Damp survey in East Malling

East Malling homes, and how they get damp

The older houses of the village centre are ragstone or brick, often with lime render or tile hanging on the upper floors and suspended timber ground floors. Many are listed or in the conservation area. Their problems are the classic ones for old Kentish buildings: cement repairs that stop the walls breathing, gardens and lanes that have risen against the walls over the decades, and gutters on steep, tree lined lanes that fill with leaves every autumn.

Larkfield, New Hythe and the edges of Ditton are largely post war housing, from the 1950s through to the 1990s, with cavity walls and concrete floors. Here the damp is mostly mould, condensation and cold bridging in bedrooms and bathrooms, plus the occasional bridged damp proof course where a drive or patio has been laid too high.

There are also converted farm buildings and oasts in and around the parish, and newer infill on former orchard land. Conversions bring their own risks: single skin brick walls, insulation and plaster laid directly against them, and ventilation that was designed for drying hops rather than for living.

Ground, water and weather in East Malling

The village sits on the Hythe Beds, the sandy limestone and ragstone that gives the area its building stone, with sands and clays nearby and the Medway valley falling away to the north at New Hythe. Springs and streams run down towards the river, and the lane at Mill Street follows one. Where the stone is close to the surface, drainage is good; where clay sits on top, gardens stay wet and slow to drain, especially on the lower ground towards Larkfield.

What we find most often in East Malling

• Cement pointing and render on ragstone cottages, trapping moisture the wall used to lose
• Lanes and gardens raised against old walls, bridging the floor level or what course exists
• Leaf filled gutters and hoppers on tree lined lanes after every autumn
• Condensation and mould in post war houses in Larkfield and New Hythe
• Damp in converted farm buildings where the conversion sealed a single skin wall

Around East Malling

The village centre and Mill Street

Ragstone and brick cottages, many listed, along lanes that follow the old stream. Lime repairs, ground levels and rainwater are the recurring themes.

Larkfield and New Hythe

Post war estates and later housing between the village and the river. Mould in bedrooms, extract fans that underperform and drives laid over the course are what we usually find.

Ditton and the edge of Aylesford

Mixed twentieth century housing and older cottages close to the A20. Extensions, conservatories and their junctions with the original house are a frequent source of damp.

Rising damp, penetrating damp or condensation?

They can look the same on a East Malling wall: a stain, a tide mark, blown plaster or mould. They behave differently. Rising damp is steady through the year and highest at the base of a wall. Penetrating damp follows the weather and sits where water has a route in, around a window, under a gutter, on the exposed side. Condensation is worst in cold weather, on the coldest surfaces, and often comes with streaming windows.

A meter alone cannot tell them apart, and salts in old plaster make every damp meter read high. The pattern, the readings at depth, the outside of the building and the room conditions together can, which is why the survey takes the time it does.

What a DampScan survey in East Malling covers

A survey here is a morning or an afternoon with one qualified surveyor, not a salesman with a meter. In East Malling that means:

• Moisture readings across a grid on every affected wall, not just the stain, so the shape of the damp is on record
• A look at Kentish ragstone or brick outside, joint by joint where it matters, because the cause is usually on the outside face
• Ground and path levels against each elevation, measured against the damp proof course or the internal floor
• Gutters, downpipes, gullies and any drain covers we can lift
• Air temperature, humidity and surface temperatures, so condensation is measured rather than guessed
• Ventilation: whether fans extract to outside and how much air they actually move
• Floor voids and exposed timbers where they can be reached, for rot and beetle

A sample report, in outline

No two reports are the same, but a East Malling report usually runs in this order:

• Property and conditions on the day, including recent weather
• Findings by room and by elevation, each with photographs
• Readings and the pattern they make, not a single headline figure
• Diagnosis: the cause, and the alternatives that were tested and excluded
• Recommendations as a specification, with the order to do them in
• Anything not inspected, and exactly where to look if it needs opening up

Buying or letting in East Malling

East Malling houses come up less often than in the bigger towns, and the older ones are almost all solid walled. A homebuyer report on a ragstone cottage will often mention damp, because a meter reads high on old stone and lime. An independent survey from a few streets away tells you whether those readings mean a problem, and what a sympathetic repair would involve.

Letting in East Malling? Damp and mould in rented homes are a hazard under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, and social landlords in England now have fixed timescales to investigate and act under Awaab's Law, with the government planning to extend similar duties to private renting. An independent report that separates building defects from condensation is the evidence both landlords and tenants need. See our guide to landlord damp and mould duties.

From enquiry to report

1. Same day reply to every East Malling enquiry, with the fee confirmed before we book.
2. One surveyor, on site for as long as the house needs, not a fixed slot.
3. Findings explained on the doorstep in plain words.
4. A written report with photographs and readings within 24 hours of the visit.

Independent means we have no product behind the report. We do not install damp proofing, waterproofing or ventilation, and we take no commission from anyone who does. That is why a East Malling report from us can say "no treatment needed" without anybody losing a sale. See damp proofing in East Malling if you have already been quoted.

Damp survey questions from East Malling

Where we cover around East Malling

• East Malling
• Larkfield
• New Hythe
• Mill Street
• Clare Park
• Well Street
• Ditton
• Wateringbury
• Leybourne

Postcode districts

• ME19
• ME20

Other towns we survey near East Malling

In the same district

• Aylesford
• Kings Hill
• Snodland
• Tonbridge
• West Malling

Nearby

• Maidstone

Every town and district we cover

Book a damp survey in East Malling

Same day reply to every enquiry, a fixed fee agreed before we come, and a written report within 24 hours of the visit to your East Malling home.

Book a survey or call 07386 225526