Inside the property
Room-by-room moisture readings taken at multiple heights, not one reading per wall. Relative humidity and air temperature. Surface temperature at the cold spots, so dew point can be calculated. Sub-floor inspection wherever a hatch or a liftable board allows it.
- Readings at increasing heights up affected walls
- Relative humidity, air and surface temperature
- Extract fan performance, not just its presence
- Sub-floor void inspection where accessible
- Lifting of finishes where the substrate must be seen
Outside the property
This is the part most often skipped, and it is where the majority of causes are found. External ground level relative to internal floor level. The DPC line and whether anything bridges it. Pointing, render and masonry condition. Sills, thresholds and copings. Roofline, flashings, valleys and chimney. Gutters, downpipes and gullies.
What the report should say
It should name the mechanism — rising, penetrating, condensation, plumbing or a combination — and show the readings that support it. It should include annotated photographs. It should separate urgent structural work from cosmetic reinstatement, and it should tell you where another trade is the right answer.
It should also say what was inaccessible and therefore unassessed. Any survey that claims complete coverage of a furnished, carpeted, occupied house is overstating itself.
Warning signs
A single meter reading offered as proof. A quotation for injected damp proofing with no external inspection. Pressure to sign on the visit. A surveyor working on commission. Generic recommendations that would apply to any property. No mention of ventilation anywhere in the document.
Free survey or paid report
A complimentary survey is appropriate for a domestic homeowner who wants to know what is wrong and what it costs to fix. It is a diagnosis plus a quotation.
A paid report is the right instrument where the document itself has to carry weight — a mortgage retention, a disrepair claim, an insurance dispute or a boundary of responsibility between landlord and tenant. The evidential standard, and the surveyor liability, are different.
