Soldato
Damp has always seemed to me to be extremely vague at best, usually driven by people trying to sell you a solution to a problem that probably isn't an actual problem. At what height is the raised moisture levels and how were they checked? Often, already-rectified issues from decades ago might have left behind significant salt deposits which will fool a conductivity-based meter. Is there any other evidence indicating there is a current damp problem ie peeling wallpaper, staining, mould etc? Even if this is present, there could well be other things going on like poor ventilation. My parents were quoted thousands upon thousands to rectify a "rising damp" problem when all that was wrong was that someone had stuffed the ventilation bricks full of newspaper!
Assuming you're going into a 1910-built house with eyes wide open and pockets deep enough to remediate any of the many, many things which could be wrong which a basic survey is likely to miss then I'd be tempted to either pop round and have a look yourself and judge it or just try your hand at a bit of a discount.
The house which fell through on us (posted about earlier this week) had "a damp problem" at the side of one of the bay windows. Of course everyone contacted wanted to charge a fortune to even look but a cursory look by myself showed that it was likely caused by a combination of a climber and a blocked gutter ie easily rectified for almost zero cost.
if the general public had even a cursory knowledge of basic building pathology, many many of these damp companies would go out of business.
for example, timber suspended floor in a 1930s house.
blocked air bricks
Blocked gutters
External ground levels too high causing bridging
Salt deposits
Foliage
Damaged render or plinth
could be any of them and all are very easily rectified
dmap companies would have you strip all the plaster off up to 1.5 internally, inject one of these useless damp proof courses and then make good
Yeah basically they want to lift the carpets and the flooring to work out if it's causing issues, it's due to a lack of air bricks not providing a cross ventilation to the floor void, the measurements appear to be taken about 10" from the floor.
This is the excerpt that sort of worries me;
The inner face of external walls was checked at random intervals with a moisture meter (except where impermeable surface finishes, furniture, fitted cupboards and stored goods prevented access to take readings).
Testing identified significant raised moisture levels to various areas at ground floor level.
We have recommended a comprehensive damp survey prior to any commitment to purchase.
I would rather not do anything at this stage until the development work happens, what bad can a couple more years do in the grand scheme of things... Plus I'll be taking the carpets and floorboards up anyway and I may be able to have a poke myself and come up with a solution.
I guess my only concern is, they are finding raised moisture levels in more than one localised area, it's the whole side of the house in several rooms...