If you’re buying a house, learn from my mistake

31 replies

KylieWasHere · 03/09/2022 08:24

Found a house we loved. Got survey. Showed some damp that needed attention but it wasn’t classed as critical. We thought “all old houses have damp”. We’re now potentially looking at between £5k-£15k to fix the damp - might be rising damp, might be due to cement repointing of external walls.

i would literally kick myself for not getting a damp specialist survey - don’t make the same mistake I did 😫

OP posts:

squeezedinthemiddlewithyou · 17/07/2023 14:40

Brilliant

friendlycat · 17/07/2023 17:17

I used him as well when I was selling my last property in SW London. My buyer had been told about damp and get one of the "shark" damp proof people round who recommended stripping all the cement off and tanking. I read up about it hence making an appointment for a specialist paid for person to come and investigate.

Rectified the issue with minor chimney work and redigging the french drain around the property slightly deeper and taking out all the wet pebbles and refilling with dry matter. Sorted.

DancingToMyTune · 17/07/2023 19:03

KylieWasHere · 17/07/2023 14:26

Just an update many months later… it wasn’t rising damp. Beware of “independent damp inspectors” that try to sell you damp proofing!

we paid £500 to a reputable, truly independent surveyor, that doesn’t sell any products. He said we don’t have rising damp, we don’t need to repoint the whole house. We just needed to fix an external drain, and stop drying our washing inside. We bought a new dryer, and a dehumidifier for our bedroom, and our house is now dry and damp free, and has been since last winter!

Is this the company based in SE26? Their website quotes 1k for the survey????

Original poster

KylieWasHere · 17/07/2023 19:16

yes it’s him, https://dampsurveys.com/

we paid £400 about a year ago so sounds like their prices have increased. For comparison, I did get a quote from Heritage House and it was a lot more, closer to £1000.

Damp Survey London (fix @ damp.aï) Survey [Free if Rising Damp]

https://damp.ai freee or damp solved during £1,000 survey. 70% London damp houses are “Damp Proofed” if it stopped damp houses would be dry💦

https://dampsurveys.com/

OP posts:

CountryCob · 17/07/2023 20:18

YourWinter · 04/09/2022 13:16

My advice is don’t buy a house that needs ANY work unless you can (and will) not only do the bulk of it yourselves, but do it well.

I agree, even maintenance is not to be underestimated. However the bulk of property in the country needs work. Even new builds if you are really unlucky. New builds also have a huge premium in terms of common charges now also and lots of shared accesses which is an even worse situation IMO, also tiny. Well maintained property or premium new build is beyond many budgets or simply not available. I do agree that it would be better if it was

Sandrine1982 · 18/07/2023 07:02

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