Damp proofing in Ramsgate? Get an independent survey first

Why the survey comes before damp proofing in Ramsgate

A free damp survey in Ramsgate 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 Ramsgate quotes we see most often are injection on stucco fronted and flint walls, and tanking in basements without understanding the water. On stucco and flint, the damp is usually from cracked render, cement pointing or salt. In basements, tanking without drainage can push water elsewhere.

The kinds of damp proofing, and what each one is for

"Damp proofing" covers several different jobs. A chemical damp proof course is a cream or fluid injected into a mortar course to stop moisture rising from the ground. A physical course is a membrane or slate cut into the wall, slower and more disruptive. Tanking is a waterproof coating or render that holds water back on a wall below ground. A drained membrane lets water reach the wall and carries it away to a channel and pump.

Each answers one fault. None of them fixes rain coming through Regency stucco, brick and flint or brick, a gutter overflowing down a corner, or condensation on a cold wall, and those three account for most of the damp we are asked about in Ramsgate. Replastering is often sold alongside, and on old solid walls the choice of plaster matters as much as anything injected.

Ramsgate walls, and what they actually need

Stucco fronted brick needs sound, breathable render and paint. Flint needs lime pointing. Basements need drainage and, if habitable, a designed below ground system. Post war houses need ventilation and clear courses.

Ramsgate sits on chalk at the eastern tip of Thanet, with cliffs along the coast and Pegwell Bay to the south west, where the land drops to the Stour estuary and the marshes. The chalk drains quickly, so cellars and basements see damp that arrives with heavy rain and fades. Sea spray and salt reach well inland on easterly winds, adding salts to exposed masonry.

• Repairing stucco and repainting in breathable finishes
• Raking out cement and repointing flint and brick in lime
• Drainage and a drained membrane for habitable basements, after the water is understood
• Ventilation improvements for mould in post war houses

Questions to ask before treating a Ramsgate basement

Is the water seasonal or constant? Does it arrive with rain or stay through dry spells? Is it at the front, under the pavement, or at the rear, against the slope? Is there a drain in the area or lightwell, and when was it last cleared? Those questions decide what the right answer is, and a firm that quotes for tanking without asking them is guessing.

In many Ramsgate basements the honest answer is a combination: clear the area drain, repair the vault or the gutter above it, and if the room is to be lived in, install a drained membrane designed for the water that remains. That is a below ground system, not damp proofing in the sense of an injected course, and it should be specified after the survey rather than sold before it.

For the flint and brick houses behind the front, the question is simpler: has the wall been repointed in cement, and has the ground been raised against it? If so, the remedy is lime and a lower path, and the damp usually settles over a season.

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 Ramsgate 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

Questions to put to anyone quoting

• Why is this wall wet, and what is the evidence?
• Have you checked the ground level, gutters and pointing outside, and what did you find?
• Would the damp stop if those were fixed, and how do you know it would not?
• Why this height of replastering, and why this material?
• What exactly does the guarantee cover if the damp comes back in this Ramsgate house?
• Can I have the survey in writing before I decide?

When a damp proof course is the right answer

Genuine rising damp exists, and when the survey finds it the report specifies the remedy plainly. The test is not a meter reading but a pattern: damp highest at the base of the wall, falling with height, present on walls with no external fault, and present in summer as well as winter. In Ramsgate we find that pattern on a minority of the walls we are asked about.

Our survey fees are published on the prices page and fixed before we visit. Set against a damp proofing job on a Ramsgate 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.

Ramsgate has attracted many buyers to its Regency terraces and harbourside flats. Basements, stucco and parapets can hide significant work, and responsibility in converted buildings is often shared. An independent survey before exchange sets out what is wrong, what it will take and who should pay.

The report is yours to use as you like: to compare quotes, to put to a seller or landlord, or simply to know. We take no commission and recommend no contractor, so you choose who does any work in Ramsgate, and we will read their quote against the report if you ask.

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

Around Ramsgate

East and West Cliffs and the harbour

Regency and Victorian terraces with basements, many listed and converted into flats. Stucco, parapets, basements and freeholder responsibility are the main themes.

Central Ramsgate

Smaller brick and flint houses with yards. Cement pointing, raised ground and rear additions are typical.

Newington, Nethercourt and Westwood

Twentieth century housing inland. Mould, ventilation and extension details make up most surveys.

Damp proofing questions in Ramsgate

Nearby

• Damp proofing in Broadstairs
• Damp proofing in Margate
• Damp proofing in Deal

Book a survey before you pay for damp proofing

Holding a damp proofing quote? Book a survey and we will tell you whether it matches what is actually wrong with your Ramsgate home.

Book a Survey or call 07386 225526