Damp advice gone wrong

[Mar2010]

I just wanted to update / rant about a damp company I had recommended on Mumsnet.

The company is called UK Damp and it seemed lots of people on here have been happy to recommend them when I was looking through threads for suggestions on treating my damp problems. After a few phone conversations, I arranged for a man called Paul to come to my property. He seemed knowledgeable but I told him I was a bit concerned that the UK Damp website said they were registered with the Property Care Association while he said that they weren't. He said it was an oversight and that the website would be updated. That should have got me to stop and find someone else but I went ahead with him anyway...

He came to my house for a damp and timber survey and spoke alot about the likely causes of damp, most of which made sense - admittedly, he missed a major source of water ingress (a rotting window sill due to failed mortar) but once I pointed it out, he spoke about how big a problem it was and how to fix it. He took lots of pictures of the damp areas for his report and told us either we could get someone in to do the work and he would come back to inspect free of charge or he could quote to get the work done and it would be guaranteed for a number of years.

Then, I made the mistake of paying him his £200 fee in cash as he was leaving. He said we'd get the report by the middle of the following week but it never came. I called him and emailed him and the first 2 or 3 times, he said he'd have the report done in the next couple of days. After that, he just stopped picking up my phone calls altogether. My husband then started calling him - he answered the first time, said he'd get the report to us in the next couple of days and then again stopped answering his phone or email. At no point did he apologise or offer an explanation of why the report was delayed.

We've given up all hope of getting the report or ever hearing from him again but my husband looked in to UK Damp some more and it turns out that there are loads of reviews showing the company takes the money and runs (the joys of hindsight) so I wanted to post a review on here too so that MNetters were aware.

Anyway, I've found the property/ DIY board to be fantastic in helping me with my home renovation but I found this one company to be a dud and thought I'd let others know just in case any one else has had a bad experience or is thinking of using them.

[SaltyGoodness]

I thought it was worth reviving this thread as we too used Paul at UK Damp based on a lot of glowing Mumsnet recommendations; we really felt that we were so smart going with his company as his approach sounded so sensible compared to the the put-a-1metre-chemical-damp-proof-course, one-size-fits-all approach.

We paid a couple of thousand pounds to get his company to fix the damp problems at our flat. Two years on and most of the damp has returned - his methods simply don't work.

We got a call last year from BBC Watchdog who are investigating him and his company who have been struck off whatever the organisation is. I don't think there's anything more to say really

[rebeccamg]

Oh no. Perhaps put it in the review section?. Or google reviews? X

[justabigdisco]

I've used this company, and we had Paul aswell. He definitely knows what he is talking about. I found that you just have to badger him a bit and we will get round to it. He was very helpful for us and even came round again to do a second survey free of charge when our buyer's mortgage company wouldn't accept his original survey (as it was a year old).