking that long to dry. An empty house with condensation could also give damp readings.

I guess the original contractor needs to have a look - but you'll probably need the vendor, as the named purchaser to initiate this?

pianistdave

When I bought my house last year, the survey report said the same thing - damp recorded with an electronic moisture meter. After some research, It was clear that these moisture meters are less than reliable at truly detecting damp - they detect salts from previous cases of damp. I took a gamble and bought the house given that on another viewing, I couldn't find any visible evidence of damp.

One year on and I'm yet to see any damp on any external walls. I think if a DPC has been installed, salts will remain from previous damp that will show up on the meter.

I'm not an expert but I would do some of your own research before believing every word of the survey. They certainly won't tell you there's no evidence of damp if they get even a sniff of it to cover themselves.