Survey results for victorian 3-bed terrace I wanted to buy show lots of damp :(

[SmoothAvocado]

Had a building survey done on a victorian 3-bed terrace I'm in the process of buying. Everything else sorted (solicitor searches more or less complete, mortgage approved etc.) but to my dismay, a lot of aspects came back as "serious" issues, including "significant damp", that the "damp course" hasn't been installed properly, the ground is elevated which is enabling damp further etc.

I know damp is far more common in victorian builds usually and this property has been left entirely vacant for nearly a year, and was very cold and I got feel the air was very "heavy" feeling during the viewing (I pick up on these things much more easily as I've got asthma) and has carpeting etc. (I thought my chest feeling heavy might just be dust etc. and I could rid of it by opening windows, heating the place and replacing carpets with laminate flooring once I moved in)

Aside from this, the house just on visual inspection looks OK.

I'm just worried as damp is one of those issues that can lead to thousands of £ in repair bills. I've been recommended by the surveyor to get a damp contractor in to assess it and get a quote which I will do but does anyone have any advice on their experiences?

It's such a shame and even considering potentially pulling out of the sale as I can't afford thousands at all (nearly all my money is going towards the deposit) and can't move into somewhere where I can't breathe, will have issues selling it in future as surveys will always pick it up and the damp could affect the structure of the house. I've heard horror stories of people having to fork out thousands to get it sorted once they've bought dampy properties.

None of the windows have any condensation on them and the extension that was built a few decades ago - I don't feel any damp feeling in in my lungs that bit at all but it doesn't have carpetting in that bit and is much newer than the rest of the house which is potentially over 100 years old.

Any advice would be much appreciated on how to proceed.

"I've been recommended by the surveyor to get a damp contractor in to assess it and get a quote which I will do"

Get 2 or 3 damp specialists to look at it and give you a quote.

Consider the extent of work required and whether you would be willing to live in the property while it's being done, or whether you will need/want to live elsewhere.

Factoring in the price of the repairs, the inconvenience and/or potential cost of living elsewhere while the work is done, if you still want to buy the property you should reduce your offer accordingly.

Alternatively if you change your mind (or if they refuse the reduced offer) just pull out of the purchase.

Can you get someone to give you a figure for rectifying the damp proof course? I have no idea what is required, but I would imagine that the damp proof course will need to be built up and any damp ingress into the rooms will have to be fixed.

You could put a hold on things whilst you decide whether the cost is prohibitive, whether it will fix the problem and whether it’s likely to return.

Damp specialist as previous poster said.
I bought a house which the surveyor thought had a severe damp problem. It didn't. It had been empty a year and needed airing, and had a couple of small specific issues where drains were blocked and tiles were missing on roofs.
But you need someone who is experienced in diagnosing the issues.

I'd carefully consider if you go to damp specialists , they will talk about damp proof injections or tanking the walls. Speak to a building surveyor they will have a better idea where water is getting in.

Speak to a building surveyor?! That's the person who just did a survey and advised OP to consult a damp specialist!

Then either they weren't RICS or a poor at the job.

Why do you think they were poor at the job?

"a lot of aspects came back as "serious" issues, including "significant damp", that the "damp course" hasn't been installed properly, the ground is elevated which is enabling damp further etc."

Is this likely to be wrong?

No , but I'd don't see the need to go to a damp proof 'specalist' just ask the building surveyor what needs to be done.

But they wouldn't be able to say how much it costs, would they? Since they don't actually do that kind of work.

Could you see/smell damp op? You need an independent damp surveyor, not one that offers a free survey and does treatments themselves.

Often the surveyor will just use a metre which isn't much of a reliable indicator.

Victorian houses were not built with damp proof courses as we know them
A damp specialist has a vested interest in selling you solutions

if it has been vacant a year with no heating keeping heating on 24/7 for a few weeks might sort most of the issues I say might has someone planted something against house so soil is impacted against house, removing the build up of soil ( which can just be several years of composted plants and leaves if no-one did any gardening for a while)
we had this when we moved into our house an old lady had died probabte and sale took a year, but within a few weeks of proper heating and open windows some unblocked drains and a few plants soil removal the pronblem was gone for good
you might have a genuine serious problem but you might not
if property empty for a year maybe some downward movement on price

ask the neighbours if damp problems because all the houses in the row will have been built the same

Victorian houses will only have a damp proof course (dpc) installed if a previous owners has had one done, in which case guarantees may be available and you possibly could get the company to fix the issue. A specialist company will be able to confirm whether it is rising dampness (and so a new dpc will probably be required) or penetrating damp which could be fixed by ensuring all mortar joints externally are repointed, and cracked and defective render is removed and areas re-rendered, or that path levels externally are reduced to 150mm below internal levels.

If you need a new dpc, all affected walls will require the plaster hacking off to a height of approx one metre, the company can then inject the dpc into the bricks. Once the bricks have dried out from previous damp, then they can be re-plastered. Most damp proof specialists can quote for the new dpc with or without hacking off plaster and replastering. My ex and I did the plaster side of things ourselves due to finances. We also had to restrengthen some floor joists as the dampness had affected these too.

I have worked for a surveyor for over 15yrs and had to do a lot of work on my Victorian terrace which is how I know the above. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions 🙂

You need a specialist in damp in old buildings (Peter Cox are excellent, think they are nationwide).
We live in a property like this and tbh I would never have bought it if I’d known the amount of specialist work needed. The first lot of work we had done was useless - standard damp course just doesn’t work in Victorian/Edwardian buildings. So as the damp has come back we are starting over again and it’s potentially an immense amount of work.
For context, our new neighbours have the same problems and they have had to gut the place. Taken every inch of plaster out of the whole place, every carpet up, a significant number of floorboards and are basically starting from scratch with an empty shell.
If you seal up an old house (chimneys, double or triple glazing etc) then the air has nowhere to go apart from your walls and furnishings.

Damp survey
Consider recomnendations and cost and inconvenience
If you decide to proceed you reduce iffer based on cost of essential work.

It's not rocket science. If reduced price refused you walk away - no brainer

If the house triggered your asthma, it's unlikely to be the house for you. I couldn't feel the love for a house that did that.

But they wouldn't be able to say how much it costs, would they? Since they don't actually do that kind of work.

No but they should be able to say how to sort the problem or where the water is getting in.

I’ve bought a couple of houses with damp problems and they’ve been fairly easy to sort.
If there’s soil piled up around the walls then moving the soil will work. Often damp comes in around chimneys and lead flashing.
Old houses tend to have a bit of damp and air flow and heat makes a huge difference.
Old carpets are horrible, lack of heat and ventilation give a heavy feeling.
In the houses I bought it was the chimneys where the water was coming in.
Damp is a gamble and can be harder to sort in terraces and semis depending on your neighbours cooperating and if they’ve had any damp treatment done e.g tanking which would force the water out on your untanked walls.

I bought a 3 bed 200yr old house 18 months ago. The survey also showed 'significant damp'. I got quotes, got the purchase price reduced by £10k, had a chemical dpc injected which cost around £4k as soon as I completed. I now check my walls regularly with a damp meter and they're all bone dry. The works came with a 20yr guarantee too.

Don't be put off but definitely renegotiate on the purchase price.

Good luck OP!

Speak to a building surveyor?! That's the person who just did a survey and advised OP to consult a damp specialist!

When we bought ours (a long time ago) the survey came back with loads of worrying stuff about bowed walls and sagging roof. I called the surveyor and had a chat, and off the record he explained that while everything he'd noted was true and had to be stated, it was par for the course for any victorian end terrace, all the structural movement was historic, and he'd not be worried if his daughter bought a house like ours. So yes, it can be worth talking to the surveyor. (He missed the woodworm in the floorboards mind!)

On topic, we had bad damp. It's not just one cause; ours included:

A leak under the neighbours' stairs
A gap in the coping on a parapet wall
Ground levels outside
Air bricks blocked by a modern porch
Cracked rendering
Crumbling pointing in foundations
Condensation and black mould in bathroom

We've never gone down the chemical injection route, instead making other changes that cumulatively have got rid of most of it:

Extending the kitchen had the side effect of taking out the dampest wall entirely!
We lowered the ground back to original level by taking out modern paving/patio and relaying much lower
Installed a new air brick to make up for the one that was blocked
Installing a wood burner has improved the chimney breast damp
The buried pipe under the neighbours' stairs that had been leaking for years suddenly got worse which was a blessing because it meant we found it! Fixed by neighbours' insurance.
Installed a bathroom extractor and boxed in the lower wall to make an air gap between the cold wall and the damp air

13 years in and we hardly have any damp now.

We still have one mysterious damp patch on an internal wall that we can't solve. I suspect that might be genuine rising damp. It might go when we have the last bit of building work done. If not, we are going to put ventilated tongue and groove over it so we can decorate and just live with it.

So based on my experience, I don't think you need to jump straight into damp proofing. These Victorian houses have been mucked around with so much over the years and damp is usually a cumulative effect of lots of little issues.

What is worth doing is having a paid-for survey from an independent damp specialist who doesnt also sell damp proofing, but specialises in looking for what's causing the damp and advises one or more fixes based on that.

We had a lot damp work done on our place when we bought, it isn't uncommon. Whole downstairs stripped and replastered etc. 5 years on no issues. Get costs and then negotiate, that's what the survey is for.

When we sold our victorian terrace the buyers surveyor found "damp" i use "" because there was no evidence of it. No mould. No wet walls.

Anyway they reccomended a damp course across the bottom of the front wall.

I paid on the condition they did it after wed sold and moved out.

They did.

Now they have lots of visible damp. Lucky them!

What im saying is i wouldnt worry too much. Can you actually see and feel it on the walls?

I recommend this book.
Damp is such a complicated issue, with lots of controversies and some of the people who are supposed to be helping you sort it out actually trying to sell you things, I personally found that understanding as much for myself as I could was worth the effort.
Since it's an old house it's worth looking at SPAB advice too.

helpful stuff from SPAB.

We pulled out of one purchase after the survey as it looked too costly to remedy. Even getting quotes they couldn't be sure prices wouldn't change once they got involved. We couldnt take the risk given no savings.

The next house had a few issues thrown up but nothing major, about 2k of work. However the mortgage company were going to hold that money back from us! Luckily the seller agreed to do the work as she was wanting to not hold up the sale.

Thanks a lot everyone.

I'm really having second thoughts about this place considering.

Issue is the independent damp specialists often will not be able to quote the cost it will be so I'm sure the ones who will actually do the work will still insist on surveying it themselves (either for free or not) and then decide their own idea of what needs doing which might be more than necessary - so have opted for a paid one where they are able to give a price and full quotation.

Heya did you buy the house in the end?