Damp proofing in Kings Hill? Get an independent survey first

Why the survey comes before damp proofing in Kings Hill

A free damp survey in Kings Hill is usually a sales visit with a meter. The meter reads high on a wall that is wet for any reason, and on salts in old plaster even when the wall is dry, so a high reading proves very little. An independent survey finds the cause, and only the cause tells you whether damp proofing is the remedy at all.

The Kings Hill quotes we are asked to check are usually for injecting walls or installing a "condensation control" package after mould has appeared. In a house under thirty years old, a failed damp proof course is very rare. Mould comes from condensation, ventilation that is not working, or water getting in at an opening. Injecting the wall does nothing for any of those.

A short guide to damp proofing methods

Chemical injection puts a water repellent barrier into the base of a wall. Electro osmotic and other proprietary systems make similar claims by different means. Membranes and tanking hold or drain water on below ground walls. Breathable or salt resistant plasters deal with what years of damp leave behind. They are tools, and the skill is in knowing which, if any, the wall needs.

Old Kings Hill walls built in modern brick and block or soft brick were never meant to be sealed. They take a little water and lose it again, and many damp problems in them start the day somebody stopped them losing it. The right damp proofing for such a wall is often the work that lets it breathe again.

Kings Hill walls, and what they actually need

A Kings Hill wall is a cavity wall, often with a timber frame inner leaf, built with a damp proof course and cavity trays. It needs its course kept clear of patios, its openings sealed, its trays doing their job and, above all, the house ventilated as designed. That is maintenance and repair, not damp proofing.

The development sits on high, fairly level ground on the Hythe Beds and sands south of West Malling, which generally drains well. Surface water is managed through engineered drainage and balancing ponds rather than natural streams, so where a house has damp at ground level, the questions are about its own drainage details, gully connections and the levels of paths and patios laid after handover rather than about groundwater.

• Commissioning, repairing or cleaning mechanical ventilation and extract fans
• Resealing window and door openings and checking cavity trays at abutments
• Lowering patios and paths laid above the damp proof course after handover
• Clearing balcony outlets and checking thresholds on flats

Five things to check before anyone treats a Kings Hill wall

Is the extract fan in the bathroom and kitchen running, ducted to outside, and moving air you can feel at the grille? Are trickle vents open? Has a patio, path or flower bed been built up near the damp proof course? Is there a gap in the sealant around the window or door near the damp? Is the damp near a balcony, a roof junction or a gutter outlet above?

If the answer to any of those is yes, that is where to start. A survey confirms which and measures what cannot be seen, such as the flow at a fan or the temperature of a cold corner.

What proper damp proofing should look like

• A written diagnosis first, with readings and photographs, saying why the wall is wet
• External causes fixed before or alongside any internal work: ground levels, gutters, pointing, render
• A damp proof course only where one is missing or has genuinely failed, at the right height for the Kings Hill house in question
• Salt contaminated plaster removed and replaced with a suitable breathable or salt resistant finish, not sealed over
• Drying time allowed before decoration, because a wall that has been wet for years does not dry in a week
• A guarantee that names the walls treated and the cause addressed, from a firm that will still be there

How to avoid being oversold

• Never sign on the day of a free survey. A genuine problem will still be there next week
• Ask what else could cause the readings, and how each alternative was ruled out
• Ask for the readings in writing, with where they were taken
• Be wary of whole house treatment for damp found on one wall
• Be wary of tanking or a membrane on an above ground wall that is wet from outside
• Get an independent survey on any Kings Hill job above a few hundred pounds; it often costs less than the plaster you would lose

When a damp proof course is the right answer

We are not against damp proofing. We are against it being the default. When a Kings Hill wall has no working course, sits on damp ground and stays wet after the outside has been put right, a damp proof course and suitable replastering is the right job, and the report will say that and specify it.

Our survey fees are published on the prices page and fixed before we visit. Set against a damp proofing job on a Kings Hill house, which typically runs to several times that once plaster removal and making good are included, the survey is small. When it shows that a wall needs a gutter repair rather than an injected course, it pays for itself several times over.

Buying in Kings Hill usually means buying a house that is between a few years and thirty years old. A homebuyer report mentioning mould or damp readings is common and rarely means anything like rising damp. What matters is whether the ventilation works, whether any water is getting in at openings or abutments, and, on newer houses, what remains of the warranty. An independent survey before exchange answers those questions.

What you do with the report is up to you. Most people fix the outside faults first, which are usually the cheapest, and give the wall a season to dry. Some take the specification to two or three Kings Hill contractors. Some send it back to the firm that quoted, which often changes the quote.

For the full picture of what a survey here involves, see damp surveys in Kings Hill.

Around Kings Hill

The earlier phases

Houses from the 1990s and 2000s, now past their original warranty. Extract fans, window seals and patio levels are the most common sources of trouble.

Apartments near the centre

Flats with mechanical ventilation, often in buildings managed by an agent. Responsibility for ventilation systems and external details may sit with the management company.

Newer phases and the edge of the development

More recent homes, some still in warranty. Construction moisture, commissioning and snagging defects are the usual questions.

Damp proofing questions in Kings Hill

Nearby

• Damp proofing in West Malling
• Damp proofing in East Malling
• Damp proofing in Tonbridge
• Damp proofing in Maidstone

Book a survey before you pay for damp proofing

An independent survey before you pay for damp proofing in Kings Hill. Fixed fee, same day reply, written report within 24 hours.

Book a Survey or call 07386 225526