What I offer, and why choose an Independent?
It is important that the damp surveyor, remedial surveyor, diagnosing your damp wall and providing your survey is experienced in all aspects of moisture ingress. It is important that your damp survey correctly identifies the source of the moisture ingress and whether its: penetrating damp, rising damp, condensation, wet rot or dry rot.
I will for an inspection fee carry out a personal survey of a property or problem within a property. I will then provide a full report and CAD drawing of the areas of potential faults together with an explanation of the source of moisture ingress complete with specifications and material requirements for your builder or contractor to work to. My surveys and reports are tailor made for the age and type of property, and the materials specified will be suitable for the application intended. I pride myself on experience and enjoy a personal approach to problem solving. My Survey reports are tailor made to your properties requirements.
- An Independent Surveyor offers independent and impartial assessments of your property. Independent Remedial Treatments Surveyors are impartial.
- Experienced professional surveyors with a good knowledge of building defects.We are employed by you to diagnose your specific problem, to understand your requirements, offer advice and provide you with recommendations and specifications for your work requirements.
- We take a holistic approach to any problems, and try to provide environmental solutions to our remedies.
- An independent survey and report can give you peace of mind and can save you thousands of pounds.
Who would benefit from my services?
Clients who would benefit from my services offered are as follows:
- Vendors purchasing and selling properties
- Landlords / Tenants
- Building Societies and Mortgage lenders
- Estate Agents, Surveyors and Architects
- Owners, Occupiers with persistent dampness problems
- Builders, Remedial contractors, Insurance companies and assessors
- Local authorities, Charities, Churches
Dampness Introduction
Living within a damp environment can create a whole host of structural and environmental defects within your home. Plaster deterioration and masonry erosion and all forms of fungal decay and many more symptoms are associated with moisture and dampness.
There are many reasons for moisture and water ingress in your property and it is very important that during any inspection of the property that the root cause of the source is remedied otherwise there will always be potential for more serious defects to occur.
The good news that many works do not require chemical treatments and are within the scope of a competent tradesperson depending on the defect.
Using a holistic approach and sourcing the cause of the problem and dealing with it at source can save you in some cases thousands of pounds. This can be especially important if you have a mortgage pending, or the property is listed, historic or period in date.
If you notice dampness within your property it is important to deal with it quickly and effectively and not to wait until a survey is required for re-mortgages or when a sale is pending.
If you find yourself in a position that your survey suggests you seek advice from a “specialist contractor”. You should always seek independent impartial advice.
Examples of dampness include:-
Rising Damp
True rising damp is very uncommon and can be easily misdiagnosed, choosing a independent damp surveyor will ensure that you deal with the source of the problem and not just the symptoms ensuring that your home is preserved efficiently and hopefully as cost effectively as possible.
Misunderstanding rising damp and how capillary action occurs and what can pave the way for the damp proofing companies and contractors.
Condensation is also misdiagnosed on occasions as rising damp and without the correct treatment and remedies you will have a reoccurring issue, which can lead to mould on clothes, walls, furniture, odours within your property and in some cases your health could suffer.
Penetrating Damp
Vertical penetrating damp differs from rising damp as this can occur anywhere on your property, lateral damp penetration occurs on walls that are below ground, or where the external ground levels are too high. Penetrating damp is also found where rainwater goods are defective, masonry and pointing is loose and many other sources besides.
Structural Waterproofing
When dealing with any form of structural waterproofing you have to ensure that you provide a completely waterproof area quite often incorporating the walls and the floors and thereby forming a complete “tank”. It is often possible to partially waterproof a wall or floor and this is more commonly referred to as structural waterproofing. There are essentially three types of waterproofing systems available for basements and I have for many years in providing full specifications for all types of structural waterproofing.
I am happy to work with other property professionals when drawing up structural waterproofing specifications to ensure you the customer are provided the best possible solution.
I also offer onsite investigations for water ingress and where previous waterproofing works have failed and offer advice and help when drawing up remedial works to remedy the failed structural waterproofing.
Decay
Mention Dry Rot or Wet Rot to anyone and the words breed fear, especially when elaborate and expensive treatments are mentioned to resolve the problem.
If dealt with quickly and effectively Dry Rot and Wet Rot can be remedied. However it is important to remember that Dry Rot and Wet Rot and other destructive decays are very serious and should be dealt with correctly, it is also very important that accurate diagnosis occurs to avoid unnecessary works.
Wet Rot will occur anywhere masonry becomes saturated for long periods of time. Wet Rot will flourish and timbers will decay over time, the most common Wet Rots are coniophora puteana and fibroporia vallanti. Dry Rot is the more destructive Rot and can cause serious and extensive damage if not diagnosed and treated effectively. Dry Rot will occur in areas that have been affected by small amounts of moisture and where the conditions are humid, Dry Rot is able to survive and flourish in lower levels of moisture.
Woodworm is often used to describe a whole Varity of wood boring insects. The more common beetles include common furniture beetle, death watch beetle and the weevil family.
In most situations most home owners are unaware that there is woodworm in their property and will only become aware once the life cycle is completed and the evidence becomes more obvious, or floorboards become unstable and collapse.
Knowing whether or not the infestation is active and if it requires treatment is the key to ensuring that you do not carry out unnecessary treatments and in some cases illegal treatments. We cannot always ensure that you will not need treatment but we can offer our professional opinion we will always act on your behalf when looking for a remedy. You should never just look at blanket treatments for the whole property unless there is a real need otherwise you can be exposing yourself and your family to harmful insecticide and pesticides for no reason.
Condensation
When looking at condensation it is important to see the seriousness of the issue and to see it as a separate problem from potential rising or penetrating damp.
No amount of damp proof works will eliminate condensation only effective atmospheric changes will help eliminate condensation. If left condensation will cause serious defects and problems to your property and cause unhealthy living conditions.
