Damp Proof Specialists

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If you need help and advise with regard to structural surveys, building surveys, engineers reports, specific defects reports, such as advising you on dampness, cracks in your property, woodworm, wet rot and dry rot. For a friendly chat call 0800 298 5424.

We have recently been called to a lovely Victorian terraced property, similar to those that you see at the start of Coronation Street , that had had two different damp proofing companies carry out work on it and it still had rising damp. We know that two different companies have worked on it because we can see their work outside on the wall, where they have drilled the holes and inserted the damp proofing liquid. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, it has not worked.

The mortgage company required a damp proofing specialist and the estate agent helped us to find one.

Damp proofing specialist recommends inserting damp proof course?

The new owners of the property have been recommended by the mortgage company's surveyor (but more correctly known as a valuer) that a damp proofing specialist was required because they had rising damp. They started to get concerned when he had recommended inserting a damp proof course and they had asked him why the other damp proof courses hadn't worked and he was unable to answer them.

Is a damp proofing specialist guarantee worthless?

Ironically, the two other specialist damp proofing companies work was probably still under guarantee, but unfortunately they were no longer anywhere to be found.

So, how have we got ourselves in this situation where damp proofing specialists have been recommended by professionals to carry out (usually chartered surveyors) damp proofing work that stop the dampness?!

You want to buy a property and you need a mortgage to buy the property. The mortgage company has the property checked by its own valuer/chartered surveyor, who are rushed off their feet and not given enough time to carry out the valuation properly. They use caveats in their reports, which are standardised. They use a damp proof meter to quickly identify any dampness, which is identified incorrectly. Now, you, the property purchaser, need to have the dampness problem resolved. Abra kadabra, an industry sets up to solve this problem that doesn't really exist. Everyone is happy, as you get your mortgage, the mortgage company sells a mortgage and the damp proofing company gets paid doing work that doesn't need doing, in most cases.

The short answer

The short answer is that the banking industry/mortgage industry is simply there to sell their financial products. We would refer you to Martin Lewis' website www.moneysavingexpert.com , where he explains that banks no longer give advice, they simply sell products. It has very much moved away from the Dad's Army character of Captain Mainwaring to the wheeler dealer character of Private Walker.

Unfortunately, we believe that valuers, or the chartered surveyors that work for the mortgage company, also become part of the sales process and have to carry out so many valuations a day, which they are often paid commission on, and have little time to give real surveying advice and, after all, are being paid to value by the mortgage company, although, interestingly enough, they are still relied upon by many people. They are also being pushed into carrying out so many valuations that they use standard phrases; one being “the property has dampness, we require you to have a specialist damp proofing company”. This standard phrase is a great caveat to ensure they don't get sued for missing any dampness.

Can you really value six to eight properties a day properly? (This is important as it is someone's future home)

We get into a situation where the valuers, or surveyors as they are most commonly known, are valuing so many properties a day, we have heard typically it is six to eight and that it can be as many as twelve, so they are looking for a way to get round all the different properties and advise all the different people as quickly as possible, without getting sued. This has resulted in that if they find anything, or suspect anything, they refer you to a specialist and people have then sprung up to serve that need and requirement and as the chartered surveyors use a standard phrase that requires them to be in the BWPDA, which stands for British Wood Preserving and Damp Proofing Association, www.BWPDA.co.uk, now subsequently set up the Property Care Association (PCA), www.property-care.org .

Therefore, the result is you having to have a damp proof course when one isn't really necessary, due to the speed that everything is being carried out at to get the mortgage in place, which is very big business.

Damp proofing specialists – visit their websites

The long answer

There is very compelling information on the Property Care Associations' website and, indeed, many damp proofing specialist company's websites, as to the massive problems that can be caused with dampness. Equally, there are many learned articles explaining why rising damp isn't the problem it is made out to be.

We would recommend the very digestible book by Jeff Howell, a chartered building surveyor and chartered builder, called “The Rising Damp Myth”. The title gives it in a nutshell but it does need some further explaining. We need you now to read the short answer and then to continue on with this.  

To get a mortgage it appears you have to have the damp proofing work done

So, the mortgage companies create a need by their valuers insisting that a specialist damp proofing company be asked to inspect the property and the home purchaser is required to have a damp proofing specialist company look at the property.

In many instances the mortgage companies valuers will recommend a BWPDA approved company and an insurance backed guarantee. The BWPDA's associated companies fulfil that requirement with an insurance backed guarantee and we have a situation where the mortgage company will only give the home buyer the mortgage if they have the work done. The valuer/mortgage company surveyor recommended the work so they didn't have to spend more time at the property because the mortgage company was pushing them to carry out so many valuations per day. Therefore the BWPDA approved company fits in nicely and finds a problem (usually where one doesn't exist), solves it and therefore the home owner can have the mortgage, the mortgage company can sell a mortgage and the valuer/mortgage surveyor doesn't get sued. Everyone is happy, or are they?

Unfortunately, the problem never existed

Unfortunately, in most cases the problem never existed and the “solution” never worked.

Free specialist damp proofing surveys that aren't really free

The damp proof companies will be called in by the unsuspecting owner to carry out their “free” surveys. There is no such thing as a free meal or a free survey and the damp proofing company will inevitably/usually find dampness, as that is what they were selling the solution to and would recommend their procedure, which has to be said, to all intents and purposes, did look like it solved the problem that didn't exist! What they would do would be insert their magic liquid, which ironically, in most cases, didn't really do anything and there was a perfectly good slate damp proof course in the property already.

They would then repoint the outside of the property if it hadn't been repointed already, ironically, usually a cement mortar (which smothers the wall) and they would then also put a very hard internal plaster on the wall (again, which smothers the wall) to approximately one metre to hide any dampness internally, although they often say it is due to the hydraulic salts that contaminate the walls that will cause further problems (an interesting use of language). This unfortunately had the end result of completely changing the properties of the older type buildings. They moved from being a property that allowed the moisture in and then out to evaporate to a sealed or smothered wall. We often compare the effect of vortex, which allows things to breathe, to a cagoule, which causes them to sweat.

Condensation

Resolving Dampness in your Basement

Dampness in Buildings - Basics Article

Dampness in Buildings - Technical Article

Shared Freehold and Problems with Dampness

Dampness Defects Report

Dampness Problems

Condensation Problems

Damp Walls

Shared Freehold and Problems with Damp

Damp proof courses defined

Damp Proof Courses - What are these for?

How do Older Properties keep dry without a damp proof course?

French Drains

Rising Damp and Independent Reports

Please see our section on:

Specific Defects Reports

If you truly do want an independent expert opinion from a chartered surveyor with regard to structural surveys, building surveys, structural reports, engineers reports, specific defects reports, such as advising you on dampness, cracks in your property, woodworm, wet rot and dry rot. For a friendly chat call 0800 298 5424.

If you have a commercial property, be it leasehold or freehold, then you may wish to look at our Dilapidations Website at www.DilapsHelp.com and for Disputes go to our Disputes Help site www.DisputesHelp.com .

We hope you found the article of use and if you have any experiences that you feel should be added to this article that would benefit others, or you feel that some of the information that we have put is wrong then please do not hesitate to contact us (we are only human).

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