Help! Buying house with damp party wall?

[swmina]

Dear all

We've had an offer accepted on a granite cottage. Alarmingly there is damp in the party wall over the area where the house's drains supposedly run.

Can anyone tell us what steps we would need to take to resolve this damp and the likely cost and implications of it being in a party wall? We are debating whether it is worth continuing with the sale.

Would you ask for/pay for a specialist damp survey to identify the cause of the damp and then knock the cost of the works off the offer? If it is a leaking drain causing the damp... is that dire?

There are other issues with the house such as asbestos roof, a dodgy lintel where the house has been opened out dramatically. We will also need to check they met building regulations.

 

[JohnD]

is it a wooden floor, or concrete?

is the next-door house, on the other side of the party wall, occupied?

Go to the local authority's website and look up the Building Regulations and Planning Permission plans and approvals.

 

[swmina]

is it a wooden floor, or concrete?

is the next-door house occupied?

It's solid slab construction.

Next door looks occupied.

 

[JohnD]

most likely the floor will have to come up to see what's underneath. Probably a leaking pipe or drain. Water pipes deliver a lot of water from a leak because it is constant and under pressure; drains are slower. You might be able to hear it if you get someone to turn the outside stopcock off and on. The water meter will also show it.

Of course the leak could be in the adjoining house which gives an increasing complexity as you would have to persuade them to do something about it.

With a concrete floor you can expect to be looking at thousands.

Are there any other houses you could look at?

 

[swmina]

most likely the floor will have to come up to see what's underneath. Probably a leaking pipe or drain. Water pipes deliver a lot of water from a leak because it is constant and under pressure; drains are slower. You might be able to hear it if you get someone to turn the outside stopcock off and on. The water meter will also show it.

Of course the leak could be in the adjoining house which gives an increasing complexity as you would have to persuade them to do something about it.

With a concrete floor you can expect to be looking at thousands.

Are there any other houses you could look at?

Thousands... Yes, that is scary. We may have to move on from this one.

 

[SaladFingersMKII]

That's probably only the beginning of your troubles, you always find more once you've lived there for a few weeks.

I'd leave it well alone.

 

[ree]

A surveyor who uses the emotional term "alarmingly" doesn't sound too professional?

A surveyor who accepts a random moisture meter pattern of readings on a dry lined wall without extensive further investigation and commentary is also lacking in skill and experience.

Dry lining, in old property, is often used to "deal" with, or cover up, a damp wall. Damp typically presents in a pattern thro the dabs - if the wall is dot and dabbed. However, the plaster board might be on a timber frame?

Cracking out and pouring a new concrete floor, typically, wont cost "thousands".

The direction of drainage and water supply runs are usually simple enough to determine.

"dramatically" - another emotional term. Presumably a reference to a lintel? Lintelling what? The cracks, the bearing point and the door need further inspection.

Who says the tiles are asbestos, and how do they know?

Part of house buying is often a large amount of tedious investigative legwork - accept thats how it is. If you are serious, perhaps post pics and follow up the above suggestions ref Blg. Regs?

You are buying a cottage - to some degree all cottages at the presumed price band will have various defects. They are old and many hands have worked on them - thats how it is.

 

[swmina]

I have found the planning applications for the extensions so hopefully there will be buildings regs certificates.

It does say in the survey that the party wall is dry lined using wooden battens and plasterboard.

The surveyor couldn't say what was causing the damp. Would the only way to find out be to dig up the floor and look at the drainage? Would a damp specialist be able to "diagnose" without digging up the floor? Or is that the only way to work out what needs doing?

 

[JohnD]

if you are exceptionally lucky, it might be a leaking pipe to radiator or tap, behind the drylining.

But if it's an old house that has been drylined, and DPM put under the flooring, they're tried to hide it, not fix it, so unlikely to be easy and obvious.

As well as digging up and relaying the floor, somebody may have to dig up and relay the pipe or drain, and would probably prefer to take up the whole floor and relay with DPM and insulation.

An old leak can wash away the mortar between bricks, and even cause a cavity under the house, so I still think you have to budget thousands.

 

[Joe Malone]

Alarmingly you are considering taking drastic action based on nothing more than a surveyor using the word alarmingly and carrying out an incomplete diagnosis with nothing more that an electrical hand held moisture meter. You do not have a diagnosis and should not take any action until you do, the wall may not even be significantly damp. Please read my article to help you understand what actually needs to be done to diagnose damp. It is contained within the SAVA technical bulletin on my website...

http://www.buildingdefectanalysis.co.uk/published-technical-papers.html

 

[IJWS15]

We have had a fairly dry and hot couple of months and the house has damp on a PARTY wall.

What will the damp be like in January when it is cold and wet outside?

Party wall!! - What is the neighbour like - you mwy neeed their consent for work on the wall.

I'd walk away unless it is a very good price.

 

[swmina]

Thanks to everyone for your replies. We've had a think and are walking away as we don't have the spare cash if it does turn out to be something expensive.

 

[ree]

FWIW: not mentioned by me earlier is the possibility of the "damp" being condensation.
Why condensation?
Because condensation is often encountered on dry lined plasterboard, and because empty properties are prone to condensation.