Damp survey in Sittingbourne

Sittingbourne homes, and how they get damp

The Victorian and Edwardian terraces around the town centre, Murston and towards Milton are solid stock brick in lime mortar, with slate roofs and rear additions. Stock brick is soft and absorbent, and copes well with wetting and drying when the mortar and plaster are lime. When it is repointed in hard cement mortar, or plastered inside with gypsum or sand and cement, the moisture it takes in has nowhere to go, and the faces of the bricks start to spall outside while the plaster blows inside.

Milton Regis has some of the oldest buildings in Swale, timber framed houses around the High Street and the Court Hall, and weatherboarded buildings near the creek. These sit on lower, wetter ground and need lime and breathable repairs, not modern treatments.

Much of the town's growth since the 1980s, at Kemsley, Iwade, Grovehurst and the estates to the south and west, is cavity walled with modern courses. On those homes, damp is overwhelmingly condensation, ventilation, cavity tray faults at extensions and conservatories, and drives or patios laid too high.

Ground, water and weather in Sittingbourne

Sittingbourne lies on brickearth and London Clay sloping gently down to the Swale, with Milton Creek cutting into the town from the north. The creek side and the marsh edges are low and wet, with a high water table and tidal influence. Clay drains slowly, so gardens stay wet in winter and water lingers at the base of walls. To the south, the land rises onto the chalk of the Downs at Borden and Tunstall, where drainage is much better.

The brickfields and the town they built

For a century and more, the land around Sittingbourne and Milton Creek was dug for brickearth and fired into yellow stock bricks, much of which went by barge to London. The town itself is built of the same brick, which is why its Victorian terraces look so much like parts of south and east London.

That shared construction means shared problems: soft brick that needs lime mortar, rear additions with lean to roofs, yards that have been raised, and suspended timber floors that need their airbricks open. It also means shared mistakes, and the commonest is treating the wall with injection and dense plaster when the cause is outside.

What we find most often in Sittingbourne

• Stock brick repointed in hard cement, spalling outside and trapping moisture inside
• Gypsum and sand and cement plaster on solid walls, holding moisture and salts at the surface
• Rear yards and paths raised against Victorian terraces on slow draining clay
• High water table near Milton Creek affecting floors and low walls
• Condensation, mould and cavity tray faults on newer homes at Kemsley and Iwade

Around Sittingbourne

Town centre and Murston

Victorian and Edwardian stock brick terraces. Cement repointing, raised yards and rear additions account for most surveys.

Milton Regis and the creek

The old town, with timber framed and weatherboarded buildings on low ground. Breathable repairs and groundwater are the main themes.

Kemsley, Iwade and the newer estates

Housing from the last forty years. Mould, ventilation and junction details at extensions and conservatories make up most of the work.

Three kinds of damp, three different fixes

Rising damp needs the ground moisture stopped at the base of the wall. Penetrating damp needs the route in closed: a gutter, a joint, a sill, a flashing. Condensation needs less moisture in the air, more air movement and warmer surfaces. In Sittingbourne, as everywhere, these get confused constantly, and a remedy for one does nothing for the others.

That is the case for an independent survey in a sentence. Somebody needs to work out which problem you have before anybody sells you the fix for one of them.

What a DampScan survey in Sittingbourne covers

A survey here is a morning or an afternoon with one qualified surveyor, not a salesman with a meter. In Sittingbourne 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 yellow stock brick 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

The report, and what you can do with it

You get it in writing within 24 hours. It is built so you can use it, whether you are living in Sittingbourne, letting there or buying there:

• Hand it to two or three contractors and compare prices for the same job
• Put it to a seller or agent during a purchase, with the evidence attached
• Give it to a landlord, managing agent or freeholder as an independent record
• Check a damp proofing quote you already hold against what was actually found
• Keep it with the deeds, so the next survey starts from facts
• Ask us questions about it afterwards, at no extra charge

Buying or letting in Sittingbourne

Sittingbourne is a popular place to buy, with fast trains to London and a wide range of homes. Homebuyer reports on the Victorian terraces regularly mention damp, and often it is salts, cement or ground level rather than a failed course. An independent survey before exchange tells you which, and whether the repair is a weekend with a shovel or a proper job.

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

Damp survey questions from Sittingbourne

Where we cover around Sittingbourne

• Sittingbourne
• Milton Regis
• Kemsley
• Murston
• Borden
• Bapchild
• Tunstall
• Iwade
• Bobbing

Postcode districts

• ME9
• ME10

Other towns we survey near Sittingbourne

In the same district

• Faversham

Nearby

• Gillingham
• Chatham

Every town and district we cover

Book a damp survey in Sittingbourne

One qualified surveyor, nothing to sell, and the report in writing within a day. Book online or call, and we will confirm cover for your Sittingbourne postcode straight away.

Book a survey or call 07386 225526