Damp survey in Gillingham

Gillingham homes, and how they get damp

The terraces around Canterbury Street, the Arden Street area and towards the station are Victorian and Edwardian brick, solid walled, with bay windows at the front and narrow rear additions. Bays are a recurring problem: the junction between a bay roof and the main wall, the sill and the leadwork, all let in water that shows as damp around the window inside. At the back, the closet wing and its lean to roofs are where most penetrating damp starts.

Brompton is older and more varied: Georgian and early Victorian houses near the Lines and the old barracks, some with basements, many now flats. Here we see failed render and parapet gutters, and timber decay where moisture has sat in a wall for years, alongside the usual questions about who is responsible in a converted building.

Twydall was one of the large post war council estates, and Hempstead, Wigmore and much of Rainham followed through the 1960s to 1990s. Cavity walls with working damp proof courses, concrete floors, replacement windows and an extension or two. Condensation, cold bridging and drive or patio levels against the walls make up most of what we find.

Ground, water and weather in Gillingham

Gillingham lies on chalk sloping down to the Medway, with London Clay and sands appearing towards Rainham and along the shore. The river frontage at the Strand and Lower Rainham is low lying and exposed to wind off the estuary. Where clay is close to the surface, gardens hold water and slow down drainage around houses, which makes ground levels and gullies matter even more than on the chalk.

What we find most often in Gillingham

• Water entering around bay windows through flashings, sills and the bay roof junction
• Lean to roofs and closet wing gutters dropping water against the rear of Victorian terraces
• Driveways and patios laid above the damp proof course on post war houses in Twydall and Rainham
• Condensation and mould on cold walls in 1960s and 1970s houses
• Failed render, parapet gutters and timber decay in older Brompton buildings

Around Gillingham

Central Gillingham terraces

Victorian and Edwardian streets with bays and rear additions. Bay window leaks, rear gutter failures and yards that have crept up account for most surveys.

Brompton

Older and more historic, close to the dockyard and the Great Lines. Converted flats, basements and render are the recurring themes, and listed or conservation area status often applies.

Rainham, Wigmore and Hempstead

Later twentieth century housing on larger plots. Driveway bridging, extension junctions and mould in bedrooms make up most of the work.

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 Gillingham 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 we check on a damp survey in Gillingham

The visit follows the water. Whatever brought you to us, in Gillingham we work through:

• The roofline and chimney from the ground and from windows, then gutters and downpipes in detail
• Every outside wall for cracks, open joints, failed render and anything bridging the base of the wall
• Airbricks and sub floor ventilation, often buried by later paths and extensions
• Internal walls with calibrated readings at height bands, so rising, penetrating and condensation damp can be told apart
• Surface and air conditions in the problem rooms, logged rather than estimated
• Kitchen and bathroom extraction, measured at the grille
• Any earlier damp proofing, its paperwork and whether it was ever the right answer

What the written report contains

Your report arrives within 24 hours of the visit. A typical one for a Gillingham house sets out:

• A plain English summary on the first page: what is wrong, why, and how urgent it is
• Photographs of each defect, with where it is on the building
• The moisture readings, mapped, with what they mean
• The cause of each damp area, and the faults ruled out and why
• What should be done, in priority order, written so any contractor can price it
• What does not need doing, stated as clearly as what does

Buying or letting in Gillingham

Many Gillingham purchases are terraces with a bay at the front and an addition at the back, and the homebuyer report will often mark a damp reading by the bay or in the rear room. Both usually have a specific external cause. Knowing that before exchange turns a vague "damp specialist recommended" into a short list of defined repairs that a seller can be asked to price into the deal.

Letting in Gillingham? 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 Gillingham

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.

Most damp firms in Kent survey for free and earn their money on the treatment. We charge for the survey and sell no treatment at all, which is the whole point: finding nothing wrong with a Gillingham wall costs us nothing. There is more on that on our page about damp proofing in Gillingham.

Damp survey questions from Gillingham

Where we cover around Gillingham

• Gillingham
• Rainham
• Brompton
• Twydall
• Hempstead
• Parkwood
• Wigmore
• Lower Rainham
• Gillingham Strand

Postcode districts

• ME7
• ME8

Other towns we survey near Gillingham

In the same district

• Chatham
• Rochester

Nearby

• Sittingbourne

Every town and district we cover

Book a damp survey in Gillingham

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 Gillingham.

Book a survey or call 07386 225526