How much did you pay for damproofing ?

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I've been quoted £9k to damproof whole downstairs of small terrace house and one bedroom. Including plastering and new skirting boards. I wasnt expecting this much. What have others paid?

What are they actually doing?

Is it an old terrace house?

Yes build in 1900
I've attached the list of works

Beware “damp proofers” particularly in old houses as they may make the problem worse. Lots of old houses have been updated over the years with modern materials that don’t let the old materials breathe and so trap moisture, causing damp. Damp proofing will make this worse, not better and will force the moisture up above the damp proofing.
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Thanks so much. I'll have a read.

Do not do this. Most damp resolves on its own.

There’s certainly a lot of scammers in the damp industry. A lot of damp is due to ventilation and lifestyle. Are they saying the current damp proof course has failed? If so how do they know this?

www.preservationexpert.co.uk/how-rising-damp-came-and-went-and-came-back-again-and-again/ www.preservationexpert.co.uk/how-rising-damp-came-and-went-and-came-back-again-and-again/]]]]

you’d be best off getting either a decent recommended builder to come and give his opinion on what the issue is (and pay him for this opinion), someone who does not do dampproofing so has no skin in the game. Or ideally a RICS qualified surveyor. Avoid the specialist damp proof firms.

I've had a surveyor out. He has identified leaking gutter and repairs needed on chimney which is obviously causing the high readings. But he actually recommended a dpc as he said there is no evidence of one in the property.

High damp readings following a survey. Surveyor said no evidence of a dpc on the property and he recommended one.

Oh fair enough. In which case it would probably be good to get one.

It's expensive but really you should lime plaster instead, it's breathable

I'm undecided to. I'm wondering if I get the chimney and gutter repairs then get some more air bricks/check pointing that that might be a better course of action. I was surprised the surveyor didn't support this as he's saying its definitely advised to get one.

Instead of dpc? Do you have any idea of costs please?

A lot of surveyors are not particularly good at dealing with damp in historic buildings, which at 125 years old, yours is.

I'd get the work to the downpipe and chimney done, and review from there. Airbricks are a good idea, but also making sure that you have breathable wall coverings - have you got render on the outside? What's it painted with? Does it go to the floor? Likewise the inside - modern plaster just traps moisture in the brickwork rather than letting it breathe which lime plaster would.

I work with property a lot and a chemical DPC in an older building would be one of the last things I'd look at to resolve it, personally.

There is concrete render to the rear and pebbledash to the front.
Doesn't go to the floor. Outside walls have about 3 rows of brick first.

I don't know what it's painted with.

I think inside is just normal plaster
Surveyor said there is evidence of 'damp paint' internally by front and back door.

It is reasonably unlikely that there isn't a dpc in a building of that age. Also buildings don't need a dpc. Ours doesn't have one and we don't have any problems with damp because the inside is lime plastered.

I am guessing the surveyor said there was no evidence of a damp proof course because the house is rendered and therefore to be able to find the dpc you would need to chop back the render. In fact, the render might actually be partly responsible for the damp if it is breaching the existing damp proof course. The first thing I would do is chip the bottom foot of render off to expose the damp proof course.

Injected damp proof courses are generally a rip off. Most damp in old terraces is better resolved with improving ventilation, adding air bricks etc.

Thank you so much everyone this has been really helpful x

We are gonna damp rod and do it ourselves, its £104.99 per 6 meters so we will need 2 lots.

The most expensive part for us will be replacing the plaster (need to remove 1.5 meters from the floor to allow drying) to make the wall 'good' afterwards.

Have you addressed the source of the damp already? Also note, you may as well replaster floor to ceiling, if you even need to, and get a nice finish and avoid ‘the join’.

You would only need to damp proof the entire ground floor if you had rising dampness all over. This typically shows as damp staining, blistering and/or peeling paintwork and soft plaster. It can rise up to 1m high. It is not common. Electronic moisture meters measure electrical resistance between two pins. They don't actually measure dampness - they are just a guide (high readings mean further investigations might be required to rule out or confirm dampness). High readings on a moisture meter can be caused by salts, ash mortar, foil behind the plaster etc and do not necessarily mean the wall is damp. A suitably experienced surveyor could confirm or rule out rising damp by doing a salt test (moisture from the ground contains nitrates) and/or a calcium carbide test. This involves chipping off some plaster and drilling into the wall, and finding out the actual moisture content of the wall at depth. If a leaking gutter is causing localised dampness, then fixing the gutter and local replacement of any compromised plaster should be all that is required. As for the chimney - is this causing dampness around the chimney breast? Again, leached nitrates (salts) from the burning of coal can cause raised moisture meter readings in plaster. Raised moisture readings alone, without any obviously damp or compromised paintwork or plaster is no reason to have a dpc injected, whether or not your house has a dpc. Similarly, there should be no need to re plaster with lime plaster. This is typically used inside stone houses with solid walls, to allow the walls to breathe. Since your walls have been rendered externally, they will not be stone. Hope this helps. Which part of the country do you live?

I suggest you try and get a view from @pigletjohn before you decide what to do.

We've also got a house around the same time period and has been a learning curve! As others have said damp means usually you need to fix something that is going wrong externally - e.g. wrong pointing material (cement vs lime), leaky gutter, drain issue, ground too high near the property etc. Injections or chemical solutions might be a temporary (expensive) plaster but won't fix the underlying issue. It's a bit more hassle working through what's causing it but will probably be a lot cheaper and more permanent!

Thanks so much for such a detailed reply. I'm in Merseyside