Survey and Damp

[HouseIsOnFire]

Hi all,

Not sure what I'm looking for here, happy ever after stories or confirmation I should pull out!

Had my surveyor call me today (report to follow) and advise there was damp all across ground floor of house I've offered on. There was an injected damp proof course that has failed. It's concrete slab floor, which all has rising damp and has at least 1m of damp up all the plaster walls.

He said the only way to fix would be to dig out the concrete floors and start again, a job so huge he personally wouldn't consider starting!

What a nightmare :(

I think I would walk away unless you can get a significant price reduction based on a quote for what the work woukd cost.

How old is the house?

"injected damp proof course that has failed."

That's quite normal

they did not find the source of water and correct the fault.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the water supply pipe buried in or under the slab is leaking.

Do you want to try to check? Perhaps you can buy it at a cheap price.

www.heritage-house.org/damp-and-condensation/managing-damp-in-old-buildings.html

You ma find this interesting...

Thank you! The house is 1960s ex-council so I suppose not "old" enough to accept that level of damp (thinking of a friend's listed cottage from the 1600s where the kitchen flooded every other year!!)

I've just read the heritage house link - looks like the concrete floor is trapping the water in the wall. My next door neighbour has the same problem in her kitchen, good luck with whatever you do.

We have concrete floor in our kitchen that was saturated from an old leaky pipe

We found the leak , cut and capped off the pipe . Ran a new pipe.

Then replastered the walls in breathable lime plaster with clay paint which allows the walls to breath

Long term the concrete floor will need taking up but we are holding on until we’re ready to extend as it will come out then anyway

We also had a damp mam tell us it needed new injection treatment and tanking

You could see it had been attempted to be tanked many times before
None of those damp people were bothered enough to suggest fixing a leaky pipe

grrrrr!

I would be very surprised if the reason for that level of damp is anything other than a leaky pipe. Bloody injectable damp courses and timber treatments annoy me. Fix the cause of the damp, don't waste your money on this shit. Can you see if the vendors would be willing to investigate the cause of the damp properly? Or negotiate a big reduction?

The surveyor said the only real fix would be to break up the concrete floor which seems a huge job!

I think it might be goodbye house, he also mentioned issues with loft rooms and electrics and that's before I get the report! :(