Damp and Timber survey - wits end.

Wallbasher

Hi all, hope somebody can help me here.

Essentially i’m selling my house and have found a buyer, as a condition of the mortgage offer the lender wanted a damp and timber survey.

Unfortunatley we went with the Estate agents reccomendations and paid for a survey by “someone a lady in the estate agents knew from another property”

The surveyor came out and surveyed the house, now I admit there are a couple of localised areas of damp, mainly the kitchen where the floor is concrete, but they have written a very poorly report with no references to thier accreditations or qualifications and no specific readings or layout of the ground floor reccomending the full groundfloor damp course, and fitting of airbricks in places where airbricks already exist...the work totals £3700 and would be a tragedy to rip off all the victorian skirting and risk damaging it for work that is largely completley unneccesary.

I disagreed with this survey (as did the buyer who could see the report was just a money grab) and was looking to get my own independant report done, now this is how I have ended up here. I am completley put off getting a report done by a company who also do the work as i feel they have incentive to be dishonest and write thier own cheques.

Can anyone point me in the direction of surveyors who only do the survey in the North East England area.

Why are mortgage companies buying into this monopoly?

Many Thanks

Wallbasher.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

When buying my house I got an independent damp survey done for my own peace of mind. It explained why certain types of houses give readings interpreted as damp. It wasn't a company that also provided damp proofing.

The house had, and has never shown any signs of damp however. If you do have damp patches and the distinctive smell, you must expect buyers to query it.

Wallbasher

And the buyers did query it, I was open and honest about the patches that were there.

But the mortgage company requested a D&T survey as a condition of the lending, what I am asking is how do I not get fleeced by a company trying to write thier own pay cheques?

SG27

Wallbasher wrote: »

And the buyers did query it, I was open and honest about the patches that were there.

But the mortgage company requested a D&T survey as a condition of the lending, what I am asking is how do I not get fleeced by a company trying to write thier own pay cheques?

Get an independent one. Im suprised its you doing this rather than the buyers, its their mortgage company requesting it.

There are plenty of independent damp and timber surveyors about. Try googling independent damp and timber surveyor and your area.

pinklady21

You need to identify the cause of the dampness. there could be lots of reasons why water is getting in / the walls are wet.
Is there a problem with cracked render? Is the roof sound? Is there missing flashing around a chimney pot? Are the ground levels outside too high so any damp course is being bridged?
Is there a cavity in the wall? Has this been filled - either with insulation or builder's rubble?
Is there a leak in a drain somewhere?
Is it condensation with warm moist air being attracted to cold spots in the walls, condensing and mould forming?
You mention a concrete floor, this can indeed cause moisture in adjacent walls due to capilliary action.
You need to first establish what is causing any moisture and deal with that appropriately.
You are quite correct to try and get an independent survey. I would be very wary of chemical treatments too.
This website has some useful background info on dampness in older buildings: https://www.heritage-house.org/
Best of luck!

FreeBear

pinklady21 wrote: »

You are quite correct to try and get an independent survey. I would be very wary of chemical treatments too.
This website has some useful background info on dampness in older buildings: https://www.heritage-house.org/
Best of luck!

I was about to suggest the sister site https://www.heritage-consulting.org/damp-surveys - They can do independent damp/timber surveys, but I have no idea of the cost. Certainly more preferable than any Peter Cox affiliated outfit.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I just searched for "independent damp surveyor"; there are plenty to choose from. Cost ~£400 for a 2 bed in London.

Wallbasher

I know the cause of the damp, I’m just not willing to rectify it as i have already reduced the selling price to reflect the localised patches of damp.

The only reason I am organising it is the one done by the “scamveyor” makes it out to be swimming and I dont want the buyers mortgage company to refuse to release funds due to this.

I am very wary of sites that have “sister sites” I literally can’t find a D&T surveyor who is not affiliated with a company, they say independant untill you click on thier website and read about “the survey price will be deducted from any work we carry out”

This is really a monopoly that needs clamping down on.

Bass_9

Confused as to why:
1) The mortgage company or buyer did not choose the company to ensure a good/reliable survey, and
2) Why didn't the buyer pay for the survey?

vaseand

I used the below surveyor when I bought my current house. Good service and very thorough:

http://www.jhreesindependentsurveys.co.uk

Otherwise look at the property care association website. The buyers lender will want to see a report from an accredited surveyor.