Elemental Survey?

[Serafiz]

We have a ground floor damp issue** and after a few builders have looked at it I am none the wiser as to the cause and solution since they have all said different things.

Being advised to get a surveyor, RICS registered, he has offered to do an elemental building survey. What should I ask him before going ahead?


** Concrete ground floor. Over several years half the wooden skirting has rotten away in one room and another unconnected room and the wall paint peels off. The walls don't feel wet to touch. There is also a small fine crack in the floor of one room that has rotten away the carpet.

 

[footprints]

An Elemental survey that sounds like something that might need an exorcist!

In some areas there is a problem with "Red Ash" it was a cheap aggregate use in solid floors that has since been found to degrade and cause damp cracks and even bumps to appear in the floor, speak to your local council (a lot are ex Local Authority houses) they will know if it is a problem in your area. The simplest possibility is a faulty Damp Course, none at all, or the ground or render bridging it.

I would speak to neighbors with the same type of house and see if they have had trouble and how they fixed it first.