So, 1970s house, really bad condensation, now causing increasing issues with damp and mould, wondering what an independent damp survey would cost and whether it would help persuade my wife to finally pinpoint how to tackle it, as it is really annoying me now.

Some of the problems are certainly lifestyle – four of us in the house, always washing on the go which can’t always be hung outside or tumble dried, but all upstairs windows are kept open on the latch 24/7 for ventilation.

Some can be dealt with fairly easily – eg fitting extractors or dehumidifiers

Other are due to the house build – solid concrete slab, stupid exposed first floor bay window, straw and plaster walls, stupid sloping eaves upstairs, ageing double glazing, plus recent cavity wall insulation which is when we noticed it really got worse, though the house was warmer. A local builder as well as friends on the estate have advised that all the houses have or have had similar issues.

Depending on cost, I’m wondering if an independent damp surveyor would help identify the causes and the most cost effective way of dealing with them in the most effective order so we can start to get some work done to reduce the effects this winter and get on top of it by next winter.

And any recommendations for someone in the Notts/Derby area would be appreciated

Thanks

Do you mean damp survey or do you mean inviting some barely qualified sales Muppets into your home to offer you expensive solutions that don’t work?

Learned a lot about stuff that’s called damp while house buying recently. The best thing to do, is look at the causes and address those, not the symptoms. Don’t let anyone talk you into pumping your walls full of chemicals they don’t need.

We saw houses that were “damp” due to cement renders or vinyl paints. Modern house treatments are often more likely the cause than the cure.

good starting point

Don’t let anyone talk you into pumping your walls full of chemicals they don’t need.

I don’t think the OP issues are from rising damp though are they.

If it was me with the OP problems, I think I would be looking more towards this kind of solution.

http://www.envirovent.com/

Independent damp surveyor, do they even exist? Most just sell damp proofing products (rising damp mainly).

Sounds like you need an extractor fan in the bathroom and kitchen and/or run a dehumidifier / positive air pressure thing 24/7.

Surely if the problem is condensation then the solution is always more ventilation?

Only 2 of us in our house so less problems, but we dry all our laundry in the conservatory through the winter. In the previous house it went in the spare room with the door closed and windows wide open. Tempted to install a a heat exchanger above the bathroom that can be left running 24/7 drawing dry air in and blowing damp air out. They’re about £500 for the bathroom sized ones, but that’s only a bit more than a dehumidifier or two and it’s fresh air not just dried recycled air.

johndoh – Member

http://www.envirovent.com/

I went to that event but weirdly I have no recollection of seeing a giant plastic cock and balls.

MoreCashThanDash – Member

I’m wondering if an independent damp surveyor would help identify the causes and the most cost effective way of dealing with them in the most effective order so we can start to get some work done to reduce the effects this winter and get on top of it by next winter.

No proper advice apart from whatever you end up doing – if you do get work done on damp do not use a company called Kenwood – assuming they work in your area that is.
They have just done a ton of work on my parent’s place and while the work on solving the damp problem seems to have been done OK, their electrical work while ‘making good’ and subsequent shite attitude have left my parents with a very bad feeling about the whole thing.

The electrical work was dangerous & could have caused a fire. They deliberately lied about accidentally severing an electrical cable which caused a fuse to blow & then ‘repaired’ the damage using a chock-block and some packing tape which they buried back into the plaster.
The wiring was so shallow in the plaster in places that you could see the outer insulation through the plaster and almost all of the wires for the sockets hadn’t been tightened into the face plates so they were completely loose – one of which I heard arcing away in the corner of the room, which is how we initially discovered the sockets hadn’t been done properly.

Probably all completely irrelevant to your OP, but I implore you to run a mile from them…..

Find a local National Trust buildings expert and get them to do it. We had all manner of problems when buying our house. Mortgage lender insisted on a damp and rot survey and pushed us in the direction of a local “specialist”. a “specialist” who happened to work for Fife and Tayside’s premier damp prevention company. Cue a quote for £7000 of rising damp & woodworm treatment.

We contacted the lender re: lack of impartiality and went with a guy who works for National Trust Scotland doing old building restorations. He came along, decided we just needed ventilation for the almost non-existent damp issues (along the outside wall next to the front door and inside the open fireplace, ffs) and that the “woodworm-infested roof beams” were actually suffering from a mild bit of wet rot and just needed the roof tiles sorting. Cost us around £500 for the survey iirc, and another £500 to get the roof put right.

Get a woodburner or a mutlifuel stove, you will join the elite band of STW woodburnerists and your home will be warm and well-ventilated as nothing sucks more stale damp air up the flue than a roaring stove.

You can then progress on to a log store, a splitting mawl and…. and…. the most macho and destructive of all garden tools…. a chainsaw!

The most dramatic effect of a stove I ever saw was at Puddleducks, a popular walkers’ and cyclists’ cafe in Dunsop Bridge. It was always humid in there thanks to sweaty people and damp clothes; the condensation would run down the windows and the floor was always sopping. Trevor, the proprietor at the time fitted a stove and the place was transformed – warm, dry, comfortable and fresh smelling.

Not sure of your area but this chap has provided good advice in the past:

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footflaps – Member
Independent damp surveyor, do they even exist? Most just sell damp proofing products (rising damp mainly).
Sounds like you need an extractor fan in the bathroom and kitchen and/or run a dehumidifier / positive air pressure thing 24/7.
POSTED 2 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

That’s my point, the op doesn’t currently have rising damp but there’s a good chance a “damp surveyor” would find some.

Our house suffered from (damp) now known to be condensation in a few areas, I found a local surveyor to carry out damp readings with a decent gauge, as I wanted to understand if it was outside coming in and therefore leaks to fix or condensation, turned out to be condensation.

The four things that have helped us since then
Cavity Wall Insulation
Increase Loft Insulation
Shutting the bathroom door and better ventilating the bathroom
Raising the min temperature to 18 has warmed the walls and house as whole and as we have better insulation it stays around 18 and so heating just comes on every now and then to top up

I have had Envirovent in today and we are going to call Nuaire tomorrow am tempted by one of the PIV systems, and can see the benefits though there is a cost delta between the two brands. I like the concept and we can drop the dehumidifier which is noisy and the PIV’s are quiet and discrete.

We’ll also look to change the extractor in the bathroom to something more powerful.

Reassuring to see I’m not alone with this issue. I’ve been looking into a PIV extractor and will probably go with this option. One thing you’ll have to check is for good existing ventilation in the loft space to draw the outside air in.

How well vented is your roof? Worth adding venting tiles or whatever? Air/trickle vents in walls and windows?

OP, you need a chartered building surveyor. find a few local firms who are RICS accredited with RICS charted building surveyors present. They will be able to come out and give actual practical advice after seeing your property. A day of their time and a report will probably be between £400 – 750 (depending on your location, local market etc)

they will be independent and have to follow a code of ethics laid down by RICS so will not be peddling a product that you don’t want or need

Has anyone actually got experiance of PIV systems?

We have condensation problems and lots of mould/ wet patches in places, got trickle vents fitted in the windows and vents into the loft space, which has improved things but not solved the issues. I’m planning on re-doing the loft insulation at some point (or rather hopefully by british gas for free), don’t want cavity insulation.

We were pushed to have a PIV system by a damp surveyor but I’m not convinced and were quoted over £1k.

Is the damp/mould on mostly external walls, either upstairs or downstairs. Do you have any renders on external walls, do you have good kitchen and bathroom extract?
More cash are you in belper? I’m not looking for work by the way I just know lots of good tradesmen including those involved in damp issues.

installed a nuaire about 18 months ago, cost ~£300, I installed it in an afternoon. got a sparky mate to sort the electrics but probably could have done it myself.

has sorted all our damp problems out. 1880’s house with solid walls and poor ventilation. highly recommended.

My bedroom had damp walls and condensation on the windows every morning til I got one of those cheap unibond 360 dehumidifiers. Seems to do the job and doesn’t need any power like some dehumidifiers, just a new puck refill every few months or so.