FAQ’s

What is a damp and timber report? A specialist report is someting you may need for a mortgage, selling your home, a dispute, peace of mind and many more. You’ll need to have a specialist survey carried out first before you can be provided with a report. During this survey our surveyors will inspect all accessible walls for all types of dampness and check all accessible timbers for woodworm, dry rot and wet rot. In the report, you’ll receive all our surveyors findings, recommendations, a site plan and a quotation if found necessary.

What is an independent damp and timber survey? An independent damp and timber survey is someting you may need for a mortgage, selling your home, a dispute, peace of mind and many more. During this survey our surveyors will inspect all accessible walls for all types of dampness and check all accessible timbers for woodworm, dry rot and wet rot. In the report, you’ll receive all our surveyors findings, recommendations and a site plan.

All our surveys are carried out fully independent and we do look for work to make money. We charge for all our survey and don’t try to sell you a chemical product. The difference our surveys is that if you request an independent survey, you don’t get a quotation for any work we find necessary.

So you received your homebuyers report back for the bank and it states you have damp. The statement usally reads something like this “high damp readings were recorded to the ground floor walls. You must instruct a damp and timber treatment contractor to inspect all walls and timbers for dampness and decay”. This is a very worrying statement and can scare some people out of buying a property. Please don’t panic, the mortgage surveyor isn’t qualified and this is why they recommend getting a specialist out to investigate the issue.

9 times out of 10 the damp issue is very small and can even be down to condensation on the survey of the survey. The best thing to do is get a full damp and timber survey carried out by a specialist and not a contractor looking for work. You’ll need to pay for the survey and please avoid the cheap surveys. You should be looking to pay £200+ for a damp survey and £300+ for and damp and timber survey, depending on the size of the property and what is required. Some surveys on large properties (5+ bedroom) can cost £400+.

The cost for damp and timber treatment will all depend on what your problem is. If you only have condensation then the cost would be very small. If you have somthing lik rising damp then the cost would be into the thousands. If you have something a really bad dry rot outbreak then unfortuanlly the cost for treatment can go into the tens of thounsands. this all depend on the size of the property and how much needs doing.

Examples  – (based on a 3 bedroom semi-detached house and these are just guide costings)

Condensation issue – fit some extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom area. Condensation treatment cost £100 approx.

Rising damp issues – install and new chemical damp proof course to the entire ground floor and hack off and replace plaster to 1.5m in height. Rising damp treatment costs £5000 approx.

Dry rot issue – remove all infected timber and wall plaster 1m past the last sighting and replace timber and plaster with specialist materials etc (toxic box / pastes). Dry rot treatment cost £10,000 approx (for one full room with a timber floor). The main part about treating dry rot is finding the water source.

During a damp and timber survey, our specialist damp surveyors will inspect all accessible walls for dampness like rising damp, penetrating damp, low damp ingress, condensation and salt damp. Our surveyor will also inspect the exterior of the property for likely signs that can cause dampness. Things like high external ground levels, defective rainwater goods, broken pipes and many more. Our surveyor will then find the root cause of any damp issue and not just say it’s rising damp like most builders and damp contractors. Once all possible sources of moisture have been eliminated and you have the right readings can you then say the issue is rising damp. Don’t just look at a damp wall and thing it’s rising damp straightaway. The damp could be down to a simple little fix that would cost pennies.

Once the surveyor has carried out all his checks and noted down all his findings, he will then put together a full detailed report with quotation if found necessary.

Free damp survey? hahaha

Free damp surveys sound amazing at first but trust us, they are far from that. If something sounds too good to be true, then it usually is. Nothing in this world is free so you need to ask yourself, how to these damp contractors make money? Damp companies offering free surveys will send out a surveyor on commission, he works on a commission based salary so it’s in his best interest to find a much work as possible and in a lot of cases make work up.

Most of the time these salesmen miss the problem completely and just recommend rising damp treatment (new damp proof course). This then leaves you at risk for the damp to return within a matter of months and then pay to have it done correctly. But you get a guarantee with the work (haha), the company will alway get out of the guarantee somehow, stating that you didn’t do something they recommended or something like that.

So you’ve had a survey carried out by either the bank, building surveyor or even a damp contractor. The report received says you have rising damp. You are not sure if the report is correct or not and you may not even see signs of dampness affecting the property. This is where you need to instruct a specialist damp surveyor to inspect the property to carry out a full examination and truly find out if the problem is rising damp or not.

See our damp proof course myth page – click here

What is a damp and timber specialists? This is something most people will call themselves these days. You even get builders and plasterers calling themselves damp and timber specialists. You are not a specialist if you just inspect a house with a small yellow moisture meter and when you get a red light on it, just say it’s rising damp.

A specialist will inspect the area properly and rule out everything first before he even says the words rising damp. All our specialist surveyors will carry a number of moisture meters and tool with them. This then guarantees that the issue is correctly diagnosed for the client.

What’s a pre-purchase damp and timber report and survey? Are you in the process of buying a property, re-mortgaging your home or trying to get equity release? So you and the vendor have now agreed on a price for the property and the mortgage lender wants to send out their specialist surveyor to conduct a valuation report. Once you’ve received their report, you’ll then find out that you need a specialist damp and timber survey carrying out.

The report that you will receive from their chartered building surveyor will be very brief and straightforward. It will not say what the issues are or how to rectify them. All it will read is, damp readings were picked up, please instruct a specialist damp and timber contractor to inspected for dampness and check the condition of any timbers in contact with damp walls.

The specialist damp and timber report that you’ll receive from our company will be more detailed with all our damp surveyors findings and added pictures if needed. This will be accepted by your bank, building society or mortgage lender for the condition of your offer.

What is woodworm | Signs that you have active woodworm | How does woodworm spread | How do I know I have woodworm

Are you confused about if you have an active woodworm infestation or not? We totally understand as it’s not something homeowners come across everyday. It is very had to find woodworm beetles and extreamly diffecult to locate the larvae that bore into the timber and destroy it. There are a couple of easy signs to look for to find out if you have a woodworm infestation or not.

• Small holes on any timber (looks like someone has been playing darts on it)
• Find sawdust (bore dust)
• Live or dead woodworm beetles (around the size of ants and are attracted to white surfaces)
• Tunnels in timbers (you’ll only normally see these after sanding or planing the timber)
• Damaged and weakened floor joists, floor boards or furniture (seek specialist advice straight away)
• Woodworm larvae (these look like small widgety grubs and you’ll struggle to find them)

So if you have spotted signs of woodworm in the form of holes or bore dust them your next spet is to get the wood boring insect diagnosed. Some woodworm don’t require treatment so please don’t waste money treating timber if it doesn’t need doing. Contact one of our specialist woodworm surveyor today and book a survey or even phone for advice. Our surveyors will be able to find our what woodworm you may have and recommend the correct woodworm treatment necessary.

You may not even realse you have woodworm until it’s too late as a lot of the time woodworm infestations are under floor covering or even in the roof void area (places we rarly see). If left untreated, the woodworm can cause seriour structrual damage that can in turn cost thousands of pound to fix.

Condensation is the change of gas into a liquid and is the reverse of vaporization this is called deposition. It is caused by many things like poor ventilation, having a shower, taking a bath, cooking food, breathing and washing & drying clothing inside your house. Condensation in houses is an unwanted phenomenon as it causes dampness, wood rot, peeling decorations, corrosion and can cause mold health issues.

It happens when the warm air comes in contact with a cold surface (outside wall), turning into water droplets on a wall or surface. Lack of ventilation and modern occupancy styles can lead to a buildup of excessive humidity and moisture. This poor indoor air quality can lead to serious health issues for asthma and allergy sufferers and those with breathing difficulties. It can make a room very unpleasant to be in because it creates a musty damp smell the really irritates the nose. Many companies in the UK will come to your home see the black mould on a wall and diagnose it as rising damp.

The cost for a damp and timber survey will depend on the size of the property and what is required. The cost would normally be £150-£500 and this will include a full report, surveyors findings, recommendation, site plan and quotation if found necessary

What is a damp and timber survey? (some people call them timber and damp surveys) A specialist damp and/or timber survey is something you may need for a mortgage, selling your home, a dispute, peace of mind and many more. During this survey, our surveyors will inspect all accessible walls for all types of dampness and check all accessible timbers for woodworm, dry rot and wet rot. You’ll then receive a full report with all our surveyors findings, recommendations, a site plan and a quotation if found necessary.

A specialist pre-purchase damp and timber report costs between £150 – £500 and can be more depending on what’s required and the size of the property. You’ll need to phone the damp company to give them some small details before they can provide you with a quote. We can provide you with a damp and timber survey quote within a matter of seconds. A damp survey on a small 2 bedroom house will cost around £150 – £200. A full damp and timber survey and report for a mortgage on a 6 bedroom house will cost you around £500-£600. For a commercail property (depending on size/requirements) can cost you well into the thousands.

What is an independent damp and timber report? An independent damp and timber report is someting you may need for a mortgage, selling your home, a dispute, peace of mind and many more. You’ll need to have a specialist independent survey carried out first before you can be provided with a report. During this survey, our surveyors will inspect all accessible walls for all types of dampness and check all accessible timbers for woodworm, dry rot and wet rot. In the report, you’ll receive all our surveyors findings, recommendations and a site plan.

All our surveys are carried out fully independent and we don’t look for work to make money. We charge for all our survey and don’t try and sell you a chemical product (like most builders and damp contractors). The only difference with our surveys is that if you request an independent survey, you don’t get a quotation for any work we find necessary.

Who pays for a damp survey? Well if it’s your own property or you are a landlord then the simple answer is, you. If you are selling or buying a property then this is down to the buyer or the seller. We would highly recommend that the homeowner has the survey carried out and pays for it. This is so you know who is inspecting your property and they are not trying to look for work. Also, if the buyer pulls out and they had their own survey carried out, you won’t know why they pulled out or what’s wrong with your house. So if you are a homeowner selling your house, get a survey carried out by a specialist and pay for it yourself.

So your lender has carried out a valuation survey or a homebuyers survey on the property you are purchasing. They have stated that you need to instruct a damp and timber treatment contractor to carry out a damp and timber survey to check all walls for dampness and inspect timbers in contact with the walls. This means they may have found dampness in the property and just won’t it checking further. This is nothing to worry about as this could also be a general check and nothing was even picked up. Don’t let this care you away from the property as most damp issues are easy to fix. You just need to contact the right company like us. We don’t just recommend rising damp treatment as soon as we see a spot of dampness.

An independent woodworm survey is a specialist service that you get from a fully qualified expert in diagnosing woodworm. This type of survey is for diagnosis only and you don’t receive a quote for treatment if the infestation is active. This give clients peace of mind that what they are being told is correct and not a money making scheme.

To call yourself fully independent you should not have any governing body above you or registered to any company etc. Basically what you say goes and don’t try to carry out a survey to certain standards to stay members of associations etc.

Independent surveyors should not be giving out quotations either.

What is a damp and timber treatment contractor? This is something a lot of people call themselves as most people think they know how to fix damp (install and damp proof course, job done!). To be a good contractor, you need years in the field and the eye for spotting potential causes of damp or decay even once the work has started.

Basically and amp and timber treatment contractor is a specialist workmen with high skills that carries out damp and timber treatments like woodworm sprays, dry rot irrigation and all damp proofing works.

What’s a pre-purchase damp and timber survey? Are you in the process of buying a property, re-mortgaging your home or trying to get equity release? So you and the vendor have now agreed on a price for the property and the mortgage lender wants to send out their specialist surveyor to conduct a valuation survey. Once you’ve received their report, you’ll then find out that you need a specialist damp and timber survey carrying out.

The report that you will receive from their chartered building surveyor will be very brief and straightforward. It will not say what the issues are or how to rectify them. All it will read is, damp readings were picked up, please instruct a specialist damp and timber contractor to inspected for dampness and check the condition of any timbers in contact with damp walls.

The specialist damp and timber report that you’ll receive from our company will be more detailed with all our damp surveyors findings and added pictures if needed. This will be accepted by your bank, building society or mortgage lender for the condition of your offer.

Rising damp treatment is normally the installation of a new chemical damp proof course into the walls at low level. If you have rising damp then this needs fixing as soon as possible. You will also need to remove a lot of internal plaster to carry out affective rising damp treatment.

Firstly you need to find out what kind of dampness is affecting your property so you can eliminate the issue without spending unnecessary money.

The most common form of damp in a building is condensation, penetrating damp and rising damp. Each type of damp affecting your home needs to be treated in completely different ways to each other. This is why we think the most important part about fixing your damp problem is to find out what kind of damp is affecting your home.

Once you know what kind of damp is affecting your home, you can then think about dealing with it correctly. 9 times out of 10 the damp problem is not rising damp. The problem is normally condensation or penetrating damp from defective rainwater goods.

If you are living in a property with a damp problem or mould growth on the wall, it is important to have the issue rectified as soon as possible. If left untreated, the issue can spread fast and can sometimes cause health issues. Not to mention the cost of fixing it.

The longer the damp problem is left, the more the damp treatment will cost you. This is why the problem should be dealt with as soon as you spot it.

Wet rot & dry rot is a type of fungal decay of timber and can occur when timbers are in contact with damp situations and are not ventilated properly such as subfloors. Dampness can come from defective guttering, defective plumbing, rising damp or high ground levels and many more. If there is dampness then wood rotting fungi can develop and cause substantial damage.

How much does it cost to treat woodworm?

The cost of treating woodworm depends on the type of beetle present, the size of the area and the type of treatment required. To help put a figure on it, to treat an average size 3 bedroom property would cost around the £1000 mark. This is for a chemical spray treatment only. If timbers are damaged and structurally unsound, the costs could go into the thousands.

This is why you need to have the area checked as soon as you suspect any form of beetle infestation.