Damp survey in Gravesend

Gravesend homes, and how they get damp

Down by the river and around the old town, many buildings are early nineteenth century or older: stuccoed fronts over brick, basements and lower ground floors, and shops with flats above. Stucco protects the brick only while it is sound. Once it cracks or is painted with an impermeable masonry paint, it holds water against the wall, and on an exposed riverside elevation the damp shows on the inside first as blown plaster on the upper floors.

The Victorian terraces that fill Milton, the area around Windmill Hill and much of Northfleet are London stock brick in lime, two rooms deep with rear additions. Their most common damp is at the back: a rear yard raised by concrete, a leaking soil stack, or a lean to roof dropping rainwater against the closet wing. The front walls, sheltered by the street, are often drier than the meter reading suggests because salts in old plaster read as moisture.

South of the A2 and out at Riverview Park, Singlewell and Istead Rise, the housing is 1950s to 1970s: cavity walls, concrete floors, and replacement windows. Damp here is mostly condensation and mould on cold bridges, or cavity problems where insulation was blown in later. Northfleet's cement industry heritage also left newer estates on reworked ground near the river.

Ground, water and weather in Gravesend

The town sits on chalk, which was quarried heavily around Northfleet and Swanscombe, and the riverside flats are low and alluvial. On the chalk, water drains quickly and damp tends to follow the weather. Near the river the water table is high and responds to tides and rainfall, which affects cellars and basement flats. The Thames itself is the source of the exposure: easterly and westerly winds funnel along it and drive rain into the north facing elevations of the riverside streets.

What we find most often in Gravesend

• Cracked or over painted stucco on riverside buildings holding water against the brick
• Raised rear yards and leaking soil stacks on Victorian terraces in Milton and Northfleet
• Basement and lower ground damp near the river where the water table is high
• Condensation and black mould in post war houses and flats on the higher ground
• Salt contaminated plaster giving high meter readings on walls that have long since dried

Around Gravesend

The riverside and old town

Older buildings with basements, shops with flats above, and conversions. Defective parapet gutters and stucco are the recurring causes, and responsibility often sits with a freeholder rather than a flat owner.

Milton and Windmill Hill

Long runs of Victorian terraces on rising ground. Rear yards, lean to roofs and suspended timber floors with airbricks that have disappeared under paving are where most of the trouble starts.

Riverview Park, Singlewell and Istead Rise

Mid and late twentieth century housing. Mould in bedrooms and bathrooms, failed extract fans and cavity insulation problems make up most of the surveys here.

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 Gravesend 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.

Inside and out: the Gravesend survey, step by step

Most damp is decided outside the house, so that is where half the visit goes. On a typical Gravesend property we check:

• The outside walls first: pointing, render, sills, and how stock brick and stucco has been repaired over the years
• Where the ground sits against the wall, front and back, and whether a patio or flower bed has crept up
• Rainwater: gutters, hoppers, downpipes and where they discharge, ideally after we have seen them in rain
• Damp readings inside on a pattern, with a reference reading from a dry wall for comparison
• Salts, tide marks and blown plaster, which say what the water has been doing for years
• Room conditions: humidity, dew point and the coldest surfaces, for any mould
• Timber in reach: skirtings, joist ends, sub floor and the loft hatch view of the roof

A sample report, in outline

No two reports are the same, but a Gravesend 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 Gravesend

If you are buying an older Gravesend house and the homebuyer report mentions damp, the wall in question is probably solid brick and the reading may be salts, a raised yard or a gutter. For a flat in a converted riverside building, the cause may belong to the freeholder. An independent survey before exchange says which, and gives you a basis to negotiate or to ask the seller or freeholder to act.

Letting in Gravesend? 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 Gravesend 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.

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 Gravesend wall costs us nothing. There is more on that on our page about damp proofing in Gravesend.

Damp survey questions from Gravesend

Where we cover around Gravesend

• Gravesend
• Northfleet
• Milton
• Riverview Park
• Singlewell
• Chalk
• Higham
• Meopham
• Istead Rise

Postcode districts

• DA11
• DA12
• DA13

Other towns we survey near Gravesend

Nearby

• Dartford
• Rochester
• Snodland

Every town and district we cover

Book a damp survey in Gravesend

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 Gravesend.

Book a survey or call 07386 225526