Hi

we are in the process of purchasing a property and some issues have come up in the survey(RICS homebuyers report). The house is a 3 bed semi about 70 years old, walls believed solid which have been rendered and the render painted. The survey was done by the building society appointed surveyor.

The "Dampness, rot and infestatation" section states

Dampness is effecting wall at low level in the entrance porch I suspect this is due to bridging of the DPC

Penetrating dampness is affecting chimney stach in the loft space which I suspect is due to defective flashings above. Concealed timbers may be effective and should be fully investigated

You now need to instruct a damp proofing/timber treatment contractor to carry out an investigation to identify the full extent of the problem and the necessary repairs required, together with an estimate of the cost.

The combination of high external ground levels and render finish bridges the DPC which could cause dampness problems. Sub floor ventilation is inadequate and additional airbricks should be provided and existing airbricks should be iunblocked. You now need to instruct a contractor to open up the flooring to identify the full extent of the problem and the necessary repairs required.

Should we be worried about this?? I spoke to the surveyor on the phone before getting the written report through and he made it sound less serious. He basically said we would need to get a narrow channel dug around the outside of the walls to lower the ground level and install additional airbricks, and get some roof tiles/flashing tidied up.
However, the written report seems to be a bit over the top to me. He actually said on the phone when he tested the walls they were quite dry. It appears there is some localised damp in the porch (the porch is a recent add on in 1997).

If there are no real signs of damp other than a little bit in the porch, don't we just need to get the channel/dry area put in and the airbricks soonish after we move in. If so, does anyone know very roughly how much we are looking at? I am purely guessing at 2k ish but maybe I am wrong.
The outside perimeter of the house is roughly 25 meters I would guess (excluding the party wall)

Getting people to take up the floor and investigate roof timbers seems like an arse-covering exercise to me in his written report. In our informal conversation on the phone he just suggested getting the channel/airbricks put in, getting the roof tidied up and trying to get a few grand knocked off the price from the vendor to reflect the cost of this.

Any thoughts on cost of the work and the actual risk of damp in the subfloor/walls welcome...sorry to ramble am really a DIY newbie!

2k should cover the works to the ground floor comfortably.

No idea about the roof/flashing without pics as there is a massive variance in what this job could entail.

buyers market
make rememedying the faults or part towards the costs as part off the contract
although you may find they have factored these items into the equasion already
the points mentioned are actualy quite minor and more maintanance issues

and yes get your 3 companys in to quote for the work

As pointed out above, get quotes for the work and negotiate with the sellers. If they are not reasonable and reduce the price accordingly you should walk away from the deal.

managed to negotiate a 2.5k reduction so a reasonable result I think - thanks for the replies. Hopefully this will cover the work.

if it doesn't, there won't be much of a shortfall i would guess.

well done!

Help !!!We were almost there with the sale of our house when our buyers building society requested that another survey was carried out by a damp & timber surveyor.We weren't at all concerned [we have lived here for 5 years with no problem whatsoever ] & yet the guy put his meter to the walls & showed me a "damp problem" in 3 areas !I was gobsmacked we have no problem with peeling paint or stains ect or any of the usual signs in fact when I pointed this out he even agreed that the plaster was in very good condition so how come it's a damp "problem"?Surely walls can retain a little more water at some time [we have recently had heavy rain & being summer we have not had the central heating for some time]The guttering was replaced last summer & the house is rendered all the way apart from a dozen or so courses of brick at ground level [the damp course which appears to be intact is a grey layer between 2 courses of bricks] Are we being conned ?Would appreciate a really fast reply !! Jan evans

A wall can be damp without showing any visable symptoms.

The banks and building societies are being really, really picky at the moment as they have had their arses spanked.

If I were you I'd get in touch with a couple of local damp proofing companies and see if you can find ones that will give you a no obligation free quote, then they will test the walls as well.

If they are found to have rising damp, you will have to nogotiate with the buyers/drop the price or get it fixed.

You say that there is a mechanical damp proof course and that it appears to be intact, but there could be debris in the cavity which is bridging the dpc.

I doubt if you are being conned, but there is little you can do if the Building society refuses to lend to the other party if the damp is not remedied.

Thanks for the really speedy reply ! There is no cavity in our walls does that make any difference ? also can you tell me why when this situation arises that it is ok to send someone from a firm that stands to gain from finding problems & not a properly trained surveyor from an impartial firm [I have even seen it advertised as such on one site " as a result of our survey buyers can often negotiate a reduction in the purchase price" !]For us to disprove this we would have to pay for an expensive survey & then what ?[it would be stalemate ?!]