Got survey results — What next?

[Anonymous]

Today, we've finally had the survey results back on the place we are buying, a 'chocolate teapot' homebuyers one I'm afraid, instructed before I'd become savvy as to their lack of worth in an older property—the place is estimated as being built around 1700.

Anyway, the good news: they are happy to give us a mortgage, no retention, no conditions etc. hurrah!

The (potentially) bad: We got damp! Now, this was obvious even to us. The surveyor has suggested that we are likely to need some form of injection damp course, so I've booked DPC 'r' us Ltd to come and inject the walls with... only joking ;-) Seriously though, I've no idea who we turn to now, another surveyor, a damp/timber company, a builder? All we want to know is whether we can make the remedial improvements necessary within our budget, but don't who's gonna be able to tell us?

As ever, thanks for any advice offered,

Pete

 

[Anonymous]

Is it really bad? just trying living in it see if you can figure a cause and effect over a few seasons. Maybe get a dehumidifier as a temp measure.

This is at least cheap!

 

[Anonymous]

Some areas are real bad, but even I can see their cause—a first floor wall is saturated, but then the guttering outside at that point has things growing in it. Others are bad, but I'm not so sure as to why—skirting that is rotten on internal walls: covered tiles unable to breathe forcing moisture to the edges?; genuine rising damp?

Yes, it's livable in. but we don't want to commit to buying if there is something really, really wrong, too major for us to deal with.

 

[Anonymous]

Clogged gutters can cause dampness it's true! The wooden ones on my house when I bought it were on the verge of becoming an SSSI because of the variety of plant life growing in them and suprisingly the walls where the gutters should have emptied into the down pipes were damp - no they weren't damp, let's be honest, they were wet!

 

[Anonymous]

Do consider the usual suspects - as Hazel (part of the Unholy Trinity) says, leaking gutters are a major cause of damp and you've already identified those.

Ground levels, lack of heating and ventilation, an unbreathing floor, cement render or pointing - all don't help.

Do you love the place? If so buy it and worry about sorting out the damp afterwards!

A RICS Surveyor with conservation expertise, a genuine damp specialist (try Seeking Specialists), or if you say where you are maybe someone can give you the name of someone - all can give advice.

 

[Anonymous]

Where I am... that'd be the unanswered post somewhere down there in the forum ;-)
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The place is north of Newbury, Berkshire. These guys aren't that far: http://www.oxleyconservation.com/ and appear to talk the talk. Anyone know them?

Oh, we love the place alright, and have no intention of letting the damp, the decor, the bathroom, the kitchen, the dodgy windows etc. etc get in the way of us buying it.

Pete

 

[Anonymous]

Hi there, the important bit is where is the dampness coming from, then you can see which measures are to be taken.

If the damp comes from the gutter, easy enough, drain pipes, just as fast.
Roof is important, especially if the house has been unihabited or badly cared for.

If there is fungus, there might be a problem, especially if it the so called ("echter hausschwamm") dry rot, which starts to grow in constant humid areas, but then can survive dry years, spread its threads for ten or more meters and can even go into bricks and concrete and destroy (weaken) them. THIS IS DANGEROUS! And according to local law here a serious hiden defect, which even lets you (in some cases) get out of your contract.
If you have dry rot - the costs are enormous - and it may lead to tearing down a lot of substance - don't forget it is cancerogenic. (And contagious, don't laugh, the shoes can transport the spores)
If one has to keep a structure where the dry rot is present all buildings materials have to be remove 1 meter on the good side, i.e. 1m rot 1m = more than 2meter.
Having had a surveyor there means they should have had a look and snif, some people can smell it, but they must be able to check it. => ask

If it is simple dampness coming from the floor you might have to insulate and damp proof it, = digging it up ...
if it comes from the outside through the walls, rising damp, then you might have to dig outside of those up and damp proof the outside and put a drainage in.
We converted an 18th century farm house nr Dresden and here there are methods of cutting the old stone wall and inserting a damp barrier through the wall. Then damp proofing the floor, outside wall and CONNECTING all the damp barrier together.

Perhaps also the piping is leaking, leading to the dampness.

Otherwise often enough it is just the problem of ventilation, and warm air in cold walls condensates and makes it humid. Opening the celar windows in summer always leads to damp patches on the wall, but they also dry quickly.

So check carefully, ask your Surveyor or Architect (not Interior Architect - they do decorating), and then decide what is to be done.
Greetings Andrew



Detail about Dry rot (german)

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Andrew, the surveyor hasn't mentioned dry rot, and despite being vague in his descriptions would hopefully have pointed out any evidence of such a major problem.

I think, unless anyone can suggest an alternative, I'll give the company I mentioned in my previous post a call on Monday, and take it from there.

Pete

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know the company - if in doubt, give Stephen (PPUK Agony Uncle) a ring or Matt Green (Ridout Associates) and ask for advice on reputable companies...

 

[Anonymous]

And please don't do the damp proofing route.

 

[Anonymous]

Evelyn, just looking at the Agony Uncle archives, it appears that Richard Oxley, and in fact his book too, have been recommended a couple of times—seems like a pretty safe place to start.

Schoolmarm, don't worry—If there's one thing I've learned from these forums, it's how *not* to cure damp!

Pete

 

[Anonymous]

welcome to the enlightened elite.

 

[Anonymous]

Aah, one day it'll be the enlightened mainstream.
What'll we do then?

 

[Anonymous]

There ought to be a law that says anyone buying an old house has to read Richard Oxley's book. That woud do good than all the Homebuyer's Reports!

 

[Anonymous]

Yes - I don't think this is a 'Man with a Van' and a damp meter... <IMG SRC="http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/discussing/smileys/smile.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">

Dry rot - you can usually smell it - mushrooms. <IMG SRC="http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/discussing/smileys/frown.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">

 

[Anonymous]

"If there is fungus, there might be a problem, especially if it the so called ("echter hausschwamm") dry rot, which starts to grow in constant humid areas, but then can survive dry years"

No it can't. Dry it out and the fungus dies. Every time. All fungi require wet environments to survive. Mushrooms have yet to colonise deserts. It also requires more than just 'constant humidity' to grow. It requires a lot of fresh water in order to establish. Gutter leaks, pipe leaks, floods, dosing by the fire bridge- that sort of scale of water ingress.

"spread its threads for ten or more meters and can even go into bricks and concrete and destroy (weaken) them. THIS IS DANGEROUS!"

Hardly. Dry rot can cause structural damage to buildings, but not by weakening brickwork. Bricks can collapse into voids created by dry rot's removal of imbedded timbers. Many other wood decay fungi found in buildings can grow through brickwork including, but not limited to: Antrodia vialantii, Conuiophora puteana and Asterostroma, which are three of the most common. Dry rot just does it particularly obviously.

"If you have dry rot - the costs are enormous - and it may lead to tearing down a lot of substance - don't forget it is cancerogenic."

Absolute rubbish. the costs are only as much as drying out the house and replacing the damaged fabric.

"(And contagious, don't laugh, the shoes can transport the spores) "

...and? The spores will only germinate if there is a suitable substrate for them to do so. Wet timber. So if you dry the timber out, there's no problem. It's not going to spontaineously errupt in a bone dry house.

"If one has to keep a structure where the dry rot is present all buildings materials have to be remove 1 meter on the good side, i.e. 1m rot 1m = more than 2meter."

Wrong. Stop the source of water. Replace only that which is decyaed. As long as the timber is dry, the dry rot can not survive in it

Really, it's this sort of stuff that blows the organism out of all proportion. It's a forest floor timber decay organism that is particularly efficient in sheleterd conditions. to make it out as some sort of unique super-organism is scare-mongering of the highest order. which is what teh chemical industry plays upon. Which is why it's very easy to spend a great deal of money killing dry rot (that is usually dead anyway). Dry rot is strange- the treatment can often do more damage than the fungus.

Anyone who's been inside Stanmer House will atest to that.

Matt Green

 

[Anonymous]

Maybe its like that thing in the film Alien - blood that dissolves floors, etc...

 

[Anonymous]

Hi there, qouting Stanmer House as a good example? The impression after seeing the photos of the restoration is that obviously a lot has been redone, the question is, is that enough? From the pictures of the second story it seems quite apparent that the plasterboard cladding looks nice, but where is the vapour barrier? It seems to be missing. So in two till five years the will be much to do. Well it is a way to improve the economy by redoing it again and again.

Well so cheers and good luck and @ Craig, not Alien, King Kong