Gutters, render and damp

musharoom

I've had 4 people come to quote for property maintenance repairs causing damp inside, I suspect it is gutters and blown render and cracks issues. 

One contractor came but didn't send a quote at all and dropped off face of the planet.
The second said 2k plus VAT but was mostly focused on redoing interior decoration than locating and repairing issues responsible for the damp.
The third said £1750 plus VAT to fix cracks and re-render.
The last said £900 no VAT to re-render and fix cracks. 

I had a damp specialist come to assess today and they said the guttering system incl downpipes/soil pipes are the issue that has subsequently damaged the render, caused the cracks and interior damp. They said they can't fix the damp inside until the exterior repairs are done.

Where do we start? Is the no VAT quote likely to be a cowboy? None of those quoting said we should replace gutter system, despite me pointing to dripping pipes.....

If we do replace the entire gutter system and re-render, which bit do we do first?! Are there trades people who can do both for us? Husband thinks get someone to render first then replace gutter system, I think replace gutter system to stop further damage then render. Is replacing the gutter system a plumbers job? 

Help! First time homeowner, never battled property maintenance before and don't really know where to start. Neighbours haven't been able to recommend anyone either as they've all been stung before.
Haven't got anyone left to ask!
Help! Thanks in advance 

stuart45

On site traditionally gutters were the plumbers job. Dates back to cast iron and lead joints. However nowadays most builders should be able to stick up a plastic gutter. I would get that repaired first before the other repairs.
What was the internal work the specialist was going to do? Hacking off the plaster and chemical injection?

Rosa_Damascena

musharoom said:

I had a damp specialist come to assess today and they said the guttering system incl downpipes/soil pipes are the issue that has subsequently damaged the render, caused the cracks and interior damp. They said they can't fix the damp inside until the exterior repairs are done.

This is true. Why don't you ask the damp specialist for a trades recommendation?

If the render has blown, what you will find is that the offending patch will need to be stripped right back to brick, left to dry out and then treated before replastering. It would be madness not to get the guttering sorted and leave your drying brickwork exposed to more moisture!

musharoom

Rosa_Damascena said:

musharoom said:

I had a damp specialist come to assess today and they said the guttering system incl downpipes/soil pipes are the issue that has subsequently damaged the render, caused the cracks and interior damp. They said they can't fix the damp inside until the exterior repairs are done.

This is true. Why don't you ask the damp specialist for a trades recommendation?

If the render has blown, what you will find is that the offending patch will need to be stripped right back to brick, left to dry out and then treated before replastering. It would be madness not to get the guttering sorted and leave your drying brickwork exposed to more moisture!

I did ask if them for a trades recommendation and they were unable to give me any!

Your other point about exposed drying brickwork is what I thought would happen if we did render before gutters, but my husband said there is no point doing the render repairs first because then when the guttering is replaced it will damage the fresh render when removing old gutter and fixing new gutter. 🤔🤷‍♀️🤷‍♂️

musharoom

What was the internal work the specialist was going to do? Hacking off the plaster and chemical injection?

Treat rising damp under from dodgily installed concrete floor and repair 3 separate counts of penetrating damp.

The previous owners of my house were very DIY 'bodge it' happy. The longer we live here the more I feel stupid for not seeing or noticing all the issues or addressing them as soon as we got the keys before we moved in! Too excited to get the keys, with hindsight. 

rach_k

musharoom said:

but my husband said there is no point doing the render repairs first because then when the guttering is replaced it will damage the fresh render when removing old gutter and fixing new gutter. 🤔🤷‍♀️🤷‍♂️

We had new gutters installed a little while ago - they didn't damage the render.  Admittedly, I don't know much about how all the 'bits' are stuck together, but our gutters don't touch the render/walls at any point.  They are fixed to the fascia boards, which are part of the roof not the walls.  The down pipes are fixed to the walls but it's just a few brackets - if they made new holes, they could presumably just fill the old ones for you and you wouldn't even see it.  

Round here, it's a roofer you'd ask to do the guttering, although if you're having building work done the builder would probably do it too.

musharoom

Round here, it's a roofer you'd ask to do the guttering, although if you're having building work done the builder would probably do it too.

Would it need to be a builder to repair/replace the render? Could a roofer do that too at the same time as replacing guttering system? 

stuart45

musharoom said:

What was the internal work the specialist was going to do? Hacking off the plaster and chemical injection?

Treat rising damp under from dodgily installed concrete floor and repair 3 separate counts of penetrating damp.

The previous owners of my house were very DIY 'bodge it' happy. The longer we live here the more I feel stupid for not seeing or noticing all the issues or addressing them as soon as we got the keys before we moved in! Too excited to get the keys, with hindsight. 

Don't feel stupid, it's really difficult to spots all the faults in a property for people in the trade, never mind others. It's quite easy to hide things from a surveyor if you know what you are doing.
Did they say exactly how they would treat the rising damp?

musharoom

Did they say exactly how they would treat the rising damp?

By laying a membrane down that we can then put tiles/carpet/laminate/whatever we want on top, putting in an extra vent and a heat pipe (I can't remember the actual product names that he used). 

Martin_the_Unjust

When was the last time your gutters were cleaned out?

twopenny

Good point, cleaning gutters and checking for plants seeded in debris that has built up.

"causing damp inside, I suspect it is gutters and blown render and cracks issues. " so check the gutters and pipes for yourself or get a friend with a ladder who is competant enough to investigate by running hands over it. When it rains hard go outside and see what's happening. You'll get soaked but it's worth it. Listen to the water in the down pipes. It could be one of them is blocked with debris. This also happened to me and again my neighbours guttering that caused overflow.

See if you can get an idea of what's happening so that you can make the suggestion to a tradesman or at least stop further damage. It's often a small leak or two that can cause the bigger problem.

I had damage from a small fern and a small Budlia that had rooted in various places. It wasn't until I got serious looking damage inside that I followed a sequence back to these seedlings finding  weak spots. By then the water had seeped into the rendering, bricks and internal plaster in a shorter space of time than you'd expect.

I had trouble getting anyone to deal with the damage overall or in parts but did get the plants removed (quick job)  and then my house painter fixed the downpipe while he was on the ladder.

Fortunately it was the start of summer and hot so I took off gently what I could, sheilded it against rain and luckily it dried out. I was surprised when I tackled the restoration that it all worked. The damage inside was a lot more lengthly tedious than outside which was relatively easier. But getting it dried out is the key to sucess.

'The first didn't send a quote' - yep, my top score to get a proper and reasonable quote was 18. Retired/didn't do heights/would be out on his boat if the weather was fine etc. Welcome to the world of property ownership.