Damp Report Confused..Please advice

[Bouba]

Hi everybody,

I am a first time buyer.Buying an end of terrace property.We had the independent building survey done and got the usual results but the report said no rising damp.

Contrary to this when the bank valuer came to value the property he said get further testing done on wet rot and damp but did not make this a condition of mortgage.

I instruction an independent damp proofing company who charged me to survey the property.The report is very confusing and i cant understand what it really means.Would be very grateful to someone who can shed some light informing me if the work really need doing or are we being taken for a ride.We haven't exchanged yet but i would not want to back out if the problem is minor and can be sorted cheaply..The vendor is not willing to bring the price any lower.
Your comments are much appreciated.

External ground level on the flank and particularly to the rear of the building are too high and must be reduced by at least 150-200mm.Follwing this,the sub floor ventilation on the rear and the flank walls must be improved by installing 5 (9"x6") air bricks.

"I tested the main structural walls and obtain readings consistent with rising damp."


The company has quoted £4100 inc vat to cover the work.It includes £500 for chemical injection and £3000 for removal of plaster and render.

Thanks.

 

[dave1953]

Personally I would do as has been said and reduce the garden levels to below the existing Damp Course level.To introduce air bricks will increase sub floor ventilation to prevent rot formation[unless it has allready formed] , in which case it will require treatment or replacement ,you don't say if the walls are of solid or cavity construction but either way good ventilation will start the drying process within the brickwork. I have never seen a physical Damp course fail unless it has been breached or compromised by subsidence or other however having said all this if penetrating damp has occured through garden level being to high then you are very likely to have salt contamination to your internal plaster and removal and replastering is really the only way to get rid of this, if not removed decorative spoilings will always occur as the salts will absorb any moisture within the property and it will show.
Very doubtfull it needs a new Dpc injection and if replastering is required the side and rear flank walls should'nt cost anything like £3000 to sort out.

 

[Bouba]

Thanks dave.Very helpful post.
The walls are solid brick as it says on the survey.The house is build in 1924 and has a side wall which has a crack in pebbledash render.I have doubts that this is the main reason the internal walls are damp.Can i fill something in the crack to stop the water penetration or does it need doing properly.

 

[joe-90]

If you had a serious problem the house would smell damp and the walls would show damp. Ignore the damp industry, they're a bunch of charlatans and cowboys.
Buy a cheapo damp meter and get back with the results.

 

[stevethespreader]

can you actually see any damp? its just that you have 1 survey that says no damp and the next minute you have a damproof firm round that have given you a rediculous quote saying that damp has come up on his damp meter, did he actually point out the damp to you and do it look damp? can you send pictures of the damp problems in ? or is there nothing to take pictures of?

 

[dave1953]

Agree with all the above however if the property has a condensation problem i.e high Relative Humidity then a damp meter will only pick up surface moisture on walls which is not a Rising Damp problem. The crack in the render should be opened to see whats going on, at worst Re-bar stitching of brickwork at best fill it with suitable exterior filler.

 

[roy c]

Quote.. External ground level on the flank and particularly to the rear of the building are too high and must be reduced by at least 150-200mm.Follwing this,the sub floor ventilation on the rear and the flank walls must be improved by installing 5 (9"x6") air bricks.

"I tested the main structural walls and obtain readings consistent with rising damp.

This implies that the ground level is 6to 8inches above the DPC (if one exists) and must be dragged back to stop any "bridging" above the dpc ! Can you get photos up of the "flank" and rear of the building? And also if you can find out which way the floor-boards are running in relation to the rear wall, this will tell us which way the joists are running (either parallel to the rear wall or into it or on a sleeper wall. ) Also it would be handy if you could find out what height you have from the "sub" floor to the underside of the floor boards. (You should be able to find this information out from the firm who did your damp survey.) This will tell us if there is enough room to insert 9"x6" airbricks as these should be below the dpc. level.
Also rising damp will only rise to a height of 1200mm, any damp above that will be "penertrating" damp (ie. from cracks on external walls !!) Find out as much information as you can from the damp company and get then around and make them explain everything in their report and question everything you dont understand,you paid for it. And get a breakdown of their quote...Let us know the results..

 

[Possel]

I instruction an independent damp proofing company who charged me to survey the property.....

...The company has quoted £4100 inc vat to cover the work.It includes £500 for chemical injection and £3000 for removal of plaster and render.

If this is the same company, then they are NOT independent, are they? They have a vested interest in getting you to part with more of your cash!
Their observation about high ground could well indicate a problem, but I bet you'd get a better price for that from some local groundworker - mine did that job and was excellent value.

 

[Bouba]

Thanks everybody for the helpful posts. Here is an update as to what has happened so far.

After getting a quote from this independent firm i forwarded the report to the vendor and asked him to reduce the asking price. He refused and said he will get his own survey done.
The survey came back today and he mailed me the quote. Now it looks like the seller never had anyone round and just made up a quote on microsoft word. He said the person is a recommendation from a friend and will provide a certificate for 25 years for dpc. Can someone please confirm if it looks consistent with the original survey.


"Thank you for allowing us to survey the above property.  Whilst conducting
the survey, we identified the problem was caused by the location of the
DPC(damp proof course), with it being lower then the existing ground level
and the damage was evident at the rear of the property.  We propose to carry
out the following remedial work;
 
1. Dig a channel below the DPC, and fill this area with pea shingle
2. Inject the external brickwork to the front, rear and side of the property
3. Remove the damaged plaster from the rear external wall of the property
4. Re-plaster the damaged areas to the rear external wall
 
The total cost for all of the above work is shown below
 
 
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………£950.