Damp survey in Faversham

Faversham homes, and how they get damp

Abbey Street, West Street, Court Street and the streets around the market place are full of timber framed buildings, many refronted in brick in the eighteenth century, and Georgian and Victorian houses built in soft red and yellow brick. They are lime built, often with cellars, and almost all lie within a conservation area. They were designed to take some moisture and let it go again, and most of the damp we see in them dates from a later repair that stopped that happening.

Along the creek and at Standard Quay, weatherboarded and brick warehouses have been converted to homes. These sit on low, wet ground near tidal water, and the conversions sometimes seal the walls internally without considering how they will dry. Below ground and ground floor rooms here need a careful look at water, not a standard treatment.

Outside the historic centre there are Victorian terraces, interwar and post war housing, and newer estates towards the edges of the town. Those follow the familiar patterns: bridged courses on terraces, condensation and mould on later houses, and junction faults where extensions have been added.

Ground, water and weather in Faversham

Faversham sits at the head of Faversham Creek, a tidal inlet of the Swale, on brickearth and London Clay with chalk rising to the south towards the Downs. The creek side and the lower town are low lying, with a high water table and tidal influence, and some streets near the water have flooded in the past. Upstream, the Westbrook runs through the town towards the creek.

Brewing, gunpowder and the creek

Faversham's history is unusually visible in its buildings. Brewing has gone on in the town for centuries, and the gunpowder industry once occupied large areas of marsh and woodland nearby. The creek was a working port, lined with warehouses, wharves and boatyards, several now converted to homes. Many town houses were extended and altered as trades changed, so it is common to find a medieval frame, a Georgian front, a Victorian rear wing and a modern kitchen in one building.

Each of those parts handles moisture differently, and the junctions between them are where water most often gets in: a lean to roof against an old frame, a flat roof against a Victorian wall, a modern floor against an old one. A survey here pays as much attention to the junctions as to the walls.

What we find most often in Faversham

• Cement pointing, render and gypsum plaster on lime built historic buildings
• Moisture trapped against timber frames behind later brick fronts or modern finishes
• High water table and tidal influence on cellars and floors near the creek
• Converted warehouses sealed internally without allowing the walls to dry
• Bridged damp proof courses and condensation on later houses outside the centre

Around Faversham

The historic centre

Listed timber framed and Georgian buildings in the conservation area. Surveys are non invasive and recommendations favour lime, breathable finishes and drainage.

The creek and Standard Quay

Converted warehouses and homes on low ground near tidal water. Groundwater, flood resilience and how conversions handle moisture are the main questions.

Ospringe, Preston and the edges of town

A mix of older cottages and twentieth century housing. Ground levels, rainwater and condensation make up most surveys.

Telling the kinds of damp apart

Most of the cost of a damp problem comes from treating the wrong one. Water rising from the ground, rain getting in from outside and moisture condensing from the air inside all leave marks on a Faversham wall, and the marks overlap.

The differences are in when and where. Damp that comes and goes with rain points outside. Damp that is worst in a cold snap, behind furniture and in corners, points to condensation. Damp that is constant, rises to a fairly even height and falls off above it, on a wall with no outside fault, is the one that might be rising. The survey records which of these the evidence supports.

What a DampScan survey in Faversham covers

A survey here is a morning or an afternoon with one qualified surveyor, not a salesman with a meter. In Faversham 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 timber frame, brick and weatherboarding 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 Faversham 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 Faversham

Buying a historic Faversham house usually means a building survey and a recommendation for specialist investigation of damp and timber. Commissioning that from a treatment firm risks a quote for chemical treatments that the building does not need and the conservation officer would not welcome. An independent survey gives you a realistic picture and a repair approach that suits the building.

Letting in Faversham? 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.

Booking a survey in Faversham

1. Tell us the postcode and what you have noticed. Photos help but are not needed.
2. We agree a fixed fee and a slot. Nothing changes once agreed, whatever we find.
3. On the day we inspect outside first, then inside, and talk you through what we see before we leave.
4. The report lands in your inbox within 24 hours, ready to share.

We are survey only. DampScan does not inject damp proof courses, tank walls, spray timbers or fit fans, so nothing in a Faversham report is there to create work for us. If you are holding a damp proofing quote, read damp proofing in Faversham: survey first before you sign it.

Damp survey questions from Faversham

Where we cover around Faversham

• Faversham
• Ospringe
• Oare
• Davington
• Preston
• Boughton under Blean
• Graveney
• Selling
• Sheldwich

Postcode districts

• ME13

Other towns we survey near Faversham

In the same district

• Sittingbourne

Nearby

• Whitstable
• Canterbury

Every town and district we cover

Book a damp survey in Faversham

Tell us your postcode and what you have noticed. We confirm the fee the same day and arrange a visit around you, anywhere in and around Faversham.

Book a survey or call 07386 225526