Damp meter for walls (inexpensive) - recommendations?
 

I'd like to buy a damp meter for assessing the damp situation in my
house. There is some rising damp, which has been well-disguised by
damp seal and wallpaper and etc. I mainly want to locate the worst
areas so I can remove bricks in the wall and clear the cavities at
those locations. (I'm convinced that the rising damp ocurs in places
where the cavity contains debris which has piled up to above DPC
level). Why do I care, if the problem has been well-covered up?
Because I want to sell the place soon, and hope to minimise what will
be found by a prospective buyer's surveyor.

I'm hoping that something costing less than £10 will do the job. Can
anyone recommend one, or offer tips on choosing one?

Thank you,

Mike D

Damp meter for walls (inexpensive) - recommendations?
 

In article ,
Mike D writes:

I'd like to buy a damp meter for assessing the damp situation in my
house. There is some rising damp, which has been well-disguised by
damp seal and wallpaper and etc. I mainly want to locate the worst
areas so I can remove bricks in the wall and clear the cavities at
those locations. (I'm convinced that the rising damp ocurs in places
where the cavity contains debris which has piled up to above DPC
level). Why do I care, if the problem has been well-covered up?
Because I want to sell the place soon, and hope to minimise what will
be found by a prospective buyer's surveyor.

I'm hoping that something costing less than £10 will do the job. Can
anyone recommend one, or offer tips on choosing one?

I don't think there is any such thing. Damp meters I've seen
are all intended for timber.

However, if you want to use one on a wall, buy a cheap test
meter with pointed probes which can measure 10Mohms, and
they can be found for a lot less than £10.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Damp meter for walls (inexpensive) - recommendations?
 

"Mike D" wrote in message
...

I'd like to buy a damp meter for assessing the damp situation in my
house. There is some rising damp, which has been well-disguised by
damp seal and wallpaper and etc. I mainly want to locate the worst
areas so I can remove bricks in the wall and clear the cavities at
those locations. (I'm convinced that the rising damp ocurs in places
where the cavity contains debris which has piled up to above DPC
level). Why do I care, if the problem has been well-covered up?
Because I want to sell the place soon, and hope to minimise what will
be found by a prospective buyer's surveyor.

I'm hoping that something costing less than £10 will do the job. Can
anyone recommend one, or offer tips on choosing one?

Thank you,

Mike D

Multi-meter and two nails in a block of wood (?)

--

Graham.
%Profound_observation%

Damp meter for walls (inexpensive) - recommendations?
 

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 15:43:41 +0100, Mike D
wrote:


I'd like to buy a damp meter for assessing the damp situation in my
house. There is some rising damp, which has been well-disguised by
damp seal and wallpaper and etc. I mainly want to locate the worst
areas so I can remove bricks in the wall and clear the cavities at
those locations. (I'm convinced that the rising damp ocurs in places
where the cavity contains debris which has piled up to above DPC
level). Why do I care, if the problem has been well-covered up?
Because I want to sell the place soon, and hope to minimise what will
be found by a prospective buyer's surveyor.

I'm hoping that something costing less than £10 will do the job. Can
anyone recommend one, or offer tips on choosing one?

Thank you,

Mike D

Buy a cheap multimeter with good resistance ranges and jab the probes
into the walls. That will tell you much more than a toy "damp meter".

You will learn much more by sight and touch.

Damp meter for walls (inexpensive) - recommendations?
 

Mike D has brought this to us :
I'd like to buy a damp meter for assessing the damp situation in my
house. There is some rising damp, which has been well-disguised by
damp seal and wallpaper and etc. I mainly want to locate the worst
areas so I can remove bricks in the wall and clear the cavities at
those locations. (I'm convinced that the rising damp ocurs in places
where the cavity contains debris which has piled up to above DPC
level). Why do I care, if the problem has been well-covered up?
Because I want to sell the place soon, and hope to minimise what will
be found by a prospective buyer's surveyor.

I'm hoping that something costing less than £10 will do the job. Can
anyone recommend one, or offer tips on choosing one?

Thank you,

Mike D

As others have suggested - a cheap and cheerful digital meter with a 10
or 20 Mohm range plus a couple of (very) sharp probes fixed into
something to keep them a set distance apart and make them easier to
use.

Then learn to use it-
Even the moisture from your skin when touching the probes is enough to
cause a reading, so take time to get used to what to expect. The lower
the resistance, the more conductivity, the more moisture - but it could
be simple surface condensation, so test when there should be no
condensation about.

--

Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Damp meter for walls (inexpensive) - recommendations?
 

EricP wrote:
On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 15:43:41 +0100, Mike D
wrote:


I'd like to buy a damp meter for assessing the damp situation in my
house. There is some rising damp, which has been well-disguised by
damp seal and wallpaper and etc. I mainly want to locate the worst
areas so I can remove bricks in the wall and clear the cavities at
those locations. (I'm convinced that the rising damp ocurs in places
where the cavity contains debris which has piled up to above DPC
level). Why do I care, if the problem has been well-covered up?
Because I want to sell the place soon, and hope to minimise what will
be found by a prospective buyer's surveyor.

I'm hoping that something costing less than £10 will do the job. Can
anyone recommend one, or offer tips on choosing one?

Thank you,

Mike D

Buy a cheap multimeter with good resistance ranges and jab the probes
into the walls. That will tell you much more than a toy "damp meter".

So, what reading is 'normal' & what reading is 'damp'?


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Damp meter for walls (inexpensive) - recommendations?
 

The Medway Handyman presented the following explanation :
So, what reading is 'normal' & what reading is 'damp'?

That will vary from meter to meter, depending upon the voltage it uses
at the probes. The higher the voltage, the more the damp plaster breaks
down to conduction and the lower the reading displayed. Perfectly dry
may produce an infinity reading.

The best bet is try it on some known to be dry plaster, then work from
there.

--

Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Damp meter for walls (inexpensive) - recommendations?
 

In article ,
"The Medway Handyman" writes:

So, what reading is 'normal' & what reading is 'damp'?

A reading of 20Mohms is dry. (Dry isn't necessarily normal.)
Reading also depends how far apart the probes are.
IME, you don't need to worry unless you get something less
than 1Mohm, but usually you'll get 20Mohms if dry.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Damp meter for walls (inexpensive) - recommendations?
 

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 19:14:04 +0100, Harry Bloomfield
wrote:

As others have suggested - a cheap and cheerful digital meter with a 10
or 20 Mohm range plus a couple of (very) sharp probes fixed into
something to keep them a set distance apart and make them easier to
use.

Great idea. I have one of those already. Thanks to all who suggested
it. Actually, I may have to buy one.... one of the leads has pulled
out of one of the probes on mine, and it doesn't look repairable.

Mike D

Damp meter for walls (inexpensive) - recommendations?
 

On 30 Jun, 19:14, Harry Bloomfield
wrote:
Mike D has brought this to us :

I'd like to buy a damp meter for assessing the damp situation in my
house. There is some rising damp, which has been well-disguised by
damp seal and wallpaper and etc. I mainly want to locate the worst
areas so I can remove bricks in the wall and clear the cavities at
those locations. (I'm convinced that the rising damp ocurs in places
where the cavity contains debris which has piled up to above DPC
level). Why do I care, if the problem has been well-covered up?
Because I want to sell the place soon, and hope to minimise what will
be found by a prospective buyer's surveyor.
I'm hoping that something costing less than £10 will do the job. Can
anyone recommend one, or offer tips on choosing one?
Thank you,
Mike D

As others have suggested - a cheap and cheerful digital meter with a 10
or 20 Mohm range plus a couple of (very) sharp probes fixed into
something to keep them a set distance apart and make them easier to
use.

maybe try plasterboard nails of the bright metal type.

Just dont kid yourself that these meters read damp accurately or
diagnose damp problems.


NT