Suggestions for a damp surveyor!
Discussion
You know what I mean 
I own a Victorian basement flat which the tenant tells me has several signs of damp on one of the internal walls. I will visit this weekend to investigate and take some photos. He is a junior architect, so knows a bit about buildings and I am not surprised due to the age of the building. Assuming it is not something simple like a leaking rad pipe (some hope!) I will need to get in a specialist. I am guessing I need a surveyor and then a damp proof specialist but one hears of so many "rip-off" damp experts that I am cautious. What approach would you lot suggest? 
Tnx Rich...
I own a Victorian basement flat which the tenant tells me has several signs of damp on one of the internal walls. I will visit this weekend to investigate and take some photos. He is a junior architect, so knows a bit about buildings and I am not surprised due to the age of the building. Assuming it is not something simple like a leaking rad pipe (some hope!) I will need to get in a specialist. I am guessing I need a surveyor and then a damp proof specialist but one hears of so many "rip-off" damp experts that I am cautious. What approach would you lot suggest? Tnx Rich... Sorry i can't offer a specific recommendation but i can give you a clear warning about a certain damp proofing company in the South East that shares their name with a manufacturer of car stereos, and kitchen white goods. I had a complete nightmare with them (cut though 2 central heating pipes, ring main and made a complete lashup of a repair - borderline dangerous) and heard a few other horror stories.
My advice ( from experience ) is that you need to elimiate the following possibilities, cracks in the external render, a broken dripping drain pipe, the internal floor level being the same as the external with no soak away, or poor internal ventilation/ old badly sealed chimneys that have been taken out and are allowing water in.
Once you've elmiated all of the possible causes for the damp and assuming you can't find any of them, you can try plastering over the problem with an expensive damp proofing product.
Once you've elmiated all of the possible causes for the damp and assuming you can't find any of them, you can try plastering over the problem with an expensive damp proofing product.
We've had a couple of surveys and some damp work done on our place - 1890's terrace which is basicaly built on earth. Used Stonehouse property maintance near Henley who came highly recomended - if you're not to far from there.
Advice they gave seemed focussed on sorting the problem rather than money. i.e. increase ventilation / lower the earth level outside instead of simply saying we need a chemical dpc. Though the work they did do was clean and prompt not seen a problem since.
Advice they gave seemed focussed on sorting the problem rather than money. i.e. increase ventilation / lower the earth level outside instead of simply saying we need a chemical dpc. Though the work they did do was clean and prompt not seen a problem since.
RichB said:
Thanks for teh suggestions do far, because it is a basement flat in a Victorian terraced row the street level is higher than the flat's floor but the damp is in an internal wall which is shared so I suspect rising damp? I will check all the other things on the list though.
No such thing, apart from it being the name of a 1970s comedy. Advice from those who know here:
http://www.spab.org.uk/advice/technical-qas/techni...
If you want someone to look at it get a qualified surveyor who is familiar with old buildings. On no account get in a damp treatment company for a 'free' survey. Most are snake oil salesmen.
http://www.spab.org.uk/advice/technical-qas/techni...
If you want someone to look at it get a qualified surveyor who is familiar with old buildings. On no account get in a damp treatment company for a 'free' survey. Most are snake oil salesmen.
Timmy35 said:
RichB said:
Thanks for the suggestions so far, because it is a basement flat in a Victorian terraced row the street level is higher than the flat's floor but the damp is in an internal wall which is shared so I suspect rising damp? I will check all the other things on the list though.
No such thing, apart from it being the name of a 1970s comedy. 
rovermorris999 said:
Advice from those who know here:
http://www.spab.org.uk/advice/technical-qas/techni...
If you want someone to look at it get a qualified surveyor who is familiar with old buildings. On no account get in a damp treatment company for a 'free' survey. Most are snake oil salesmen.
Agreed about the treatment companies and that link's very useful thanks, and quite ironic too http://www.spab.org.uk/advice/technical-qas/techni...
If you want someone to look at it get a qualified surveyor who is familiar with old buildings. On no account get in a damp treatment company for a 'free' survey. Most are snake oil salesmen.
Noonehere said:
We've had a couple of surveys and some damp work done on our place - 1890's terrace which is basicaly built on earth. Used Stonehouse property maintance near Henley who came highly recomended - if you're not to far from there.
Advice they gave seemed focussed on sorting the problem rather than money. i.e. increase ventilation / lower the earth level outside instead of simply saying we need a chemical dpc. Though the work they did do was clean and prompt not seen a problem since.
They sound very good and unsual. Advice they gave seemed focussed on sorting the problem rather than money. i.e. increase ventilation / lower the earth level outside instead of simply saying we need a chemical dpc. Though the work they did do was clean and prompt not seen a problem since.
Given the OPs problem and age of the building I'd wonder if there isn't an old blocked up chimney that's allowing water in which will seep over time right down through. The issue might start up on the roof.
What you Co told you to do is more or less what I did, fix some poor quality rendering, a broken gutter, and at the back of the house have a trench dug and filled in with gravel.....several hundred pounds and all damp problems solved.
The only place I used anything was some K-bond where and old blocked up chimney was letting some moisture in and it was seeping down to appear mid-way up a wall, we just took it back to the brickwork, re-rendered, and re-plastered.
People seldom seem to think that although old houses were build onto earth was you say, that they seldom had damp......damp came along with double glazing, blocked up chimneys, external waterproof renders, combined with things like kettles boiling and showers running + people breathing all adding moisture internally that old houses could no longer expel through 'breathing'
Thanks for all the input chaps, even the joke about Rigsby! The building is the basement plus 4 more stories. The damp wall is more or less centrally located in house so it's not high ground, anyway there is a garden at the rear and a stairwell at the front leading down from street level. The chimneys are paired with the houses each side but they are on the opposite side of the house from where the damp is and it can't be gutters because it's a terrace. So I reckon it could be either condensation, a leaking pipe or damp rising due to capillary action. I will report back on Sunday.
Edited by RichB on Tuesday 6th September 15:32
If it's several spots on one wall, rather than general dampness around the flat, or if it's not streaming down from top to bottom you could try this first...
http://www.thompsonsweatherproofing.co.uk/products...
And if that doesn't work ( the damp we had came back in one out of three spots ) I'd definitely apply K-rend and re-plaster it. That solved our problem. K-rend is £10 a bag so it doesn't break the bank.
http://www.thompsonsweatherproofing.co.uk/products...
And if that doesn't work ( the damp we had came back in one out of three spots ) I'd definitely apply K-rend and re-plaster it. That solved our problem. K-rend is £10 a bag so it doesn't break the bank.
I have the same problem as the OP, basement flat within a Victorian four floor block of flats, isolated damp patches on interior load bearing walls, possibly rising to about 3 foot. I have owned the block for fifteen years, and these patches have only presented themselves the past 6 months. No mould damage to furnishings or clothes, no health risks, just unsightly since visibly noticeable. I have recently let the flat, pointing the issue out to any potential tenant/s.
Previous years I have both called in and used damp prevention companies, with the treatments/works never removing the damp problem, simply covering up and thereby moving the damp elsewhere. It appears to me that once plaster is blown/dead, then removal and re-plastering is the only option.
Through past poor experience with damp proofing companies, I would now avoid them like the plague, possibly instead seeking out a small building surveyor to offer advice.
Previous years I have both called in and used damp prevention companies, with the treatments/works never removing the damp problem, simply covering up and thereby moving the damp elsewhere. It appears to me that once plaster is blown/dead, then removal and re-plastering is the only option.
Through past poor experience with damp proofing companies, I would now avoid them like the plague, possibly instead seeking out a small building surveyor to offer advice.
From what you've said it's either a plumbing leak, rising damp or a plasterwork issue. Diagnosis is much easier on an internal walls as the most common causes of dampness can't happen.
You wont get significant condensation on an internal wall, you need a temperature differential for it to occur.
However if bonding plaster, Carlite, has been used this will absorb moisture and give symptoms similar to rising damp or condensation.
If there's no plumbing leak re-plastering is almost certainly essential.
Don't assume Building Surveyors have significant knowledge of rising damp diagnosis, and obviously don't trust a DPC Company surveyor. However, you seem to have appraised the situation along the right lines so I suspect you'll smell the bulls
t before it affects your wallet.
You wont get significant condensation on an internal wall, you need a temperature differential for it to occur.
However if bonding plaster, Carlite, has been used this will absorb moisture and give symptoms similar to rising damp or condensation.
If there's no plumbing leak re-plastering is almost certainly essential.
Don't assume Building Surveyors have significant knowledge of rising damp diagnosis, and obviously don't trust a DPC Company surveyor. However, you seem to have appraised the situation along the right lines so I suspect you'll smell the bulls
t before it affects your wallet.Timmy35 said:
...And if that doesn't work ( the damp we had came back in one out of three spots ) I'd definitely apply K-rend and re-plaster it. That solved our problem. K-rend is £10 a bag so it doesn't break the bank.
Thanks, I'm familiar with Weather seal but not this K-Rend, I'll look it up, sounds interesting...Damp spots in the middle of the wall are very often due to mineral salt deposits.
Damp in a wall rises up to a certain height then the moisture evaporates out through the wall at that level. Over time mineral salts from the water build up in the wall at that point. Even if the source of damp is then cured the high concentration of mineral salts will continute to attract and retain moisture from the atmosphere, or soaking through from outside.
Way to sort it is to hack off all the plaster back to bare brick, treat the source of water (damp, poor guttering, etc etc) and then replaster with an additive to both the bonding layer and top coat.
Not quick or cheap but will sort it.
Damp in a wall rises up to a certain height then the moisture evaporates out through the wall at that level. Over time mineral salts from the water build up in the wall at that point. Even if the source of damp is then cured the high concentration of mineral salts will continute to attract and retain moisture from the atmosphere, or soaking through from outside.
Way to sort it is to hack off all the plaster back to bare brick, treat the source of water (damp, poor guttering, etc etc) and then replaster with an additive to both the bonding layer and top coat.
Not quick or cheap but will sort it.
Right chaps, good news it's a combination of leaks and humidity. Main bathroom is in the centre of the house and at first I thought it was the saniflo leaking, yuk! But upon investigation we discovered it is where people use the shower in the bath and the glass shower screen had come away from the wall slightly allowing water to run outside the bath, into the corner of the floor and soak the floor. This then was running under the partition wall and into the bedroom and making the bedroom wall damp. At the same time they never open the bathroom window in the second en-suite bathroom so that was damp too. Flat was being attacked from two directions! So... now it's a case of fit a new shower screen (and redecorate the main bathroom at the same time). Fit a air-flow extractor fan in the en-suite bathroom but sadly I need to re-carpet and fit skirting boards in the bedroom between where my tenant has allowed it to get so damp (wet?!?) before calling me! Tenants eh! All in all not as bad as I thought, a couple of grand should sort it.
All in all not as bad as I thought, a couple of grand should sort it. Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff