Carolyn wrote:

Thanks for all your comments; made me feel a little better about the
whole thing.

The surveyor *did* say I should get someone to look at it
professionally

that is primarily a means to avoid any comeback. 'Well we did say you
should have the electrics tested, damp tested, drains cctv'ed, roof
rebuilt, and house upgrading to all modern standards, so you cant blame
us if you didnt do that.'


and that
they shouldn`t charge me, just for giving their opinion on
it...hmm...

then youve been badly advised. Free damp surveys are only available
from companies looking to flog you overpriced damp treatments, and are
a well known rip off business sector.

If you did genuinely need advice on damp, free surveys should be
avoided, full stop.


I`ve certainly never smelt any damp in the house, and their
definitely isn`t any water
or condensation present in the areas he looked at, its a living
space, not a water park!

any disintegrating plaster? black mould? Decaying woodwork? Visible
mould growths? Floor that shakes? If none of these, not much likelihood
of a damp problem.


The house is fronted directly by a street and is level with external
paving too, so I
can`t see what the issue is (or not, as the case may be).

External ground should be 6" below internal floor level. In practice
its often less than this, but as long as its lower than internal floor,
things should be fine. If its higher, problems are possible.


I just hope the new Mortgage Lenders won`t take this up as an action
point if its
mentioned in his report?

they probably will if youre borrowing a high percentage of value. If
so, couple more options:

- a qualified persons statement that in fact there is no evidence of
damp, and that the dampmeter method of assessment is well known to be
flawed

- a word with the surveyor, pointing out the facts and saying you
intend to get core samples analysed if he does not reassess his survey.
If he thinks youre for real he may wish to re-evaluate the situation
with a bit more care to avoid embarrassment or comeback.

If going down this path I might be tempted to first innocently ask if
theres any damp survey co he would recommend first: if he does, he has
made room for doubt in the interpretation of his intentions, and might
be a little keener to satisfy your request once he realises you know
exactly what youre doing. If the survey has already gone to the
mortgage co, this may be harder to achieve.


NT