Diagnosis
Damp survey and written report
A documented survey you can act on, hand to a solicitor, or send to a lender who is holding back part of your mortgage.
A full structural moisture survey with findings, cause, photographs and a fixed-price remedy. Suitable for pre-purchase, insurance and mortgage retention cases.
When you need a report rather than an opinion
Most people who ring about damp want to know what is wrong and what it costs. A survey is for the smaller group who need that written down in a form a third party will accept — because a solicitor, a lender, an insurer or a tenant is involved, and a verbal explanation is not going to close the matter.
Mortgage retentions are the most common reason. A valuer who is not a damp specialist notes 'evidence of damp' and the lender withholds funds pending a specialist report. The retention is usually released on a report that establishes the cause and specifies a remedy, whether or not the remedy is expensive.
Pre-purchase is the second. A homebuyer's report that recommends specialist investigation is not a verdict, it is a referral. Knowing what the problem actually is before exchange is frequently worth several times the cost of finding out — either because it is minor and you stop worrying, or because it is not and the price moves.
What the report contains
The findings: what was observed, where, and the readings and tests that support it. The cause: what is producing the moisture, distinguished properly between rising damp, penetrating damp, condensation, plumbing leaks and residual salt contamination. Photographs of the relevant areas. And a specified remedy with a fixed price, so the document answers the commercial question as well as the technical one.
Where the evidence does not support a single confident conclusion, the report says so and sets out what further investigation would settle it. A report that manufactures certainty it does not have is worse than useless in a dispute.
Independence
The survey is charged for on its own terms. That matters when the report is going to a lender or an insurer, because a document produced free of charge by the firm that stands to win the remedial contract carries obvious and reasonable scepticism.
It also means the report is free to conclude that the flagged damp is cosmetic, historic, or already resolved — conclusions that are commercially inconvenient for a contractor and quite often the truth.
Common questions
- Will your report satisfy a mortgage lender?
- In the ordinary case yes — lenders want a specialist report identifying the cause and specifying a remedy with costs, which is exactly what this is. If your lender has stipulated a specific accreditation, check that with them before instructing anyone, including me.
- How quickly can I get it?
- It depends on current workload and where the property is. Ring and ask — property transactions run to deadlines and I would rather tell you honestly that I cannot hit yours than hold you up.
- Do I have to use you for the remedial work?
- No. The report stands on its own and you are free to take it to any contractor.
Damp Survey across Surrey and South West London
Based at Hampton Court in East Molesey, covering East Molesey, West Molesey, Thames Ditton, Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames, Esher, Walton-on-Thames, Teddington, Twickenham, Cobham, Weybridge, Epsom, Tadworth, Chertsey, Staines and Raynes Park. Every quote is fixed price and agreed in writing before any work begins.
Call 07818 400748Other services
- Damp InvestigationIs it actually damp — or is it condensation?
- Rising DampGenuinely rising damp is rare. When it is real, I treat it properly.
- Penetrating Damp TreatmentWater getting in from outside. Usually a small fault, badly hidden.
- Structural WaterproofingBasements, cellars and below-ground rooms kept dry.
- Condensation ControlThe most common cause of 'damp' — and the most misdiagnosed.
- Mould ControlRemove the mould, then remove the reason it grew.
- Dry Rot TreatmentSerpula lacrymans. The one you cannot afford to leave.
- Woodworm TreatmentActive infestation, or old holes from decades ago?
- Timber TreatmentProtecting joists, lintels and structural timber from decay.
- Emergency Damp ProofingWater coming in now. Call, don't fill in a form.