Who deals with damp?

[Chris Davies]

Hi All I have recently moved into an 1830s house which has a number of walls affected by damp. I am sure the causes of the problem is distinct for each area (i.e. in different parts of the house - so there is not just one cause). My question is who should I call to sort out this problem? Would a general builder have the know how to locate the problem? Or is there some kind of trade which specialises in finding the causes of damp and fixing them? Sorry to ask such a basic question, but I really am a novice at this sort of thing. Many thanks Chris ps. I am not dealing with rising damp - since the problems are on upper floors - so I guess it is leaking plumbing or drainage.

[Lobster]

If, as you suspect, the causes of the damp are different, then your best bet will be to get the correct tradesman out for the job. Eg, if you have a damp patch caused by a leaking pipe on the bath (plumber), it's a completely different situation to a leaking roof (roofer).

Why not try providing more details of the damp(s) here; no doubt people can then advise you better?

(I would think a general builder could probably 'sort' it for you; but probably the sort who employ their own plumbers, roofers etc; but likely to be very expensive, and anyway whether a firm of that size would be interested in the job is another matter...)

David

[N. Thornton]

the damp industry is better avoided

Best thing is to figure it out here with us. Some maybes: gutter overflow gutter out of alignemnt with roof, so water misses gutter gutter pipes leak waterpipe leak bad mortar between bricks lets water in

Regards, NT

[Michael Mcneil]

I would bet real money it is one of those.

If you have a good pair of binoculars and can get to a good view of the roof, compare the look of it with those nearby.

Get hold of a ladder and take a look in the gutters and feel for the tar paper if there is any under the slates.

Clean out the gutter and put water into it. Can you fill it up or does it leak?

If it all just runs down the spout I shall be suprised.

If it is none of those, what sort of condition are the windholes in?

If you have had double glazing put in and the only seal is silicon; if they were done on a damp day, you don't have a seal. If it was done on a windy day and they are large pvc units, you do not have a seal.

I believe the only way to get a really good seal with silicon and pvc is to have wooden ones. But then I just don't like pvc windows. They are ugly and leak.

And even if they don't leak because the water runs down the channel and back out the bottom because the fitters couldn't be bothered to do even half the job properly, they are still bloody ugly.