Damp Problem......

soaps · 26 Oct 2008

Hi all

First post having searched and read through previous advice on this topic.

Where to start??..Currently in the middle of selling my house, terraced built around 1900.

Surveyor came around and advised that the DPC had failed. We had the DPC installed around 5 years ago by a builder. We contacted the builder who did the DPC, he came around and took samples of plaster to be analysed.

The builder contacted me and has told me that the results show that the DPC has not failed and that there is a problem with 'salting' which is the cause of the damp, therefore the garauntee i have is not valid. He advised that the walls need to be stripped back and re-protected with the correct chemical to prevent the return of 'salting'.

My questions are that surely a professional should have thought about the possiblity of 'salting' and taken the correct steps in the first place to protect against this??

Has anyone else had any experience of this?? Any ways around it??

Cheers in advance

Symptoms · 26 Oct 2008

soaps - why did you have a DPC installed 5 years ago; did you had a bad case of rising damp then? If so, your builder should have stripped off all the internal plaster to about a metre high, installed the DPC (was it injected?), re-plastered using the correct materials for this situation. The guarantee ... was it his personal/company guarantee (not worth the paper they're written on!!!) or a 25 year insurance (Lloyds) based one?
Maybe a case for Trading Standards?

A fix: First check if it's not being caused by someting daft like the DPC being bridged by soil in the garden. Is the problem isolated to a small area or does it extent all around the ground floor. Small area ... you might be able to strip the plaster down to the masonry and repair the limited area as above. Extensive problem ... all the plaster off. Trouble is you can't hide/disguise this problem from the spikes of the surveyor's damp meter.

soaps · 26 Oct 2008

Hi...cheers for the reply...

We had the damp course done because it was picked up as having rising damp on the survey when we bought the house five years ago. Yes, it was an injected DPC and the plaster was stripped back and replastered.

The garantee is for 30 years and is backed up by Soveriegn (?) who came out and did the tests on the plaster.

I'm afraid that it is the whole of the ground floor. Just seems like the builder is trying to wriggle out of it for not using the correct chemicals when replastering in the first place when he knew that there was possibiltiy (no matter how small) of 'salting'??

Cheers again

Symptoms · 26 Oct 2008

soaps - maybe contact Soveriegn direct as they seemed to guarantee your builder's work. Check-out this article (it won't solve your problem) but may give you some background knowledge before you contact Soveriegn.
http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/risingdamp/risingdamp.htm

soaps · 26 Oct 2008

Thanks again....I've read it through...." waste of money and resources ", ahhhhhhhhh!! Thats probably the case!!!

Cheers, hopefully I'll find a way forward with this!!

dave1953 · 26 Oct 2008

This problem is down to the original builder who injected and re- plastered,is the guarantee by Sovereign chemicals or is it underwritten by an insurance company i.e. GPI or PGA Ltd .If the original builder had ceased trading then the insurance guarantee, subject to fresh survey, would sort this out for you, if he's still going then you must offer him the right to sort the problem if he can't or won't its a small claims jobby

soaps · 26 Oct 2008

Cheers Dave....not sure if its underwritten by an insurance company (at work at the mo and dont have the garantee with me). The builder is still trading, he just reckons its not his fault. I'm going to contact the solicitor doing the conveyancing for the sale of the property to get legal advice as I agree with you...he should have to re-do the job and use the correct chemicals.

Cheers again

memor maplin · 27 Oct 2008

Whats this SALTING ???

Are you talking of efflorescence in the brickwork ?

dave1953 · 27 Oct 2008

Hi Soaps, as next comment to the problem suggests, what salts and are they effloressent, salts are nitrates, sulphates and chlorates brought up through the brickwork through capillary action over the years, they attract moisture and if not treated become deliquescent i. e. saturated, sounds to me that the plaster was not removed to at least 500mm above the last recorded WME { wood moisture equivalent ] readings taken but their report should confirm this if it still exists,most surveys and treatments take 1500mm above ground level as re-plastering norm but this is not the case depending on the substrate. Hope this helps!

kevintaylore · 29 Oct 2008

The British Standard for damp-proofing, BS6576 stresses the importance of replastering as part of a rising damp treatment - so the builder can't really claim that it's nothing to do with him.

Unfortunately Sovereign are in the habit of giving worthless "product guarantees" to any Tom Dick or Harry that is willing to buy their products. These only cover the cost of replacing the products used if they can be proven to be defective. In this case it would appear that it was the workmanship rather than the product that was defective so you wouldn't be able to claim on this type of guarantee. I'd imagine that they came to to the tests on the plaster to prove that it wasn't their product at fault.

I recall being told that your statutory rights for building works extend to something like 6 years (rather than the usual 12 months for normal product purchases) so it might be worth calling Trading Standards to see if they can help.

dave1953 · 29 Oct 2008

Here, here; I totally agree with Kevintaylore, most guarantees are not far short of worthless if you read the small print. The professional guarantee companies accepted by the PCA cost the operator time and a lot of money to trade under their umbrella, so to speak, but your assured of a worthwhile 20 year guarantee.

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Damp Problem......

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