A friend is buying a house and the survey found damp downstairs. There is damp in the kitchen and the cause is unknown. He had quotes for damp proofing of £1500 to £3000. How they can quote without knowing the cause is beyond me. So, should he go through with the sale?

As far as I can see, the damp is of unknown origin, could be condensation, penetrating damp or rising damp. To treat would require removal of the kitchen units and worktops, with possible damage, followed by damp treatment and reinstallation of the kitchen. This is a terraced 2 up 2 down in North London. Thoughts?

First thoughts would be to check the very obvious. Well sadly not to some! The amount of times I've been to view a job where somebody has quoted thousands of pounds to carry out damp proofing where the real problem has cost very little to rectify.

Check outside the property in the location of the damp. Check for broken down pipes, leaking gutters, blocked gutters (even if the damp is ground level as blocked gutters can often force water up and then down a cavity wall where the damp becomes evident at lower levels due to the amount of debris between the cavity during the construction process), soil piled up against the wall, cracked render (look for green moss growing around this area), Check patios haven't been laid above the DPC... these are just a few but there are loads of signs to look for. A good builder would automatically cheack the simple causes before jumping in head first with major overhauls.

As the damp is so localised it is more likely to be a minor problem rather than something serious (not ruling that out completely but one step at a time). It's unlikely to be condensation to be present in just one room unless that room is sealed for most of the time.

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Professional Kitchen & Bathroom Fitters | Master Painters and Decorators | Brighton & Hove

Thanks for the reply. I wrongly gave the impression the damp was localised. I quote "I have now had a house buyers survey done on the property in [----]. This has shown up excessive dampness on the ground floor. ".