Damp found in Homebuyers Survey

janoid19

Hi, If anyone could give me some advice that would be great (I'm a FTB so I don't know what to do).

I have just received the Homebuyers report back for a house I am buying. The only thing I am concerned about is damp which has been found along the front wall of the kitchen.

The report says;
'We recorded high damp meter readings at low level just above the skirting to the front wall in the kitchen and the front wall under the stairs to the rear left-hand corner of the kitchen'
'The high reading to the front elevation is typical of rising dampness. The high reading to the to the rear left-hand corner of the kitchen may be as a result of a previous leak. Diagnosis is beyond the scope of this Report. You should arrange for an appropriately qualified person to inspect the damp and provide you with a report and arrange for any necessary work to be carried out'

Would it be worth organising a Damp Survey to look at this?

Any advice would be amazing.

FTB_Help

I got similar results too (rising damp internal kitchen walls low level, extensive damp in rare elevation kitchen wall, need to remove all floor mounted kitchen units for treatments) still reading through mine but it seems yours is not massively horrendous. Not sure how much it will cost to fix damp but im kinda willing to let it go if its less than 1% of purchase price (plus i got £25k off the asking price), but interested to see what you do will damp issue too

es5595

I think you'll find a huge number of surveys come back with 'damp'. Unfortunately they are fairly unqualified people, doing a fabulous behind-covering exercise. A damp meter picks up things that are totally irrelevant and inconsequential, and often a damp survey (especially a free or cheap one) will definitely find damp, as it is a poorly-hidden sales exercise. 

Are there actually any indicators of damp in the property? If not, you'll almost certainly be on a hiding to nothing, a fool and his money are easily parted, etc etc. 

greatcrested

True 'rising damp' is remarkably rare (if ever).

Far more likely to be penetrating damp eg from a raised ground level outside above the dpc, or condensation, a blocked drain (inside or out), a leaking downpipe etc

FreeBear

janoid19 said:  The high reading to the to the rear left-hand corner of the kitchen may be as a result of a previous leak. Diagnosis is beyond the scope of this Report. You should arrange for an appropriately qualified person to inspect the damp and provide you with a report and arrange for any necessary work to be carried out

Your surveyor has given one possible cause of the damp.

Trouble with the damp proof industry is there is little in the way of qualification to become a "damp proof surveyor". The Property Care Association (PCA) is the trade body for the industry and do run some "training" courses. These are typically tun over a few days and are not overseen by any college or university, so have little standing outside the PCA world. Their main interest will be to sell damp "treatments" that invariably fail to cure the problem and only mask it for a few years.

Fixing damp problems in the vast majority of cases involves common sense solutions to remove the root cause of the damp (leaking pipes/gutters/roof/breached DPC).

There are a few surveyors out there that can offer unbiased advice - Avoid any claiming PCA accreditation or links with a damp proof treatment company. 

janoid19

FreeBear said:

janoid19 said:  The high reading to the to the rear left-hand corner of the kitchen may be as a result of a previous leak. Diagnosis is beyond the scope of this Report. You should arrange for an appropriately qualified person to inspect the damp and provide you with a report and arrange for any necessary work to be carried out

Your surveyor has given one possible cause of the damp.

Trouble with the damp proof industry is there is little in the way of qualification to become a "damp proof surveyor". The Property Care Association (PCA) is the trade body for the industry and do run some "training" courses. These are typically tun over a few days and are not overseen by any college or university, so have little standing outside the PCA world. Their main interest will be to sell damp "treatments" that invariably fail to cure the problem and only mask it for a few years.

Fixing damp problems in the vast majority of cases involves common sense solutions to remove the root cause of the damp (leaking pipes/gutters/roof/breached DPC).

There are a few surveyors out there that can offer unbiased advice - Avoid any claiming PCA accreditation or links with a damp proof treatment company. 

Yeah thats what I'm worried about. I don't want to get a damp survey from someone who is just trying to sell me their treatment. 

I've had a look at some companies that offer damp surveys and I'm trying to figure out if its worth doing.

janoid19

Do these look independent?

https://www.dampandtimbersurveys-csrt.com/

Although they do mention PCA.

camden_kid

I had a survey done recently and damp was mentioned. The place is a mess and I'm having it completely renovated. It looks it hasn't had much done to it since it was built in the 60s so I'm not taking any chances. I've arranged a damp survey with this company - https://www.alpinedamp.co.uk/. 

FreeBear

janoid19 said: Do these look independent?
Although they do mention PCA.

From their web site - "The CSRT Qualification (Certified Surveyor in Remedial Treatments) is awarded on behalf of the Property Care Association (PCA), formerly the BWPDA. which is given to persons that have undergone full in depth training and have passed the strict examination procedures at the PCA Headquarters."

A quick look at the PCA web site - https://www.property-care.org/training-qualifications/pca-surveyor-training/examination-cstdb-csdb/ - So... The CSRT "qualification" is a two day course (with an optional two day jobbie to prepare)... Hardly counts as "in depth training"...

There are two things that you can do to a property that is real bad and adversely affects the value. Spay foam insulation in the loft - Some lenders have cottoned on to just how damaging that is and dramatically reduce the amount they are prepared to lend.

The second is to have chemicals injected in to the walls and waterproof render/plaster slapped on to the walls - Unfortunately, lenders have been hoodwinked by the damp proofing industry and have yet to realise that these "cures" only mask the symptoms for a few years and in some properties, is highly destructive (cob, clunch, timber framed, and anything with soft bricks).

janoid19

camden_kid said:

I had a survey done recently and damp was mentioned. The place is a mess and I'm having it completely renovated. It looks it hasn't had much done to it since it was built in the 60s so I'm not taking any chances. I've arranged a damp survey with this company - https://www.alpinedamp.co.uk/. 

Unfortunately I am in Manchester and they don't cover that far although they look like a good option. I have booked mine in for Wednesday but I'll take everything people have said into consideration when the report comes back. 

There is no smell or sign of damp when I viewed so hopefully its nothing major.

camden_kid

janoid19 said:

camden_kid said:

I had a survey done recently and damp was mentioned. The place is a mess and I'm having it completely renovated. It looks it hasn't had much done to it since it was built in the 60s so I'm not taking any chances. I've arranged a damp survey with this company - https://www.alpinedamp.co.uk/. 

Unfortunately I am in Manchester and they don't cover that far although they look like a good option. I have booked mine in for Wednesday but I'll take everything people have said into consideration when the report comes back. 

There is no smell or sign of damp when I viewed so hopefully its nothing major.

Please give us an update as it would helpful to other folk.