Hi,

Buying a house and the survey has pointed out that one of the walls has rising damp and the damp course at the back is too high (above the internal floor). Before I call a specialist in to assess it has anybody got an idea o how much it will cost to put right?

Cheers,
Christian

From my experience…

Oh GOD, OH GOD!! Run away while you still can!!

That specialist you’re getting in my give you a more useful answer.

£350
edit, plus VAT

Before I [b]call a specialist in to assess it[/b] has anybody got an idea o how much it will cost to put right?

ask jeff?

Ha ha. Thanks. Who is jeff?

Some loon that does not believe in rising damp. Google him.

Our survey picked up damp.
I was quoted £20,000 by Rentokil for remedial action on damp and infestation in my house 5 years ago. The place had stood empty for 30 years.

We put a new roof on and guttering, and let the house dry out. No problems whatsoever once leaks were fixed, and didn’t have to spend a penny on any of the work that Rentokil insisted was necessary.

My local specialist charged £600.Rentokil wanted 1200.Shop around.

If you want a big estimate as bargaining leverage, go with a free survey who will almost certainly recommend remedial work. The firm our buyers chose (who also ended up on watchdog or rogue traders more recently) also recommended raising the timber floor and treating for woodworm as they found one woodworm hole in the roof and a couple under the stairs. Downstairs they said the floor was concrete but its suspended timber as can clearly be seen by the floorboards under the stairs 🙄 For about 5 metres of solid external wall treatment and woodworm treated of loft and under the floor of two small rooms they quoted £2k.

On the other hand, pay an independent person for survey for an unbiased assessment, and perhaps discuss with vendors the benefit of this over a firm looking to make a quick buck, and they may be happy to go halves. As sellers we even considered paying for our own independent survey but in the end due to time constraints, offered to cover half the quote, or they could walk away.

As with Orman, we fixed all the problems – pointing, gaps round windows, leaky gutter, dug a trench along the side of the damp wall and filled with gravel (French Drain) along with a few other bits and pieces, including replastering the inside wall and it’s now fine.

Thanks. Some good advice here. Think the independent specialist is the way to go and will investigate the French drain option.

Cheers guys.

Yes jeff is strongly against raising damp!

I had a few walls injected 15 years ago because of a damp problem.Because we were refurbing the house and not living in it, I did all the messy stuff myself (stripping plaster etc). This saved a load of cash. Injecting the walls cost £150 with Rentokill, then I had it all replastered (this was part of a much bigger plastering job that was happening anyway).

So, if you do all the messy plaster stripping and clearing it is not expensive.If you get the contractor to do the whole job expect to pay anywhere between £500 and £x000 depending on the size of the task.

Really you’d always want your damp course slightly above or at floor level, so I really don’t know what they’re getting at with that one!

Just had 3 external walls stripped of blown and damp plaster. Then chemical dpc injected, damp proof screed and finished plaster in our rental flat. Walls are all around 3.5 m long. Cost us £895 plus VAT.