Survey My House

04/03/2024

Saturday (although a little damp) was a great day. We were privileged to have been asked to complete a damp and timber survey on this lovely grade 2 listed cottage near Liphook. The rear elevation is shown in the picture below.
Luckily, the problems we found were down to the usual suspects such as high ground levels, poor or absent guttering (see the staining to the stone work in the picture) and inappropriate use of cement...oh, it hadn't been occupied for a long time either.
It's an ideal candidate for the application of surveying and reporting in line with JPS 2022 (Joint position statement PCA / Historic England / RICS - 1st edition 2022 "Investigation of moisture and its effects on traditional buildings") which is a well needed healthy slice of common sense in my opinion. The property was built in the 17th century at the very latest, probably much earlier. Obviously a house that has been standing for 400 or more years should not be judged by modern standards or treated with modern materials generally although a few there are a few very limited exceptions.
In summary: Maintain your period properly in a timely manner with the right materials. Don't let portland cement anywhere near it and don't expect it to behave like a new build. Bear in mind that this property will almost certainly be still standing long after buildings that have not yet been constructed have been pulled down!

21/02/2024

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing!

I see this far too often. Someone turns up as a "damp expert" that has no training or qualifications but has purchased an expensive moisture meter. They want to sell you a damp-proofing service.

Electronic hand held moisture meters are a fantastic diagnostic aid to assist "non destructive " inspections but they DO NOT tell you
1. How much moisture is in a wall
OR
2. Where any moisture came from.

Surveyors that are carrying out inspections of this nature need to weigh up all evidence to look at potential sources of moisture not just rely on one of those devices. So....

Q. If the building being inspected has poor ventilation, it's wintertime, the property is occupied and unheated AND condensation is actively occurring during the survey, wouldn't it be reasonable to consider that a moisture meter might simply picking up (at least some) dampness from condensation?
A. Yes

Q. If moisture is arriving on the wall surfaces due to atmospheric conditions (condensation), if you "damp proof" a wall to stop moisture coming in from the ground or outside, will it stop moisture arriving on the newly damp-proofed surface?
A. No

Oh dear! I think that we all know where this might end..... (hint- badly, possibly in court).

So, if you are asking someone to come to your property to carry out a damp survey, ask them if they're qualified. Ask them to explain how they use a moisture meter and how they might determine how any dampness might be affecting the walls?
Alternatively, you can find independent qualified specialist surveyors like us on the PCA website www.property-care.org

Also find us at www.surveymyhouse.co.uk

The Property Care Association (PCA) is the trade association representing specialists who can be trusted to resolve problems affecting buildings - Find out more

31/01/2024

Is this type of product causing a problem in a property that you are trying to buy or sell? Do you have concerns about it being in your home?

Sprayed PU foam insulation has it's place and is an amazing product, when installed corrected and for the right reasons. Sadly, there are many poor installations in the UK and these can cause unforeseen problems such as additional risk to roof timbers from woodrotting fungi attack as a result of hidden moisture damage.

If you have concerns, why not get in contact with a qualified timber specialist (like us for example!) that has appropriate training to understand and identify the PU Foam product installed and can assess risk to roof timbers?

We take an evidence based approach so that you can be sure that you have facts to consider instead of just assuming the worst.

Please get in contact if you are interested in this service.

14/01/2024

Why managing moisture in the air is like vacuuming your hairy pet!

Disclaimers
1. Please don't try this at home
2. No pets were vacuumed to create this post

OK, the title is clickbait, but there's a point to this, it might have gained your attention. Please read on.....

So, many of you may have had a cat or dog that used to leave it's hair everywhere around your home. Sometimes you'd find it (the hair / fur) in places that you were pretty sure they had never been. You'd then have to vacumm everywhere to pick this up......but what if you could go "straight to source" and just vacuum your pet? Now, there are many reasons that I shouldn't have to point out why this is not going to be a problem solver......but in theory, if you could capture the hair or fur where it was generated, it wouldn't have the opportunity to end up all over the place. Right?

We can apply this type of thinking to moisture management within the home, but without the RSPCA being involved! Think - Go straight to source.

You'll probably generate large amounts of moisture in your "wet rooms" (Kitchen / Bathroom / Utility etc) through cooking / washing etc hence they are known as "wet rooms" in ventilation terms. It is much easier to simply extract moisture where it is generated and get it out of the building rather than letting it travel around your home and finding it on your cold windows and walls. If you have extractor fans - Use them! If you don't - get some....but don't get the wrong ones.

We can help you with design of a ventilation system so you get it right and don't spend your money twice (or more).

We know that times are tough, a lot of people are simply not heating their homes as much as they used to. This will make condensation and mould growth more likely and make the requirement for good ventilation even more important. If you know someone with a condensation / mould growth issue, share this post with them. It might help them just a little bit. It doesn't matter if they are not on the Isle of Wight, as we can offer remote consultancy and have already had successful outcomes for mainland based clients using this service.

In the 21st century, people shouldn't be living in damp and mouldy homes and we're here to help.

07/01/2024

Remote Dampness Investigations – Is this possible?

In a word, Yes. Whilst it is not possible in all circumstances and probably not advisable in some cases it is nevertheless possible. Interested how this might be done? Please read on!

Here's our logic. In order to gain specialist qualifications, the examination process does involve “desktop investigation” where a list of symptoms, property and occupancy history, client instruction and photographs are included as well as other information. Candidates are not taken to a property to complete an actual live survey as such.

If we consider the above, we can look at photographs, videos, reports, lists of concerns etc and use this information to offer likely causes and potential further investigations that might be recommended.

Now, you might be thinking at this point......Why would a specialist surveyor on a zoom call or telephone be any better than a local alternative? That is of course, a very good question indeed.

Here at Survey My House Ltd. We have some very specialist skill sets. We have extensive experience dealing with cases of Timber decay, Structural dampness (both above and below ground), as well as atmospheric dampness and traumatic dampness (post “escape of water” for example). We have separate qualifications for Structural waterproofing (CSSW), CSDV for Atmospheric dampness (ventilation assessment) and Dampness above ground and Timber related issues (CSRT). At the end of 2023 (when data was last available before this post) there were only a small number (less than 10) of surveyors that held this combination of qualifications. With the above in mind, a surveyor with this particular skill set is going to be fairly hard to find and is most likely going to have to travel a fair distance, unless you happen to live close to one of course. Statistically, this is unlikely though. Travel is getting more and more expensive. “Time is money” is a well used phrase. So, in some circumstances you might be paying for a specialist to travel for quite some time and paying for their skills and experience whilst behind the wheel of a car. Very little of that time would go into the site investigation but the travel has to be paid for somehow. That's were remote consultancy can offer good benefits and be a great first step.

So, if the above seems to make sense to you and you have a problem with dampness in your home. Why not consider remote consultancy as a first step? Don't forget, we are here to provide a service to you and don't like your wasting money or our resources. If you think that might help, We look forward to hearing from you! If you know someone that's having a problem, please like and share.

We're having a new social media campaign and will be regularly posting articles. We have already prepared a list of over 100 posts that might be of interest, although they are not all finished we have at least got the working titles. If you have any topics that you like us to cover, send us a message and we'll look at it as a priority.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

07/01/2024

The importance of correct instruction

When instructing your surveyor to investigate a problem you are experiencing with your building, an instruction is required. This will not only affect the scope of investigation, but also the cost of the service and the likelyhood of successfully resolving the issues to your satisfaction.

When we take enquires for surveys, we ask questions. For example, if you call us and ask “how much do you charge for a damp survey?” We will not give you an immediate answer. Why not, you might ask? Well, a full pre-purchase survey of a 5 bedroom house with a basement will require considerably more time and effort to investigate, record defects and report upon than say, a single wall in a home that you already live in. The process of instruction will therefore involve us asking a whole bunch of questions to establish the likely level of investigation required before even producing a price for the service we intend to provide.

Likely questions we might ask may include the following.

Do you own the property? Is it occupied? How long have you owned it? Are you planning to sell in the near future? Are you intending to let the property out and if so, when? How long have you experienced the problems? What symptoms are you experiencing? Is the problem in a specific area? What outcome are you looking to achieve? How can we best help you achieve the best outcome for you in the current circumstances considering the above?....and maybe more....

When we visit the property, we'll only have a fixed amount of time to investigate and effectively have only a “snapshot” of the property at that time. Your experience of living in, owning and/or maintaining it will be information that may well be useful to us and help you achieve the best possible outcome. This is why we ask you questions BEFORE we give you a price for the service and BEFORE we take your instruction.

Obviously, we don't charge you for the initial phone call / email enquiry....so why not contact us and you can talk to a specialist surveyor before instruction? If we can't help, we probably know someone who can!

05/01/2024

We have a problem with Facebook messenger at the moment. Please use our other contact details to receive a response! TIA

Survey My House Ltd. is an Independent Specialist Surveying Service covering the South of England. Our skill set includes assessment of sprayed PU Foam insulation in roof voids as well as inspection of Listed buildings for damp and timber issues.

28/12/2023

Welcome to Survey My House Limited!

We're a specialist surveying practice operating from the Isle of Wight and covering the South of England.
We specialise in damp and mould analysis and control, including ventilation inspections, timber surveys (including identifying attacking organisms) as well as structural inspections such as wall tie condition reports, crack investigation and reporting, inspection of masonry defects etc. We are also qualified structural waterproofing designers.
For your peace of mind, we are PCA registered as independent surveyors.

If you think that you may need our specialist services, please call Peter Monk on 07780904464.