Absolutely! It’s shocking how often misdiagnoses lead to expensive and unnecessary treatments. The goal is to fix the root cause, not just cover it up. That’s why understanding where damp really comes from is so important! Thanks for your comment - together, we can demystify damp and help more people avoid these costly mistakes. 🏠💦 I've just uploaded: th-cam.com/video/iSpecL_3aFE/w-d-xo.html Rising Damp Treatment: A Cover-Up, Not a Cure
Thank you for this content. I have enjoyed using your surveys as a learning aid. Would you have any advice for somebody aspiring to become an independent damp surveyor with respect to pathways, qualifications and practical knowledge resources?
Thank you for your question - it’s an excellent one, and I’ve thought a lot about this. Here’s my advice for anyone aspiring to become an independent damp surveyor, based on my own journey and experience. Pathways & Qualifications 📝 Career Change & Spotting the Opportunity: I transitioned into this field after identifying an unmet business need for accurate, independent damp surveys. There’s real potential for offering evidence-based diagnosis rather than quick fixes. Professional Qualifications: PCA (Property Care Association): I qualified as a PCA surveyor. While I’m no fan of the PCA, having this qualification helps with Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance (PI is critical, normally takes a year of working for someone else, PI is need for listing on Checkatrade and Which). The PCAs course involves about 10 days of study (split into two sessions) and an exam. RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors): I also qualified as a RICS expert witness and have attended their damp courses. Continuous Learning: I frequently attend courses and webinars from organisations like: PCA (Property Care Association) SPAB (Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings) Historic England This ongoing education keeps me up-to-date with the latest thinking and techniques. 📚 Learning from Others: I was lucky to learn the basics by teaming up with a buddy who was a former damp proofer turned damp surveyor. Practical, hands-on experience is invaluable. 🛠️ Practical Knowledge & Resources 🕵️♂️🔍 In my experience, accurate damp diagnosis relies on practical skills and a forensic approach. Here are the first 10 things to check during a damp investigation: Ventilation: Use an anemometer to measure airflow. 🌬️ See my videos for demonstrations. Damp Meter (Radio Mode): Map out damp areas with a damp meter in radio mode. 📡 Colour Analysis: Brown stains: Suggest leaks, penetrating damp, or condensation/interstitial condensation. Calcium sulphate salts: Indicate condensation. Mould: General mould growth points to excess vapour. Look for signs like condensation on windows and dribble marks. Colourless patches near chimneys: Typically hygroscopic salts from historic coal burning or animal excrement. 🐎 Sub-Floor Relative Humidity: Measure and monitor humidity levels under the floor. 📊 Rainwater Drains: Check for abnormal plant growth in or along the drain line - a sign of a cracked drain. 🌱 Mains Water Leaks: Check for pressure loss on the meter to identify leaks. 💧 External Inspection: Look for issues with the roof, drains, and rainwater goods. Check for green/brown streaks, moss, or algae. 🏠🔍 Neighbouring Properties: If damp affects a shared wall, arrange access to the neighbour’s property or the flat above if needed. Thermal Camera: Useful for highlighting thermal bridging and spotting leaks or underfloor heating issues. Clients love it! 📱🔥 Data Loggers: Have clients install data loggers a week before the survey and analyse the data using: 🔗 damp.ai/detect Insights on the PCA, RICS, and Rising Damp 🏢 PCA: While the PCA provides useful training, they don’t offer real-life examples of rising damp. Their approach to hygroscopic salts often assumes they come from rising damp, which isn’t normally the most likely source. They also overlook teaching techniques for detecting drain, mains water leaks and waste water leaks, which are far more common. RICS: RICS surveyors can get overly concerned about seeing a damp proof course (DPC), likely due to liability fears (see Hart v Large). In practice, DPCs are a bit of a red herring - post-1875, they’re usually present, but given they can be bridged in the vapour phase, fixing the root cause of moisture is far more important. 🚫💧 Legal Considerations ⚖️ Most of my work is for property owners, not buyers, so: No Time Pressure: I can take time to produce thorough reports. Lower Risk of Liability: The risk of being sued is lower since owners don’t face immediate financial loss. For Buyers: I’ll work with them only if they agree to a £10,000 liability cap and understand the limits of my liability. Future Content & Community Demand 📢 I’m planning to publish more content on various aspects of damp diagnosis, especially if there’s demand from the community. Topics will include: Advanced techniques for identifying moisture sources Real-life case studies Forensic approaches to damp diagnosis If there’s anything specific you’d like to see, let me know! 😊 Final Tip - Evidence of Rising Damp 📏 If you suspect rising damp, a useful technique is to drill near the property (carefully avoiding pipes and wires), insert a 10mm tube, and measure water levels. This can help distinguish between groundwater and a drain leak. Best of luck on your journey! Simon 🌐 Try our AI tool: damp.ai - feedback is always welcome! 📲 This is a very brief, simplified overview for educational purposes only. There are many exceptions, and having a flexible, inquiring mind is the starting point - the rest comes from experience. I plan to publish videos on the most important techniques in 2025, especially if there’s widespread interest in these comments. I wish I’d had the resources I’m providing when I started. 😊 I’m providing these resources because I believe the current system is broken, and we need new, independent damp surveyors. 🕵️♂️ There’s potential for a new representative body, more relevant coursework, and a RICS (and therefore lender) recognised qualification. Revolutions take time and energy. We have to start with what’s available now. Every day is a learning day.
Thanks for sharing this content, it's really helpful - especially with working from home and greater issues with condensation caused by high fuel costs.
Paul, you’re spot on! 👏 During and after the Covid lockdowns, cases of condensation, mould, and rising damp-like symptoms doubled. Then came the fuel crisis 🔥💰 - people cut heating in rooms, shortened heating periods, and blocked draughts without compensating with ventilation. The result? More trapped moisture and more damp issues. 💧🏠 If you follow Dew’s Law 🌡️💧 - keeping the internal vapour temperature (measured in °C) below the external temperature most of the time - and use targeted ventilation and dehumidification, you’ll be fine! 🏠👌
The problem is also that potential property purchasers, & home owners with defects, often don't want to pay the fees for a good building defect/damp surveyor. They go for the free survey, or the low cost survey from the damp-proofing companies. Who obviously then sell them a chemical injected damp-proof course, or a cementitious wall tanking system. Sometimes these people cannot be helped unfortunately. I do see genuine rising dampness in my part of the world, but it is a rarity. Mostly the rising dampness symptoms are caused by condensation, drain issues, lateral dampness from high ground levels, vapour diffusion, render issues, etcetera, etcetera. Maybe telling everyone what they should expect to pay roughly for a decent independent surveyor may help too. I accept that this may vary in different postcode areas, counties, etcetera & vary on the size of the building or type of survey also, but some kind of ballpark figure would be beneficial to anyone out there looking for a decent survey.
Nigel, I totally agree! 👍 You'll find my prices online - £500 for a basic survey and up to £750 for a standard one. In London, I can manage up to 4 surveys a day. I also offer a money-back guarantee for any genuine cases of rising damp... and guess what? I've never had a claim! 😅 In 2017, I even offered estate agents a new iPhone if I found rising damp - turns out, I got too much business! If you're into data loggers, I get my clients to place three ORIA Wireless Thermometer Hygrometers 📊 (Mini Bluetooth 5.0 - £19.76 for 3) in the property for a week before the survey: 🔗 www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0CLRX72TH Then I use this tool I built with A.I. to analyze the data: 🌐 damp.ai/detect/ Where are you based? I'd love to study a genuine case of rising damp. Even a 15th-century house (built in Worcs. during the Wars of the Roses!) with a 16th-century extension over an aquifer didn’t show rising damp thanks to good sub-floor airflow. 🕵️♂️ Check out this video for more on damp misdiagnosis: 🔗 "Home Buyer Surveyor Claims Rising Damp Without Evidence" th-cam.com/video/d7-G7SzPa90/w-d-xo.html Thanks for your comment, best of luck! Simon 😊 🌐 Try our AI site: damp.ai and please provide feedback on TH-cam - it's still evolving!
Thank you for your question! 😊 I’m not entirely sure which readings you’re referring to, but if you mean the data from the data loggers (damp.ai/detect/), I use Claude, an AI tool, to collate and display all the readings on one screen. It helps me analyse and present the data effectively. For damp.ai, I’ve trained ChatGPT to assist with damp diagnostics. Both tools are currently in Beta testing, and I welcome collaboration to refine and enhance them. I’ll produce a video on this topic soon to show how it all works in more detail - stay tuned! 🎥✨
You're so right some of these damp companies haven't got a clue do more harm than good
Absolutely! It’s shocking how often misdiagnoses lead to expensive and unnecessary treatments. The goal is to fix the root cause, not just cover it up. That’s why understanding where damp really comes from is so important! Thanks for your comment - together, we can demystify damp and help more people avoid these costly mistakes. 🏠💦
I've just uploaded: th-cam.com/video/iSpecL_3aFE/w-d-xo.html
Rising Damp Treatment: A Cover-Up, Not a Cure
Thank you for this content. I have enjoyed using your surveys as a learning aid.
Would you have any advice for somebody aspiring to become an independent damp surveyor with respect to pathways, qualifications and practical knowledge resources?
Thank you for your question - it’s an excellent one, and I’ve thought a lot about this. Here’s my advice for anyone aspiring to become an independent damp surveyor, based on my own journey and experience.
Pathways & Qualifications 📝
Career Change & Spotting the Opportunity:
I transitioned into this field after identifying an unmet business need for accurate, independent damp surveys. There’s real potential for offering evidence-based diagnosis rather than quick fixes.
Professional Qualifications:
PCA (Property Care Association): I qualified as a PCA surveyor. While I’m no fan of the PCA, having this qualification helps with Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance (PI is critical, normally takes a year of working for someone else, PI is need for listing on Checkatrade and Which). The PCAs course involves about 10 days of study (split into two sessions) and an exam.
RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors): I also qualified as a RICS expert witness and have attended their damp courses.
Continuous Learning: I frequently attend courses and webinars from organisations like:
PCA (Property Care Association)
SPAB (Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings)
Historic England
This ongoing education keeps me up-to-date with the latest thinking and techniques. 📚
Learning from Others:
I was lucky to learn the basics by teaming up with a buddy who was a former damp proofer turned damp surveyor. Practical, hands-on experience is invaluable. 🛠️
Practical Knowledge & Resources 🕵️♂️🔍
In my experience, accurate damp diagnosis relies on practical skills and a forensic approach. Here are the first 10 things to check during a damp investigation:
Ventilation:
Use an anemometer to measure airflow. 🌬️ See my videos for demonstrations.
Damp Meter (Radio Mode):
Map out damp areas with a damp meter in radio mode. 📡
Colour Analysis:
Brown stains: Suggest leaks, penetrating damp, or condensation/interstitial condensation.
Calcium sulphate salts: Indicate condensation.
Mould: General mould growth points to excess vapour. Look for signs like condensation on windows and dribble marks.
Colourless patches near chimneys: Typically hygroscopic salts from historic coal burning or animal excrement. 🐎
Sub-Floor Relative Humidity:
Measure and monitor humidity levels under the floor. 📊
Rainwater Drains:
Check for abnormal plant growth in or along the drain line - a sign of a cracked drain. 🌱
Mains Water Leaks:
Check for pressure loss on the meter to identify leaks. 💧
External Inspection:
Look for issues with the roof, drains, and rainwater goods. Check for green/brown streaks, moss, or algae. 🏠🔍
Neighbouring Properties:
If damp affects a shared wall, arrange access to the neighbour’s property or the flat above if needed.
Thermal Camera:
Useful for highlighting thermal bridging and spotting leaks or underfloor heating issues. Clients love it! 📱🔥
Data Loggers:
Have clients install data loggers a week before the survey and analyse the data using:
🔗 damp.ai/detect
Insights on the PCA, RICS, and Rising Damp 🏢
PCA: While the PCA provides useful training, they don’t offer real-life examples of rising damp. Their approach to hygroscopic salts often assumes they come from rising damp, which isn’t normally the most likely source. They also overlook teaching techniques for detecting drain, mains water leaks and waste water leaks, which are far more common.
RICS: RICS surveyors can get overly concerned about seeing a damp proof course (DPC), likely due to liability fears (see Hart v Large). In practice, DPCs are a bit of a red herring - post-1875, they’re usually present, but given they can be bridged in the vapour phase, fixing the root cause of moisture is far more important. 🚫💧
Legal Considerations ⚖️
Most of my work is for property owners, not buyers, so:
No Time Pressure: I can take time to produce thorough reports.
Lower Risk of Liability: The risk of being sued is lower since owners don’t face immediate financial loss.
For Buyers: I’ll work with them only if they agree to a £10,000 liability cap and understand the limits of my liability.
Future Content & Community Demand 📢
I’m planning to publish more content on various aspects of damp diagnosis, especially if there’s demand from the community. Topics will include:
Advanced techniques for identifying moisture sources
Real-life case studies
Forensic approaches to damp diagnosis
If there’s anything specific you’d like to see, let me know! 😊
Final Tip - Evidence of Rising Damp 📏
If you suspect rising damp, a useful technique is to drill near the property (carefully avoiding pipes and wires), insert a 10mm tube, and measure water levels. This can help distinguish between groundwater and a drain leak.
Best of luck on your journey!
Simon
🌐 Try our AI tool: damp.ai - feedback is always welcome! 📲
This is a very brief, simplified overview for educational purposes only. There are many exceptions, and having a flexible, inquiring mind is the starting point - the rest comes from experience. I plan to publish videos on the most important techniques in 2025, especially if there’s widespread interest in these comments. I wish I’d had the resources I’m providing when I started. 😊
I’m providing these resources because I believe the current system is broken, and we need new, independent damp surveyors. 🕵️♂️ There’s potential for a new representative body, more relevant coursework, and a RICS (and therefore lender) recognised qualification. Revolutions take time and energy. We have to start with what’s available now.
Every day is a learning day.
Thanks for sharing this content, it's really helpful - especially with working from home and greater issues with condensation caused by high fuel costs.
Paul, you’re spot on! 👏 During and after the Covid lockdowns, cases of condensation, mould, and rising damp-like symptoms doubled. Then came the fuel crisis 🔥💰 - people cut heating in rooms, shortened heating periods, and blocked draughts without compensating with ventilation. The result? More trapped moisture and more damp issues. 💧🏠
If you follow Dew’s Law 🌡️💧 - keeping the internal vapour temperature (measured in °C) below the external temperature most of the time - and use targeted ventilation and dehumidification, you’ll be fine! 🏠👌
The problem is also that potential property purchasers, & home owners with defects, often don't want to pay the fees for a good building defect/damp surveyor. They go for the free survey, or the low cost survey from the damp-proofing companies. Who obviously then sell them a chemical injected damp-proof course, or a cementitious wall tanking system. Sometimes these people cannot be helped unfortunately. I do see genuine rising dampness in my part of the world, but it is a rarity. Mostly the rising dampness symptoms are caused by condensation, drain issues, lateral dampness from high ground levels, vapour diffusion, render issues, etcetera, etcetera. Maybe telling everyone what they should expect to pay roughly for a decent independent surveyor may help too. I accept that this may vary in different postcode areas, counties, etcetera & vary on the size of the building or type of survey also, but some kind of ballpark figure would be beneficial to anyone out there looking for a decent survey.
Nigel, I totally agree! 👍 You'll find my prices online - £500 for a basic survey and up to £750 for a standard one. In London, I can manage up to 4 surveys a day. I also offer a money-back guarantee for any genuine cases of rising damp... and guess what? I've never had a claim! 😅 In 2017, I even offered estate agents a new iPhone if I found rising damp - turns out, I got too much business!
If you're into data loggers, I get my clients to place three ORIA Wireless Thermometer Hygrometers 📊 (Mini Bluetooth 5.0 - £19.76 for 3) in the property for a week before the survey:
🔗 www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0CLRX72TH
Then I use this tool I built with A.I. to analyze the data:
🌐 damp.ai/detect/
Where are you based? I'd love to study a genuine case of rising damp. Even a 15th-century house (built in Worcs. during the Wars of the Roses!) with a 16th-century extension over an aquifer didn’t show rising damp thanks to good sub-floor airflow. 🕵️♂️
Check out this video for more on damp misdiagnosis:
🔗 "Home Buyer Surveyor Claims Rising Damp Without Evidence"
th-cam.com/video/d7-G7SzPa90/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for your comment, best of luck!
Simon 😊
🌐 Try our AI site: damp.ai and please provide feedback on TH-cam - it's still evolving!
Hi what AI tool do you use to get all the readings on one screen?
Thank you for your question! 😊
I’m not entirely sure which readings you’re referring to, but if you mean the data from the data loggers (damp.ai/detect/), I use Claude, an AI tool, to collate and display all the readings on one screen. It helps me analyse and present the data effectively.
For damp.ai, I’ve trained ChatGPT to assist with damp diagnostics. Both tools are currently in Beta testing, and I welcome collaboration to refine and enhance them.
I’ll produce a video on this topic soon to show how it all works in more detail - stay tuned! 🎥✨