Building survey found rising damp in victorian property - expensive?

PrincessJR

Hi,

You may have seen my post regarding the need for a new RSJ, well the same house is now throwing at us a rising damp problem it would appear!
I have been reading up on damp and surveys in general and am a little cautious about throwing more money at a 'damp & timber specialist' when it seems many of them only want to sell you their services.

However, I think the building surveyor may have uncovered an issue we will have no choice but the get sorted, but I'm wondering if it really needs to cost us £4k!?

These are his words:

Detailed tests were carried out to all the internal load bearing walls at ground floor level with a Photometer Survey Master at random intervals. This revealed very high moisture levels in the hall, lounge and kitchen where it appears the slate damp proof course has fractured and deteriorated over a long period of time. This has resulted in rising damp to the walls and plasterwork and extensive rot to the timber-boarding along the left hand wall in the hall. I would therefore recommend a Timber and Damp Specialist be commissioned to carry out a more detailed examination and to provide an estimate for injecting a new damp proof course. The internal walls will also need to be re-plastered to a height of 1m - estimate £4000.

Now we fully expected damp as it's an old house (circa 1850) with modern extensions, and that doesn't phase us as we've always lived in older properties, however from the sounds of the report, he is recommending we get the whole of the downstairs plasterwork taken off up to 1m and redone as well as the new damp proofing. There are no visible signs of damp when you walk around the house so this is all as result of his meter readings I assume (and maybe he peaked behind the wooden panel facade that has been put up in the hall maybe 30 years ago.

We actually have paperwork from the current owners which shows the damp course was done around the lounge in 2011 and has a 20 year guarantee so why should the surveyor have found high levels again?

Anyone who can offer me some advice please do

camptownraces

Victorian houses mostly had solid brick walls.

Can you confirm that this is the case? If so, and before the advent of DPCs, they dried out like an overcoat does in the rain - by evaporating rain water to the outside.

Of course there can be situations where the wall does become very damp, and if the damp is rising then the cause needs to be found. Often this is because earth is piled too high against the outside wall. Sometimes a cellar is flooded, or an underground drain is leaking. A new DPC won't solve those problems.

What you need is an INDEPENDENT timber and damp specialist to look at the house, and make recommendations. Phone the surveyor and ask if he can recommend such a professional in your area.

DRP

agree with the above.

Additionally, sometime 'damp' is inevitable, but manageable. i.e. what effect is the detected 'damp' causing? If there's no effect, then is there a problem? if it is causing high humidity and mould , then measures like additional ventilation, lowering ground levels (external or subfloor) or a chemical dpc might be advisable.

IN any event, if you are negotiating a purchase, you can at least use the 4k number to negotiate.

PrincessJR

Thanks both. The house is solid 9 inch brick but has been rendered to ground level which I believe may be part of the problem?

Chanes

I think I mentioned somewhere a Victoria terrace we owned which didn't show damp on the survey but when we moved in...we lost quite a few floor joists because of the rising damp that didn't get recorded (or more likely was concealed). If you can get underneath the floorboards and see/test the joists you will get a good idea of any damage if it's there. The surveys and results feel the most stressful and miserable part of buying houses!

PrincessJR

Chanes wrote: »

I think I mentioned somewhere a Victoria terrace we owned which didn't show damp on the survey but when we moved in...we lost quite a few floor joists because of the rising damp that didn't get recorded (or more likely was concealed). If you can get underneath the floorboards and see/test the joists you will get a good idea of any damage if it's there. The surveys and results feel the most stressful and miserable part of buying houses!

Indeed it is! - The floor is actually concrete downstairs. The survey has mentioned that at some point the timber was replaced. The concrete flooring in the hall has been overlaid with vinyl. The survey mentioned that the high level of damp in the hall especially may indicate that the flooring was done without the use of a damp proof membrane so he is also suggesting we get a builder to dig up the flooring and replace, including a damp proof membrane Maybe that would solve the rising damp in the hall issue?

Chanes

PrincessJR wrote: »

Indeed it is! - The floor is actually concrete downstairs. The survey has mentioned that at some point the timber was replaced. The concrete flooring in the hall has been overlaid with vinyl. The survey mentioned that the high level of damp in the hall especially may indicate that the flooring was done without the use of a damp proof membrane so he is also suggesting we get a builder to dig up the flooring and replace, including a damp proof membrane Maybe that would solve the rising damp in the hall issue?

We had a concrete floor dug out of a Victorian house's kitchen and it had been laid over a clinker base! Apparently, it was used as a form of drainage. It wasn't hugely damp but had a bowled to it, strange to walk on. Anyway, the builder we had who did all the work said large areas of concrete can have damp-proof membranes or screed to avoid ripping out the entire floor. It seems to make sense, it isn't as if the concrete would disintegrate or rot? We ripped it out because it made you feel drunk to walk on it!

student100

Maybe you've already read this: http://www.heritage-house.org/the-fraud-of-rising-damp.html
and http://www.heritage-house.org/the-ping-prong-meter-guilty-of-fraud.html

It may be damp, but it's probably not "rising damp" and the proposed damp proof course work might not help.

If it's rendered on the outside, it could be faulty rendering trapping moisture behind?

How would the slates fracture unless there is something more seriously wrong e.g. the wall subsiding?

Chanes

student100 wrote: »

Maybe you've already read this: http://www.heritage-house.org/the-fraud-of-rising-damp.html
and http://www.heritage-house.org/the-ping-prong-meter-guilty-of-fraud.html

It may be damp, but it's probably not "rising damp" and the proposed damp proof course work might not help.

If it's rendered on the outside, it could be faulty rendering trapping moisture behind?

How would the slates fracture unless there is something more seriously wrong e.g. the wall subsiding?

Every house settles and it really wouldn't take much movement to snap a slate. Movement happens and it doesn't always mean a house is subsiding. I do think we are overly worried by damp, especially when it display no harm to building or health. This is England and our houses get soaked. A lot.

PrincessJR

Chanes wrote: »

Every house settles and it really wouldn't take much movement to snap a slate. Movement happens and it doesn't always mean a house is subsiding. I do think we are overly worried by damp, especially when it display no harm to building or health. This is England and our houses get soaked. A lot.

Agreed. I read something recently about damp, saying that in America there is no such thing! even in some of their older buildings (New York, Chicago etc) they've never heard of having damp proof coursing. Buildings are just allowed to breathe. I think it's a bit of a British gimmick to a large extent and as the work done in the lounge in 2011 shows...it doesn't always solve the problem!

I'm now more inclined to look at getting the membrane on the floor sorted before going the whole hog and having the render and plaster removed.

PrincessJR

student100 wrote: »

Maybe you've already read this: http://www.heritage-house.org/the-fraud-of-rising-damp.html
and http://www.heritage-house.org/the-ping-prong-meter-guilty-of-fraud.html

It may be damp, but it's probably not "rising damp" and the proposed damp proof course work might not help.

If it's rendered on the outside, it could be faulty rendering trapping moisture behind?

How would the slates fracture unless there is something more seriously wrong e.g. the wall subsiding?

what a great link! thank you. After reading that I feel like forgetting the whole damp issue! :T

I'm sure there is a middle ground somewhere in all seriousness but it does seem that there is a very lucrative industry out there selling damp 'solutions' that might be unnecessary.
I'll be doing MORE reading.