We declare a bias.
It rains most weeks, mainly at night, keeping our gardens green, air fresh and winter’s mild.
99{f898b7ccba74aedaf6f9f165b1651d39d829939f1b62e7036dcda8fdc0245a9d} of London’s property was built to a tried and tested design; Georgian, Victoria, Edwardian, art-deco, 1920 or 1930. Changes were subtle and progressive.
Robert Hichens was chairman of the London Stock Exchange between 1838 and 1842 precipitating a period of massive investment and construction of the railways. London suburbs became commutable and desirable with fresher air than central London.
The Great Stink of July to August 1858 was caused by untreated human waste along the banks of the River Thames. It resulted in Joseph Bazalgette’s 82 mile sewage system. By 1866 most of London was connected to the sewer network.
Ability to connect flush toilets to the network, was one of the many benefits. Standard Victorian London house designs moved away from the split ground floor (lower and raised) to incorporate a flush toilet on the ground floor and bedroom level. The change in design meant that properties were often closer to roads. In these pre-car days, streets were covered in manure which would splash onto walls, with consequential ingress of odorous moisture.
A by-law was introduced in 1877 in London requiring a damp-proof courses (“DPC”) “beneath the level of the lowest timbers”. It was not introduce to combat rising damp. London has never had a problem of high water table. In areas of the country where there is a high water table issue, a sacrificial trench was dug around a property, filled with gravel and drained away from a property.
According to Thames Water, London’s water-table is low, below the lowest tube-line. Almost every property in London is in a low flood risk area (see flood risk checker– flood risk is a proxy for a high water table, a necessity for rising damp). If the water table is well below ground floor level, the risk of rising damp is low.
Dry Rot Skirting board – a first floor flat of a mid terrace Victorian property in London Cause of Damp Condensation The London flat had been tenanted and in the sales process a RICS surveyor correctly identified dry rot as a potential risk. The remit was to determine risks and costs. Background the dry rot is …
Dry rot is the biggest concern with any damp property and therefore should be considered in every single damp survey. Dr rot is especially virulent in London, by contrast Rising Damp is not an issue in London and ground water is pumped out. Dry rot spores Dr rot pores are omnipresent, that is the micro seeds …
Yesterday we surveyed two properties both with damage caused by a large chemical damp proofing company. Here’s a snippet of the Plc’s failures. Damp treatment failure Ask for more details of what goes wrong when damp is misdiagnosed and why it causes more problems than it solves. Please add your comments.
24hr turn around Ask us for a Priority Urgent Damp Report (Damp and Timber Reports) Vendors Buyer are unhappy to spend additional money on a damp survey. Builders (damp contractors) offer quotes for works, which they call damp surveys, so what do you expect…. a £10,000 estimate for rising damp and renegotiation. Agents are seeing …
Tenants dry clothes in properties, causing condensation! What can the Landlord do? There is only so much a landlord can do by themselves, to get tenants to manage condensation. At Damp Surveys we have 10 years experience working with tenants and landlords as a team, to reduce humidity, and take out the risk of …
Damp Surveys – problem damp in lower ground floor flat Misdiagnosis An independent surveyor missed the obvious signs of condensation. Sad, because you expect contractors to misdiagnose damp, after all “they are incentivised to sell”. A cold November day, 4 people living in a two bedroom lower ground floor flat, no extractor fan in kitchen nor bathroom …
Misdiagnosis condensation, as penetrating damp through chimney Read More »
