Damp Proofed solid walls surveyor still found damp

[kellylucinda]

Hi,
I bought my house 3 years ago noticed after a few months the house end external wall wallpaper in the kitchen was looking tatty near the bottom peeled it back and it was damp. Had a building company come and damp proof that section of the wall. When I came to decorate the living room it had really old wallpaper and dado rail which I wanted taking off so walls required skimming. I though I may aswell damp proof it as I needed a plasterer anyway. Even though there damp wasn't showing through I thought it would be best to remove the plaster upto 1m high (myself to save on costs) My other half drilled the holes and injected the Dryzone stuff and the wall was replastered. The final room to decorate was the utility which is an extention but also runs along the same external wall this was also a little damp so again I removed plaster and my other half damp proofed and it was re plastered. This was last Spring. I put my house on the market and had an offer. The surveyor came today and said the wall is damp, he said it might just be the age of the building (1870) but I can't understand why it is damp when we have damp proofed it. He used one of those damp metres to prof the walls from inside. There is nothing at all visable from inside.
Please advise me on what could be causing the damp?? I'm afraid my buyers will probably be put off and i'm not going to be able to sell.

 

[Diver Fred]

That age of building it will be a solid wall hence cold this time of year. Do you have double glazing? The inner glass is more likely to be comparatively warmer than the walls. As the wall is cold I'd expect the damp showing on the meter to be caused by condensation if it cannot condence on the windows.

 

[^woody^]

Looks like he's measured condensation or normal surface moisture as opposed to dampness.

The big clue is that you can see dampness.

Apart from barring idiot numpty surveyors from your house, you can't do a lot to stop getting idiot numpty reports.

 

[vinn]

OP,
Would you be put off buying your next house by the kind of damp that you describe above?
My experience has been that more people are educated in the basics of damp - they are concerned but not alarmed to the point of deal breaking by a damp report.
Its still a seller's market.

Put "damp walls" into the search box above, and read more about what might be happening at your house.

Problem is, that if he was the buyer's mortgage surveyor, then a D&T company "surveyor" (ie. salesperson) will be called in.

 

[Doggit]

After you injected the dryzone cream, what did you do next. Was the wall just replastered, or did you use dryzone drybase on the wall before you replastered, or did you use a cement render with a waterproofer in it. If you just replastered, then the damp below the injection will creep up the new plaster.