On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 14:53:05 +0100, Richard Faulkner
wrote:

In article , Kooky45
writes
What really
bugs me is that I'll have to go through this all again when I buy my
next house.

I am an estate agent and have to go through it every time we sell a
house.

*gets out voodoo doll of estate agent*

Only jokin' of course )

The only true test for damp and its cause is a series of core samples
which are then analysed chemically.

Surely the only true test for damp is to look for evidence, such as
peeling paint/lifting wallpaper, rotten skirting boards, distemper,
wet plasterwork, staining and all the other ones we had in this house.

What good does a core sample do other than to show that the soil might
be wet? It's not chemicals that cause damp, it's osmosis. We've got
wet soil under the kitchen and the hall but there's no damp there.
Never has been, and this 117 year old house has only had heating in it
for the last 4 years.

I don't see how a *cause* for damp can come from a chemical report
either, but I'm not a chemist

However, this costs money, and buyers and sellers are rarely willing to
pay, so we are left with the free quickie surveys which, as you suggest,
are not worth a bean, but are valued highly by surveyors and mortgage
lenders.

Free? I paid £350 for a full survey including underfloor access once,
and while it came back saying the house was damp free it totally
missed out the fact that the living room floor support (there was only
one) was resting on damp earth and rotted completely.

Anyhoo, any rants contained in this message aren't pointed at you
personally!

--
cheers,

witchy/binarydinosaurs