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Amazing how a little actual investigation can yield results.

Thanks Neil for sharing your knowledge with us young wannabe surveyors it gives us things to check that we might not have thought of… great job on the vids thanks

The Damp band is caused by moisture that has been trapped within the brickwork. The damp reached the porous plaster to dry-out above the damp proofing plaster. The cause is either a to strong water proofer in the plaster so its trapped the damp within the brickwork, or the brickwork hasn't been left long enough to dry. You can use a salt neutralizer on the brickwork and use a builders drier to dry the brickwork before replastering with washed sand, sharp sand or mix of sharp and plastering which also washed. You have no evidence of the company using sand from the beach ? Building sand which also unwashed can have the same effect. The building regs B.S. 6576 recommends you leave the exposed brickwork to dry before replasting.

Well done Neil

hi neil thanks so much for this we have a similar situation flashing etc fine no issues just sheer mass as you say god knows how much work people have done o no avail. i remember i was brought up in a house with a bit of damp in the ceiling...it's still there, nothing's happened, nothing s channged, and its been like that for 200 year. people dont understand water and just panic.

Interested to know what remedial strategy employed to eradicate beetle? Thanks

Hi Neil, love these videos. What will you be suggesting the client does?

I'm so relieved to hear this! Funnily enough I am in Northumberland myself and I ended up paying over £1000 to have my chimney repointed and rain water continued to come in. I ended up having to get another roofer out to finish the job. My chimney still gets damp patches after all this work and I've been getting so worried. I know there might be more work needed but seeing this has made me feel a bit better!

Any ideas how to service one of these environments?

You know what you are talking about Mr Neil.

@2:52 you mentioned "stepped, as it should be". Can you explain why the dpc should be stepped there? Thanks for all your videos informing us on these issues! Appreciate it.

why is it a problem now, when the dwelling is about 60 years old? is it because of double glazing and not enough ventilation?

Thank you Neil, you've saved me a considerable amount of money after a RICS survey advised the entirety of our external dining room wall was damp!

I don’t think the injection damp proffers didn’t understand, I think they don’t care and just want money

Rising damp obviously

lol,you flicking that around would freek our American cousins out 😂😂😂😂😂

Hey Neil, do you have any experience with mould simply being scrubbed off and painted over without proper remediation? Or likewise with condensation damp on drywall that could therefore be hiding mould spores under the paint but not stopping it slowly developing and coming to the surface of the cover up paint job. Thanks, I seriously could use any advice or knowledge you could share, and I'm a long way from your area. My bathroom walls are very slightly uneven. As i pass my hand over it in a horizontal motion i can feel an unevenness and there are visible slightly wavy vertical streaks (that look like condensation stains that the paint hasn't totally obscured) that correspond to the textures of the uneven surfaces. Thanks again 👍

At 2:53, you say something like "it all stems from defective [real mortar goods??]". I could not track what was said here. What does the rising damp stem from and how should it have been treated instead?

freshly cut timber or green wood may have moisture content 40% but not timbers that are visibly dry and have been there for over a hundred years!! So that figure alone would have raised questions!

I looked at a house about a year ago where there was very localised damp in one area beneath the stairs. I always look at everything else that could be happening before I even think of rising damp. I'm structural engineer and sometimes do general survey on houses. I looked in the airing cupboard above this area (a good place to look as they are often not redecorated so hold a bit more 'history'. There was lots of damp staining from a leaking roof and there was some form of valley above. So the water had soaked into the stone wall and emerged at the bottom.

I have a couple of similar white patches on rafters by the side of my chimney in my loft. 1960 concrete tile roofed house, but leaks occasionally when hit by driven rain on the exposed side (can see the sea to the south west). Would this be salts out of the mortar joints and parging on the chimney I wonder. They did use Lime in the mix.

Again another useful video that I wish I had found earlier... We had this problem in the house that we are restoring. At some time in the past, the skirtings had been renewed (long story shortened) and the builders had slapped rend er on behind them to bed them on. This touched the concrete floor and caused damp to travel up behind them. It was possible to smell the damp on removing skirtings. Also the pointing on outside was bad (solid walls) drains and gutters shot etc etc. This bridging from floor has been an ongoing theme throughout the house. I have spent many an hour hacking the render back. Happily, the walls do appear to be drying out.

I wish I had found your videos sooner, they would have saved me a lot of time and head scratching!

This was one of the several damp problems on the house that we are renovating (there are several others!). Could have easily been misdiagnosed as rising damp.

I’ve got the same issue on my exterior walls but, i also have the same issue on two of my interior walls, damp on the chimney breast (with loads of salts) and damp on the opposing but still interior wall. Obviously without pictures you couldn’t recommend much but do you or anyone have any thoughts? Looks like penetrating damp, comes in circular patches where it’s been dot and dabbed with gypsum plaster.

Non porous paint as well moisture not evaporating

95% of the time that someone says it's rising damp you find that there is another reason for the damp.

Thank god someone with a brain came along to save pitential purchaser thousands of pounds. These damp proof installers are juat out for your money. Im a structural engineer and traffic passing close to a house does not cause any structural damage, least of all failure of the dpc

Perhaps it would be a good idea to interview the tenants

I wish other surveyors would look beyond the beeping of their meter, like you. Good detective work.

This is the detective work that all damp trades people need to employ.

Hello Neil I got the same model but my heating element never worked. I have a no volt or free volt connection to switch it on but nothing happens. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks

So what was the actual solution?

Everyone should have a heat exchange vent keeping wet air out and the heat in every bedroom and bathroom.

Thanks for the Video Neil. Looking at a property at the moment with the potential prescense of deathwatch beetle. Not come across flight holes quite that size yet (4-6mm?).

What is the wall like on the other side? Is there a drain, gutter, rendering, etc?

Very informative, thank you Neil. I had a home buyers survey done on my house last week. The surveyor recommended further investigation for damp in our 1880s house. The buyers have booked a company to come round to do a damp and wood survey. My concern is that the company coming also provides damp and woodwork repairs. I could do with finding an independent Surveyor like you in my area - Staffordshire. Interestingly, my agent told me that independent damp and wood Surveyors don't exist. How wrong. she is.

Run like hell you mean 😂😂😂

Is it not just because the house is empty and probably not heated? Same at my first house. Within 2 weeks of moving in, the cold and damp walls were gone. Rising damp is easy to spot as there's damp and mould all over the wall starting at the base. No mould, no problem.

Thank you.

How do you know it’s wood boring weevil and not any other type of woodworm?

No vapor barrier was installed. Bad construction.

Surely with that bitumen felt over the rafters and no ventilation the roof is sweating, As for those timbers they should be replaced and a breathable roofing membrane installed hey presto problem sorted.

Time to pump some chemicals along the perimeter.

I learnt something new that explains previous failed attempts at fixing damp, I didn’t know that subsequent dampness was probably hygroscopic absorption from the atmosphere. Thank you

Amazing that almost always the quote for damp works is c£6k😆. Interesting video Neil as always 👍

I have these in my woodpile down the garden. We've got a log box and my son swore blind he heard a mouse scratching in it. Turns out what he can hear is the larvae biting the wood which makes a little cracking noise. It's all oak wood from a tree that was felled on a local farm about 2 years ago.

I'm a trainee surveyor Neil, so this is a great insight. Thank you

Fantastic … how do I enquire for a survey by yourself

Great video as normal Neil!!