Damp - vendor/buyer survey

BeattieOG

Hi everyone.

We are selling our house, and the buyer has just come to us to say that the survey found damp and he wants us to get a quote for costing to repair.

We haven't seen any evidence of damp before, but now that we have been searching, we can see some damp in the cupboard under the stairs (concrete flooring). I'm wondering if it has become more evident because of the heavy rains as we honestly haven't noticed it before.

The house has a DPC done in 2013 with a 30 year guarantee.

My question is, would you pay for someone to come and check the damp and get it fixed?

TBH we are a little frustrated because we have accepted an offer around 10% lower than asking (after three viewings, one with his builder!), and the buyer has waited until we have completed searches, raised enquiries and all in chain close to exchange before instructing his survey so this late in the game is annoying to think it may all fall apart!
TIA

Slithery

What did the survey actually say?

BeattieOG

Slithery wrote: »

What did the survey actually say?

No idea because he hasn't showed it to us. We heard from the EA (trying to recommend a damp proofing company!) who had been cc'd into an email to the sol

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

BeattieOG wrote: »

Hi everyone.

My question is, would you pay for someone to come and check the damp and get it fixed?

TIA

Keep the door open, stick a dehumidifier in there, small space that's probably getting little ventilation or heat is going to be more prone to a bit of damp.

Unless there's water running down the walls I'd tell the buyer you've accepted 10% off and if they wish to carry out work after the sale that's up to them but it sounds like a non-issue from what you've said.

Whatever you do, don't let anyone, either on your behalf or the buyers, carry out a free damp survey, as they will very likely find damp and offer some fancy options at a high price that may well not solve the problem anyway.

FreeBear

BeattieOG wrote: »

The house has a DPC done in 2013 with a 30 year guarantee.

A DPC shouldn't need "doing". How old is this property and can you remember who/why this DPC work was done ?

Damp is more often than not caused by one or more of the following -
Raised ground levels bridging the DPC.
Faulty gutters & downpipes or leaking water pipes.
Damaged roofing (including flashing).
Debris inside the cavity bridging the DPC (not common, and is usually the result of shoddy building work).
Life style coupled with poor ventilation.

Rising damp does exist, but it requires specific conditions to become a problems and is no where near as common as these damp proofing outfits claim. The vast majority of houses built since Victorian times will not have rising damp.

BeattieOG

argh can’t figure out how to quote from my phone.

@freebear: it’s a Victorian terrace, around 160+ years old. DPC was done by previous owner, I think rising damp is why...

@thelunaticisinmyhead: thanks for your thoughts, I’m leaning towards the same. Do you think we can reasonably say no to him accessing for a free damp survey if that’s what he wants though?

Doozergirl

People always have DPCs and they're just not necessary unless your wall is underground. The whole industry is built on a lie.

It's possible that what was causing the damp hasn't been sorted and is popping up inside the house because the floors have also been replaced with concrete, which doesn't breathe. So it tracks up the centre walls.

Those cupboards in the middle of the house are really common places for a bit of damp because they aren't ventilated - again, the walls can't breathe. And there's often stuff piled in there.

You won't really get rid of it. Or rather, undoing all the modern interventions that the house shouldn't really have had would cost more than leaving something which isn't really a major issue.

I'd be inclined to tell them it isn't a problem to you and if they want to do something about it, they can do it themselves. Refer them back to the guarantee you've provided, not that I rate them at all.

Show us the outside of your house if you like? We can see if there's anything obvious that might cause damp to track through. I think it's probably just not being breathable that's the issue though - ie. a damp proofing treatment actually causing a bit of damp!

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

BeattieOG wrote: »

aDo you think we can reasonably say no to him accessing for a free damp survey if that’s what he wants though?

Of course you can, it's still your home.

If they've invested in checks and surveys they also have something to lose by not going ahead, if they pull out because of a bit of damp in a cupboard under the stairs I'm not sure they are going to have any luck finding a 160 year property that is 101% damp free!

If they say it's more than the cupboard you could ask them if you can see the report and post back for more advice.

Albala

Damp surveys almost always come back with a ton of work they say 'needs' doing, but which they will not guarantee will solve the problem- even if they charge for it, but especially if they are 'free' (there is no such thing as a free lunch).

We paid for one and it reckoned, IIRC, at least 10 grand's worth of work + associated costs (taking off rads, moving sockets etc.) and still said there could be timber damage to floorboards and joists (they had not seen them and would not undertake to do so) to add to that.
I wasn't at all convinced that rising damp was the cause of their little meter going beserk anyway.



However, from my point of view as a buyer, both those people and the surveyor got high damp readings, and both pointed out the risk of damaged floorboards and even joists, which I wasn't in a position to check. Aside from that risk, though condensation seemed to me to be more likely cause, bear in mind that's not always cheap to fix either.


This 'rising damp' thing is a nightmare for house buyers and sellers, and I do think it need some changes in the law to to prevent people getting scammed into having expensive work done which doesn't guarantee to solve the problem (if it doesn't work, I gather the 'guarantee' won't pay out, because they will just say rising damp can't have been the cause because the work they did must have fixed that, so it's a catch-22). Lenders may even insist on the work being done- they may insist on the survey too.



Worse still, some of the expensive 'solutions' offered are actually bad for older buildings. We were recommended an injected DPC + waterproof plaster a yard up the walls. In a house the age of the one in question, I gather that could itself cause structural problems. I'm going for better passive ventilation (new windows with vents in, removing sealed double glazing panels so windows can actually be opened) and removing sources of humidity (take out old gas fire, add dehumidifier to utility room etc.) and hoping that will sort it out, and if not, a forced ventilation system will be the next step. Fitted cupboards are coming out. Kitchen will be refitted but not with units all round the walls top and bottom sealed in with tiling between. None of which is cheap, of course. But none of that will make it worse or damage the structure, and they are all reversible, so they seem much better options to me.
(Incidentally, so far all the timbers we have uncovered after we got the keys are as dry as a bone.)

Doozergirl

Albala, what are the symptoms in your house?

BeattieOG

Doozergirl wrote: »

I'd be inclined to tell them it isn't a problem to you and if they want to do something about it, they can do it themselves. Refer them back to the guarantee you've provided, not that I rate them at all.

Thanks Doozergirl - that sounds reasonable and what we were thinking.

Doozergirl wrote: »

Show us the outside of your house if you like? We can see if there's anything obvious that might cause damp to track through. I think it's probably just not being breathable that's the issue though - ie. a damp proofing treatment actually causing a bit of damp!

I'll try to take a picture just now - there's a lounge between the front and the cupboard though and no damp in there at all??