You can rely on West Twelve to help you diagnose any damp issues you have. Our independent damp and timber surveys will help highlight damp and timber issues in your property throughout London, Bristol, Exeter and Surrey.
The presence of damp is often ignored by homeowners, or simply not recognised until a building is surveyed when, for example, the property is being sold or remortgaged.
Damp in buildings is frequently misdiagnosed by many damp proofing contractors, often leading to hundreds, in some cases thousands of pounds on unnecessary and inappropriate treatments that can cause further damage to the structure, particularly with old and period properties.
You can trust us to provide you an accurate and unbiased survey because we are independent which means we can have no ulterior motives in our surveys, we do not fix issues we find with your property, we only recommend the course of action you should take.
Dampness tends to feature heavily in valuation and mortgage surveys leading to a recommendation that a “specialist contractor” is instructed to carry out an inspection. This is when the less scrupulous contractors seize the opportunity for a salesman, disguised as a “surveyor” to enter your property and sell to you “solutions” to a problem that probably doesn’t actually exist.
All that said, dampness in its various forms is a great concern to the majority of property owners. Damp in buildings creates unhealthy living conditions, mould growths, soiling of decorations and damage to wall plasters and coatings. Prolonged exposure to damp can lead to plaster failure, mineral salt contamination and also masonry erosion. All forms of fungal decay, including wet and dry rot are associated with moisture and dampness.
If remedial treatments are required it is of prime importance that the source of dampness is correctly diagnosed and that remedial treatments, if required, address the source and not just the symptom.