Damp

[BewilderedOwl]

Myself and my partner are going for a second viewing on a flat this evening. There is an issue with damp in the corner of the bathroom behind the bath. Other than that the flat is promising.

I would like to ask someone to come to the property to assess how bad the damp is, a solution and also an estimate of cost. Possibly more than one company to get more than one opinion.

But who should I get in touch to do this? A builder? We are first time buyers so no experience with these sort of things...

As part of the buying process you would usually have a survey carried out. If there is an obvious cause of the damp, it's likely that your surveyor will pick up on it - otherwise they'll suggest that you have a damp survey done additionally. These cost about £300 and should be done but an accredited surveyor.

However, saying all of that, in a bathroom the most likely causes are to be defective sealant around a bath or shower, leaking pipework or it being poorly ventilated - all of which are very easy fixes.

LBOCS2 thanks for taking the time to reply :)

The damp was listed in the home report i received before viewing the property, so i knew about the damp already although not the extent.

When we went round for our second viewing the agent did say that the owner had already got a quote to get it fixed and would send that to me. I think it best do get a least 2 more quotes for fair comparison though.

As you say though due to the location i think its more to do with a leaky pipe than anything very serious which is why we weren't totally put off about it.

I’m not sure it’s reasonable to get multiple people
Coming round to give quotes prior to purchase, I’d get one and use it as a ball park. Get a couple more if you proceed and complete before starting work.

notdaddycool the property is empty so it wont be causing inconvenience to anyone and the agent was more than happy and even suggested that we do it so we got a good idea of cost.