Damp Surveyor

FreeBear

Diver22 said: When I viewed the property I looked for signs of rot in skirtings, and damp patches on walls. Didn’t see any.

Are the walls papered ?

Is the paper peeling off the walls ?

Are the walls painted ?

Any bubbling or flaking patches of paint on the walls ?

If "No" to the second parts of the questions, there probably isn't a damp problem. If the house has been left unoccupied and sealed up for any length of time, there could be residual condensation - That would clear in a few days at the moment if the doors & windows are left open to allow air to circulate.

Worth checking around the outside of the property to see if the ground levels are above the DPC - That said, there may not be a recognisable DPC in a ~1900 build.  It could be a course of slate or other impervious stone/brick, often just below airbricks.

Snakes_Belly

Diver22 said:

"Can anyone please advise how to get hold of a damp surveyor. My house buyer survey has identified rising damp and I’d like a more specialist survey. From what I’ve read there seems to be a lot of debate about misdiagnosis of damp. I didn’t see any signs of damp with the house on the two occasions I viewed it. I’ve searched the internet but can’t find listings. The house is in Cumbria. "

I used a firm called Damp Detectives. This was in the Buxton area but I think that they are national. 

Some firms will offer a free survey but this can be costly as they may suggest work that is not really necessary. This was purely a survey to find the cause of the damp and to suggest remedies. They do not undertake any remedial work or recommend a contractor.

The surveyor identifed that there was damp caused by a slow leak coming from the bathroom and there was some condensation. 

I then engaged a plumber to deal with the leak. If the rising damp is on an inside wall it is likely to be a leak from the bathroom or kitchen.

It cost £250.00. I had to have it done because there was more than one issue. 

  https://www.dampdetectives.co.uk/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvaHR64ey-QIV35BoCR3FlQJQEAAYAiAAEgL5pPD_BwE

I can PM you a copy of the report if you want to see how comprehensive the survey was.

martindow

youth_leader said:

I hope you can find someone to get it checked out to your satisfaction to save you future angst. 

I bought this 96 sq m 3 bed bungalow in March 2021 and had a L3 RCIS, again he couldn't lift the fitted carpets or move furniture. The bungalow has been extended with a completely concrete floored kitchen/lounge, partial in the back of the bedroom and back of the bathroom.

A local person who was also after this bungalow congratulated me then said she hoped I'd find the source of the damp - I took it as her being envious and unpleasant, but unfortunately not!

In November 2021 I discovered I've got wet/dry rot and woodworm in the front bedroom, as well as condensation problems throughout.  My clothes on the floor of the fitted wardrobe had gone mouldy.   Front bedroom was floorboards, other two bedrooms, hall and bathroom are chipboard, black and mouldy, smell was terrible when I lifted the carpet and underlay.

I'm a week into the two week job of having all the floors except the concrete floored kitchen/lounge replaced at £9K plus VAT, I've budgeted £11K.  Also have furniture storage costs on top, everything had to go, I'm camped in the concrete floored kitchen with the cat and dog.  What I hadn't expected was having to varnish it all myself afterwards, I'm off to buy some today.

Good luck.

Have you discovered the source of the problem as the local person suggested?  If there is a leak somewhere or the DPC is bridged by high ground levels outside for instance, that needs to be sorted otherwise your new floorboards will start getting damp and eventually rot.

Diver22

I’ll do a composite reply  here.

The living room is papered with what looks like lining paper and emulsioned. There was one very small patch where an edge of paper had peeled back behind a radiator valve where a radiator in the living room is positioned on a party wall. I checked the plaster behind and it felt bone dry. No sign of a leaking joint on the radiator. Nothing else that I could see. No flaking paint, no bubbling etc. The house is currently used as a weekend cottage by the vendor who lives in the Manchester area, so isn’t occupied all the time. Both times I viewed there was no sense of condensation or damp though.

The big question for me is how the surveyor could make any assessment of the kitchen walls, because three sides of the kitchen are obscured by fitted cupboards,  worktops, tiling and upper cupboards. There is a visible wall area on the party wall on one side but I saw nothing there which aroused my suspicions.The only visible wall area on the other walls is an area of about 15” depth above the top cupboards and a small area to one side of the doorway. I looked at the wall visible behind the sink unit and saw no sign of damp. Of course I’m not a surveyor so there may be ways he had to inspect the walls that I’m not aware of. 

I’m really suspicious that he’s simply used a damp meter and from what I understand these alone can’t diagnose damp. In fact placing a finger between the terminals will.produce a ‘damp’ reading. 

Thanks to Snakes Belly for the link. The website says they have a surveyor covering Cumbria and South of Scotland. 

Martindow: The sale hasn’t completed. It’s not yet at exchange of contracts even so I’m not in a position to inspect the house in detail myself. It does have two air vents at the front of the property but that’s all I’m able to see. I commissioned a homebuyers survey for my own purposes not expecting anything major to show up but now that the surveyor has said there is rising damp I feel the only way to progress is to get a specialist damp survey. That of course is tricky because it alerts the vendor. 

stuart45

You can hire a damp meter quite cheaply if you want to go over the walls yourself and see what readings you get. Getting a high reading in itself doesn't guarantee the wall is damp, but a low reading would normally show that it's dry. Most of the elements of a house like the masonry, plaster, timber etc. contain a certain amount of moisture. It's when it's excessive it becomes an issue.
Low level condensation on walls is often the cause of damp spots. Can also be leaking pipes or penetrating damp.
Surveyors quite like to find some damp as they can then pass the issue on to someone else. 

Diver22

Thanks for your comment. I’ve been reading the following and your comment does concur with it, particularly about low readings with a meter:

https://www.heritage-house.org/damp-and-condensation/the-ping-prong-meter-guilty-of-fraud.html

 It also says even if a reading taken is high that is not necessarily a concern because the issue is what problems is damp giving rise to.

Elsewhere on that site it highlights recent RICS methodology for assessing dampness in which says ‘ no longer can 'damp meters' be used to arrive at unscientific declarations of 'rising damp'. 

The more I read the more I’m suspicious of the surveyor who has done my survey.

Snakes_Belly

I tried to send you a copy of my report so you could see what you get for your money but the system would not allow me to send it.

If you PM me with your email address I will send you a copy. I do post regularly on the forum that deals with PCN's. 

FreeBear

stuart45 said: You can hire a damp meter quite cheaply if you want to go over the walls yourself and see what readings you get. Getting a high reading in itself doesn't guarantee the wall is damp, but a low reading would normally show that it's dry. Most of the elements of a house like the masonry, plaster, timber etc. contain a certain amount of moisture. It's when it's excessive it becomes an issue.

Or buy one off ebay/Amazon for under £10.

The readings displayed when poking it in to anything other than untreated wood should never be relied upon. so many things within a wall will throw the readings out. Various salts being the main one, but paints, cables/pipes, even the type of plaster will alter the readings. Used wisely, noting the difference in readings across the wall (and being mindful of any contaminants), it is possible to identify sections that might warrant a closer examination.