Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Damp specialist
Hi
Am buying a place on the Ladder and just had the survey back - the flat has damp problems that need to be addressed before we can move in.
Need to get a couple of quotes so can anybody recommend someone to me?
Cheers
Anuj
Tags for Forum Posts: damp-proofing
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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Some useful posts from last month on HoL on what causes damp. This may be more than you need for a purchase decision, but I found the general info by Mr Doyle to be v informative - especially about how 'free' surveys can end recommending unnecessary and costly work.
My surveyor for this flat, though overall seemed OK, missed the slightly crucial fact that the back DPC is shot and I will need to dig up the back floors. And they are all have cop-out clauses about things they miss. Gloom.
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Permalink Reply by linka on
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We had the exact same problem: surveyor missed the fact that the DP slate was covered by the concrete path (leading to rotten floors inside). No render on the back, so it should have been obvious. I asked the surveyors (they were fairly local) back to take a look at it and it was quite an unpleasant experience.
Our freebie 'damp specialist' survey didn't spot this either, despite recommending expensive work, so yeah, watch out for them. I'm afraid I can't recommend either of them.
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It wasn't the wall, it was the whole damn floor - the DPC sheet laid under the concrete floor in about 1960 must have gone porous, as all timbers in contact with the floor are rotting. My temporary solution is just to hoik out all the timbers, but someday soon there will need to be some serious tanking done.
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And somehow the surveyor missed spotting the bits of new timber spliced in to the bottom of each door jamb.
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Permalink Reply by JB on
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Hi linka
I was reading your post and wondered out of interest what you have done about the concrete path covering the DP slate? Our concrete path is too high and I suspect is doing the same thing. However, taking out a concrete path seems like a huge job so I don't know what to do about it.
The concrete path also prevents any extra sub floor ventilation bricks being installed which is definately needed to improve air flow below the floor boards. Any info about what you have done with a similar problem would be great!
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Hi Jerry,
It's a big job so we compromised, initially. Basically, the whole level of the path should be brought down lower, to help bring the trapped moisture levels down. When it rained, I used to see water pooling by the brick on the concrete (above the DPS layer), and standing a long time before evaporating/draining.
What we did was get a drainage channel drilled around the base of the wall, with the concrete chipped away from the bricks. It's got some gravel & sand in it, but below the level of the slate so that there's little splashback. That allowed us to put in several more airbricks too. You've got to take care around ceramic drains.
Ultimately we want to take out all the concrete near the house, to improve drainage all around, and put in more plants. But even our narrow channel filled a lot of skip, so we can't do the rest for now. It's worth it, though. I can now see the moisture on the brick stopping just below the slate, and there's now a gale blowing through the under floor area (under the insulation) - which is the way these houses are designed to avoid damp. Our floor had completely rotted away from the walls, and it's not good for the bricks either - a damp detector will come with one of those sensors and tell you you've got 'rising damp'. It's not, it's just the walls have been deprived of their ventilation. The previous owner of our place had already injected anti-damp chemical part way up our wall, and it was pointless: the floor was still rotting.
Hope this helps. I recommend doing something - concrete-by-brick in this climate = bad!
Lin
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Thanks for the reply. That is really interesting to me (how sad, that damp chat is so interesting to me these days! but it is! I think because its so hard to get god advice).
Here come my questions....!
So how did you drill the channel? Did you have to pay someone to do it? And how wide is the channel?!
And where is the channel? and new air bricks? Because ours would need to be by the side of the house and I'm not sure how much air flow would get to the airbricks here if we were to install more. I am jealous to hear you now have a gale blowing beneath your floor. That is exactly what we need but not sure if we will be able to get one at the side of our house!
Thanks in advance!
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I had a too-high path too, it was up against the DPC. Had the whole lot broken up and dug down and a snazzy new path laid. Cost about 5k all in (5 years ago) including posh Wickes' paving + skip hire. I managed to give away a lot of the hardcore via freecycle - a happy coincidence with someone making a patio - just stacked it up in thick bags and they came and collected it. Message me for the name of my builders if you like, they are not part of a big firm.
If you're tough enough you can do the breaking up yourself - it's just a matter of lump hammers and pickaxes. Watch for drains. Laying the new path is a lot more skilled, witness the idiots who built above the DPC in the first place.
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Thanks for the info Pamish. Especially the guide to how much it may cost. Perhaps we could do it for cheaper if our path is less snazzy and if we try to do some of it ouselves i.e. breaking up the concrete with pickaxes. Did you have more air bricks put in too once the path was taken away? I would be interested in the name of your builders. I will PM.
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No airbricks cos my back addition now has poured concrete floors, must have been the cheap way to do it in 1960 when they did the conversion. Sadly the DPC sheet underneath is now shot, see above, so need to dig it all up.
I did choose the top-end slabs, which turned out to have been imported from India, would not have done so if I'd known. You can get much cheaper concrete squares. Or if you don't need a solid surface, use gravel, or loose stones - better for drainage, just be sure to put the weed-stopping mat underneath. Or a mix of slabs + gravel in a tasteful grid. Solid stones need to slope away into earth now to reduce flooding the drains. It may even be the law that you can't pave over your front yard any more.
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