Soldato
About rising damp?
The nervous wait to exchange....
- Thread starter noj
- Start date
Yeah... I mean, the property has been standing for how long? Unless the place is visibly falling down it is properly just some lad going nuts with a humidify metre.
The damp treatment industry is full of snake oil nonsense.
Damp is either water failing to get out, or because it’s getting in where it shouldn’t be.
It’s rare for damp to be ‘rising’, gravity takes care of that and the last thing I’d be looking at is a DPC. It could be as simple as an issue with a blocked gutter or air brick, likewise as challenging as the ground level on the outside being too high or rain housing back of a hard surface back onto the wall.
Damp is either water failing to get out, or because it’s getting in where it shouldn’t be.
It’s rare for damp to be ‘rising’, gravity takes care of that and the last thing I’d be looking at is a DPC. It could be as simple as an issue with a blocked gutter or air brick, likewise as challenging as the ground level on the outside being too high or rain housing back of a hard surface back onto the wall.
Laugh... The surveyor my buyer selected went nuts with his damp meter. In the final report it said the party walls were damp and the chimney had rising damp... The chimney!
She got a damp proof 'specialist' out who basically ignored the report and quoted for the job he wanted to do - injection damp proofing front and rear. He ignored the extension, the party wall and the chimney.
Proper snake oil industry.
She got a damp proof 'specialist' out who basically ignored the report and quoted for the job he wanted to do - injection damp proofing front and rear. He ignored the extension, the party wall and the chimney.
Proper snake oil industry.
Soldato
For ages. But I heard that I shouldn't ignore any damp as it can cause a lot of issues down the line?
Soldato
This 100%, there's always a logical reason to it, and its never anything to do with the word "rising".
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 21 Nov 2004
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Completion day tomorrow 
Will hopefully get it all done and pick up the keys early.
Will hopefully get it all done and pick up the keys early.
Don't ignore it but don't worry. It'll be guttering or something...
This is where you have to use a bit of judgement, if its a leaky gutter unckecked for years, then your bricks/pointing might be knacked, causing damp.
One house sale I pulled out of was an ex-rental where the owners clearly did the bare minimum. There was rendering on one exterior wall that was in disrepair and had been for several years, survey said - you'll have to get it all re-rendered, also wall ties and pointing is probably shot, so that will need doing too (evidenced by high interior damp readings all over that wall) - ££££.
Vendor would not budge on price, so I 'noped' right out of that.
Soldato
Moving truck arrives at 8:30am tomorrow and think I've just had the worst weekend of packing in my life, there was literally no where safe to put the baby down today!
Think it's all done now though - just leaving the fridge freezer to defrost overnight and then it will be go go go!
We're meant to complete on Wednesday - fingers crossed there's no holdups or we're going to be a bit stuffed!
Think it's all done now though - just leaving the fridge freezer to defrost overnight and then it will be go go go!
We're meant to complete on Wednesday - fingers crossed there's no holdups or we're going to be a bit stuffed!
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 21 Nov 2004
- Posts
- 45,014
Picked up the keys today, finally. As expected the money arrived at the sellers solicitor and without prompting our solicitor to contact them we would have waited all day. As it was it took until about 12:15 which is quite long for a no chain completion. Busy afternoon since setting stuff up and waiting for a lot of deliveries tomorrow . Glad the whole process is over and also that it’s been a tad cooler today.
Now I just need to work out how to change these stupid spotlight bulbs and where on earth our meters are located.
. Glad the whole process is over and also that it’s been a tad cooler today.Now I just need to work out how to change these stupid spotlight bulbs and where on earth our meters are located.
Soldato
I got the surveyor report now.
Its over 60 pages!!
I am quite suspicous if the surveyor guy rushed this? He only did the survey last friday and it seemed to have only taken him a few hours to do in the property as he texted me saying it was done and that he almost finishing wring the report lol.
The stuff that needs repairing/checking are:
There is more in the report but those are some that springs to mind that need fixing/checking asap.
What you guys think?
When i talked to the surveyor last friday, he said it all looks good and just the damp that needs addressing as per some of my eariler posts on this thread.
Time to make a tea or two and read this fully.....
Edit: Should i send this report to my Conveyancer?
Its over 60 pages!!
I am quite suspicous if the surveyor guy rushed this? He only did the survey last friday and it seemed to have only taken him a few hours to do in the property as he texted me saying it was done and that he almost finishing wring the report lol.
The stuff that needs repairing/checking are:
- Repair damp walls
- Renew plaster to damp walls
- Check and update the electricity(we knew this would need doing)
- Gas/heating replacement(We knew this needed replacing as well already)
- Drainage
- Roof coverings(Replace flashings)
There is more in the report but those are some that springs to mind that need fixing/checking asap.
What you guys think?
When i talked to the surveyor last friday, he said it all looks good and just the damp that needs addressing as per some of my eariler posts on this thread.
Time to make a tea or two and read this fully.....
Edit: Should i send this report to my Conveyancer?
Last edited:
I'm absolutely no expert having just bought my first place last year. But we had a fair few issues red-flagged (including the roof)*. You have to remember that they absolutely have to cover their rear end when writing these things. So they make for scary reading. It's figuring out what really is an issue, or just him flagging something that he needs to to cover himself.
The right thing to have done is speak to him on the phone. There's no written record, they'l speak a little more freely, you can ask them to be blunt. I'd imagine (again, no expert) if there really was something that is either going to fall down and kill you/your house, or something that is going to be costing you a lot of money that has to be repaired then they will be very upfront and open about that.
Regarding some of your points, I think you can get an electrical survey done so for peace of mind that is something you could pay for separately. Gas/heating.. well what does that mean exactly? New boiler? Radiators can be expensive if you want period ones. If not then £100 or something each, boiler/install budget £3k maybe.
*As for the roof. Well as I mentioned ours was red-flagged. Original Victorian roof, old tiles, no flashing, no membrane. Could se daylight out of it. But, we were converting the loft anyway so it didn't really matter. The roof re-tile/total overhaul/replacement was £4,5k I think. But you know what, we survived the winter and had no leaks or anything. It was just a lot colder than we were used to coming from a newly refurbished flat with all the proper insulation.
Also, we had a lot of mentions of 'possibility of damp occurring' and stuff like that. Seems fairly common, anyone else?
Caporegime
Sounds about normal.
Yes! The thing about these reports is that they're always full of dire sounding warnings. The Conveyancer will be able to tell you whether there is anything in there you actually need to worry about.
Also, we had a lot of mentions of 'possibility of damp occurring' and stuff like that. Seems fairly common, anyone else?
Many years ago, just out of uni, I worked doing Mortgage Applications for a while. I read an absolute butt-ton of these things. They all say things like that.
Soldato
a lot of it is covering thier arses basically. Electrics, damp, roof, gas are the usual. Was same with our report, seller did get the certs done for both, gas was fine, elec needed a new unit and some wiring changes in the garage, that was it. Damp/roof etc are all along the lines of "there's a possiblity of it" yes of course.. in 10 years maybe or maybe in 6 months. It's a house, things fail, things wear but from surveyors pov it is there to protect them from comeback really.
Soldato
Brilliant thanks.I'm absolutely no expert having just bought my first place last year. But we had a fair few issues red-flagged (including the roof)*. You have to remember that they absolutely have to cover their rear end when writing these things. So they make for scary reading. It's figuring out what really is an issue, or just him flagging something that he needs to to cover himself.
The right thing to have done is speak to him on the phone. There's no written record, they'l speak a little more freely, you can ask them to be blunt. I'd imagine (again, no expert) if there really was something that is either going to fall down and kill you/your house, or something that is going to be costing you a lot of money that has to be repaired then they will be very upfront and open about that.
Regarding some of your points, I think you can get an electrical survey done so for peace of mind that is something you could pay for separately. Gas/heating.. well what does that mean exactly? New boiler? Radiators can be expensive if you want period ones. If not then £100 or something each, boiler/install budget £3k maybe.
*As for the roof. Well as I mentioned ours was red-flagged. Original Victorian roof, old tiles, no flashing, no membrane. Could se daylight out of it. But, we were converting the loft anyway so it didn't really matter. The roof re-tile/total overhaul/replacement was £4,5k I think. But you know what, we survived the winter and had no leaks or anything. It was just a lot colder than we were used to coming from a newly refurbished flat with all the proper insulation.
Also, we had a lot of mentions of 'possibility of damp occurring' and stuff like that. Seems fairly common, anyone else?
Sounds pretty bog standard.
I know an electrician and boiler person so i got that covered
Soldato
Side question. my mortgage offer is valid until end of nov, what happens if i do not complete by then? Do i need to apply for another mortgage?
Yup. Speak to the lender first to see if they can extend it. They may want to run though another application though, it’s usually their discretion and whether interest rates have moved much.
Pics! Congrats man.Picked up the keys today, finally. As expected the money arrived at the sellers solicitor and without prompting our solicitor to contact them we would have waited all day. As it was it took until about 12:15 which is quite long for a no chain completion. Busy afternoon since setting stuff up and waiting for a lot of deliveries tomorrow
Now I just need to work out how to change these stupid spotlight bulbs and where on earth our meters are located.