Rising Damp Issues Costly

Doozergirl

NameUnavailable said:

Doozergirl said:

NameUnavailable said:

If it's an older property the signs of damp are just the start. Rip up the flooring and you may well find you need to replace joists and floorboards. The quote you had will be for modern materials when you actually need lime plaster. You can pretty much double that quote for plastering alone, because when they try to strip 1m off the rest will come with it!

Beware!

Solving a damp issue doesn't mean touching/changing the plaster most of the time.      The simple solution is often to find the root cause, stop it and let the wall dry out.  We don't actually know that it's damp at the moment, we only have the unqualified opinion of someone that sells half a room of rendering.  

If the plasterwork has become damp then it probably will need replastering. If you start taking plaster off old walls you often end up doing the lot. Best to work on a 'worst case scenario' basis financially as opposed to running out of money half way through a job.

Best to find out if it's actually properly damp before budgeting anything for it.  Surveyors have a terrible habit of using those ineffective 'damp meters' and then recommending people use a 'member of the PCA' to fleece them.  It gives the RICS surveyor a get out of jail free card without establishing anything. 

If the house has already been re-plastered at some point then it doesn't need doing again.  We literally know nothing about this house and people are suggesting the the OP double an arbitrary budget to deal with something that may not even exist or be an incredibly simple fix. 

It's wrong to speculate. 

AskAsk

CinderKona said:

Thanks for answering.
it was originally identified by an independent survey (level 2) I then it’s advice got 2 independent surveys from damp proof companies. This is not my area of expertise so if they tell me independently there is an insect infestations and rising damp and it will cost >3000 then I am not sure what I can do to resolve or fix it other employ them.  It seems to in many rooms and I’m not sure where it originates. 

I’d have to live there, and at the moment work there, so might be too disruptive.
its a pre 1930s terrace.

if the damp is in many rooms and you have only been quoted £3,000 for the work, then i would worry that the damp proof companies are not quoting properly to do a proper repair.  it sounds too cheap to me.  we had damp proofing course done some years ago for just one wall in the kitchen and one wall in the downstairs hall and that was around £1,700 and that was some years ago.

if the damp is in many rooms, then it sounds like there is a big issue with the property.

FreeBear

AskAsk said: if the damp is in many rooms, then it sounds like there is a big issue with the property.

Not necessarily. If the property has been left unoccupied for months/years, then there could well be a build up of condensation inside. Opening up a few windows and heating the place during the winter months could be enough to bring things under control.

AskAsk

FreeBear said:

AskAsk said: if the damp is in many rooms, then it sounds like there is a big issue with the property.

Not necessarily. If the property has been left unoccupied for months/years, then there could well be a build up of condensation inside. Opening up a few windows and heating the place during the winter months could be enough to bring things under control.

but the OP says that the damp proof company has quoted for rising damp for many rooms, as well as insect infestation rot to the wood.  if the OP is explaining accurately, then rising damp in many rooms would indicate a serious problem.

FreeBear

AskAsk said: but the OP says that the damp proof company has quoted for rising damp for many rooms, as well as insect infestation rot to the wood.

But then these salesmen do not hold any real world qualifications, and their opinions are biased (in this case) to the tune of £3,500. Invariably, they are misdiagnosing the problem and clutching at straws to sell expensive treatments to cover up the real problem.

Rising damp does not occur in the vast majority of properties. The problem is more often down to elevated ground levels and/or faulty guttering & drain pipes. Fix the damp at source, and the insect infestation will disappear as the property dries out.

AdrianC

...and we still don't know what the survey actually said...

youth_leader

My house was 1847 and my buyer's mortgage company valued my house at £0 because they wanted a damp/timber report.  The damp was obvious with plaster falling off, plus the surveyor had listed 'beetle damage'.  I knew I didn't have live woodworm as I'd paid for my own structural survey and knew they were all dead, but past tunnelling was evident on our stripped floors.   I was advised by my EA to go to a damp/timber company they recommended and as the buyer had already paid so much for his survey, and as a gesture of goodwill, they recommended I paid for it - it was £300.  To enable the sale I did agree.   When the man came he said I should have lifted the floorboards so he could inspect the joists, but as I hadn't, he wouldn't be able to comment on them on the report.  I hadn't been told to do this when I made the appointment.  I forwarded the report to the EA for the buyer, and the buyer's mortgage company dismissed the report and recommendations as completely inappropriate for a heritage building. I don't understand how or why these companies continue to operate. 

AdrianC

youth_leader said:

I don't understand how or why these companies continue to operate. 

Simple.

Because they're profitable.

Doozergirl

AdrianC said:

youth_leader said:

I don't understand how or why these companies continue to operate. 

Simple.

Because they're profitable.

And the lie suits RICS surveyors.  

It can be difficult to spot localised areas of damp during a survey and people might make effort to cover it.   The surveyor completely exonerates themselves by making no effort and recommending a survey.  

And there are more of these horrible salespeople around than genuine damp specialists, because there isn't much money in telling people to unblock a gutter, reinstate air-bricks or cut their driveway away by a foot.  

Enough talk of doubling budgets and spending thousands upon thousands on this house too.  It's based on less evidence than the 'damp expert' provided!