What a damp survey should actually involve
Five stages, roughly ninety minutes on site, and a written report you can put in front of a lender. Here is exactly what happens and what you get.
Covering Dorset · Hampshire · Wiltshire
- 750+
- Homeowners protected
- 4.9
- Average review score
- 25yr
- Workmanship guarantee
- 100%
- In-house survey teams
Book your survey
1/3Takes under a minute. A qualified surveyor attends — never a salesperson.
No obligation, no sales visit. Your details are used only to arrange the survey.
From your first call to a specification you can act on
Same day
The call
We ask what you can see, where it is, how long it has been there and what the property is built of. Half of the diagnosis starts here — a damp patch that appears every winter behaves very differently to one that never dries.
- Symptom, location and history recorded
- Property age and construction established
- Survey booked at a time you can attend
20–30 min
External inspection
Before we come inside we walk the building. Ground levels, gullies, downpipes, pointing, render, sills, flashings and the chimney. Most so-called rising damp we are called to is a maintenance fault visible from the outside.
- Rainwater goods and drainage checked
- Ground and DPC levels measured
- Render, pointing and flashings assessed
30–60 min
Internal testing
Inside, we take moisture readings across a grid rather than at one spot, use hygrometry to measure air conditions, check surface temperatures for cold-bridging and inspect timber where it meets damp masonry.
- Protimeter readings at multiple heights
- Relative humidity and dew point recorded
- Timber and subfloor inspected where accessible
Before we leave
Findings on the doorstep
You are told what we found and what we think is causing it in plain English, on the day, in person. If the answer is that you do not need us, you are told that too.
- Cause explained, not just the symptom
- Options set out with trade-offs
- Questions answered face to face
48–72 hours
Written report and specification
A written report with the readings, photographs and a specification you can hand to a lender, solicitor or managing agent. Priced in stages so you can see what is essential and what is optional.
- Readings and annotated photographs
- Specification suitable for third parties
- Staged, itemised pricing
Measured, not guessed
A conductance meter alone cannot distinguish salt contamination from free moisture, which is how misdiagnosis happens. We read the wall, the air and the surface temperature together before drawing any conclusion.
Yes, for domestic property within our coverage area there is no charge and no obligation. Where a formal, signed report is needed for a lender, solicitor or court, a specification report is chargeable and we tell you the fee before booking.
Most take between one and two hours depending on the size of the property and how many areas are affected. Larger or heavily affected properties can take longer, and we will not rush a survey to fit a diary.
We strongly recommend it. The most useful part of the visit for most homeowners is the ten minutes on the doorstep where the surveyor explains what they found and why.
Not on a first survey. Where decay is suspected below floor level we will recommend opening up as a separate, agreed stage — always with your consent and always made good afterwards.
Then that is what the report says. We would rather tell you the wall is drying after a repaired leak than sell you a system you do not need.
Find out what is actually wrong with the wall
A qualified surveyor attends, tests properly and writes it down. No obligation, no sales visit, no charge.
Dorset · Hampshire · Wiltshire