Render cracking on flat above ext wall causing damp in my flat

fackers_2

Need a bit of advice if you may. We live in a GF flat that is part of a victorian house that was converted into flats 10 years ago. The pebble dash render on the external wall has cracked and seems to be coming away from the brickwork which is on the property above. The has been flagged by a independent damp proof specialist as the likely cause of the suspected damp inside (which is non visible but high on the meter reading). How do we address this with them? The predicament is that the landlord of the flat above us is in the middle of selling to her tenants. Am I right in saying that it needs to be flagged with the current owner and if so how do you go about getting it done (feel guilty if it compromises their sale). 

TIA

rach_k

Are you having issues due to this invisible damp or is this a case of a 'specialist' with a damp meter up to their usual tricks, as explained here? http://gsquaredsurveying.co.uk/damp-meters-industry-con/

As fair as I know, it's common for salts in the walls of Victorian houses to show high 'damp' readings.  We had high levels noted when we bought our Victorian house 8 years ago... and it's still dry.  

twopenny

Yes, I had a 1920's house and when it came to sell I was with the surveyor for some of the time. He did say that the damp read high in some places but this was normal for houses of this age and nothing to worry about.

However cracked or render coming off is.

Do you own your flat or is it rented. If rented the landlord should sort it if it's leading to problems. If you own it then there should be some agreement on purchase about the upkeep of the exterior.

If it's the people buying you are concerned for then they should be getting some sort of survey which should flag this, they should be using their eyes and aware of it. It's not really your job to point out defects to them and could end in you putting the backs up of either or both the seller and buyer for years to come and you will be the bad guy.

Rosa_Damascena

twopenny said:

Yes, I had a 1920's house and when it came to sell I was with the surveyor for some of the time. He did say that the damp read high in some places but this was normal for houses of this age and nothing to worry about.

However cracked or render coming off is.

Do you own your flat or is it rented. If rented the landlord should sort it if it's leading to problems. If you own it then there should be some agreement on purchase about the upkeep of the exterior.

If it's the people buying you are concerned for then they should be getting some sort of survey which should flag this, they should be using their eyes and aware of it. It's not really your job to point out defects to them and could end in you putting the backs up of either or both the seller and buyer for years to come and you will be the bad guy.

I don't think so. If the LL wants to sell he'll fix the problem and make the wall good. I don't see what's to be lost other than the opportunity to fix the problem before it gets worse.

fackers_2

It’s owned by me. There is no cracks on the boundary of my flat wall, BUT the crack in the render is on the flat above in the same place as the high meter reading.

@rach_k as i mentioned in my original post, he was an independent surveyor who doesn’t carry out any works. I am well aware of this issue though but thanks for pointing it out again.