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Damp and mould surveys in Tunbridge Wells
Tunbridge Wells is built on sandstone on a hill, in a mixture of Regency stucco, high Victorian brick and the tile hanging and weatherboarding that the Wealden tradition brought with it. The slope and the tile hanging between them account for most of what we are called to.
Tunbridge Wells housing, and what it does when it gets wet
Tile hung elevations are everywhere here, and they fail quietly. The tiles shed water off the face while the battens and felt behind them do the real work, and neither is visible. A handful of slipped or frost damaged tiles lets water onto battens that rot, and the first indication inside is a damp patch on an upper floor wall with a perfectly respectable looking elevation outside. It has to be inspected close up, which means access equipment rather than a look from the garden.
The Regency and early Victorian stucco fronted terraces have the same issue as their London counterparts: a render skin over solid brick, which holds water against the wall once it cracks or blows, and which gets made worse by impermeable modern paint. On a sloping site the lower ground floors of these terraces also sit into the hill, so the rear or uphill wall is retaining ground with no drainage behind it.
The sandstone the town sits on drains freely, which is usually helpful, but it also means surface water moves fast on a slope. Gardens above a house shed water at it during heavy rain, and a blocked or absent drainage channel at the top of a plot puts that water straight against the wall. This produces damp that is sharply seasonal and correlates with heavy rainfall rather than being constant, which is a useful thing to be able to demonstrate.
What we are usually called out to in Tunbridge Wells
- Damp on an upper floor from slipped or frost damaged hanging tiles, invisible from ground level
- Blown or cracked stucco holding water against brick, sealed in further by modern masonry paint
- Lower ground and basement rooms retaining the hillside with no drainage behind the wall
- Seasonal damp on a sloping plot where garden run off is directed at the house
- Timber decay in the battens and structure behind failed tile hanging
- Second opinions on chemical damp proof course quotes for what is a rainwater or ground level problem
Where we cover
We cover Tunbridge Wells and the surrounding Wealden villages, across west Kent and into East Sussex.
- Tunbridge Wells
- Southborough
- Pembury
- Langton Green
- Rusthall
- Speldhurst
- Cranbrook
- Hawkhurst
- Wadhurst
Postcode districts
- TN1
- TN2
- TN3
- TN4
- TN5
- TN17
Book a survey in Tunbridge Wells
Same day response to every enquiry, and your written report within 24 hours of the visit. Put your postcode in the form and we will confirm cover and fee the same day.
Book a surveyOr call 07386 225526.
Tunbridge Wells questions
How do you inspect tile hanging without taking it apart?
Close up visual inspection with access equipment, combined with internal moisture readings that establish where the water is arriving and in what pattern. Slipped, cracked and frost damaged tiles are visible once you are at the elevation rather than looking up at it, and the internal pattern tells you which part of the elevation to concentrate on. Where the battens and felt behind are in question, that needs a small area lifted, and the report specifies where rather than recommending stripping the whole elevation.
The damp is worse after heavy rain and dries out between. What causes that?
That pattern almost always points at water arriving from outside rather than rising from below, which is genuinely useful because it rules out the expensive treatment straight away. On a sloping site here the usual causes are garden run off reaching the wall, an overflowing gutter or hopper, a failed tile hung elevation on the weather side, or blown render. Rising damp does not switch on and off with the weather. Damp that correlates with rainfall has a route in, and the survey is about finding it.