Independent damp surveys in Haringey
Haringey is largely late Victorian and Edwardian terrace, built on a slope running down from Highgate and Muswell Hill to the Lea valley. That fall matters: what happens to a house at the top of the hill is not what happens to one at the bottom, and the damp diagnoses follow the ground rather than the postcode.
Request a survey Fixed-price surveys from £215, report included
Haringey housing, and what it does when it gets wet
The Harringay ladder and the streets around it are tight rows of two storey terraces with rear closet wings and shared rear access. Almost all are converted into two flats. The pattern is familiar and very consistent: shared valley gutters between the closet wings, rear extension roofs at the end of their life, and stacks boxed in during bathroom refits. Water entering high in the house arrives in the lower flat, which owns none of it.
On the higher ground at Muswell Hill and Crouch End the houses are larger Edwardian villas, often with tile hung or rendered upper elevations. Tile hanging fails invisibly: a few slipped or cracked tiles put water onto battens that rot, and the first sign inside is a damp patch upstairs with a respectable looking elevation outside. It needs inspecting close up rather than from the pavement.
Down towards Tottenham and the Lea valley the ground is flatter and wetter, and there is a much higher proportion of post-war and estate housing. Cold bridging and ventilation are the dominant issues there, along with the usual bridged damp proof courses on the interwar stock. The borough genuinely needs three different diagnostic approaches within four miles.
What we are usually called out to in Haringey
- Shared valley gutters and ageing extension roofs in converted Victorian terraces
- Slipped or cracked hanging tiles on Edwardian villas, invisible from ground level
- Cold bridging and mould banding in post-war and estate housing towards the valley
- Bathroom extracts ducted into a roof void rather than to outside air
- Bridged damp proof courses on interwar stock after successive path and drive works
- Leaks that cross between flats in a converted house, and the disputes that follow
Rising, penetrating, condensation or a leak
A tide mark low on a Haringey wall is often called rising damp on sight. It may be. It may equally be a patio laid against the outside, a front area drain that has stopped draining, salts left behind by an old leak, or condensation collecting behind furniture on a cold wall. A pin meter cannot tell these apart, because salts and surface moisture make it read high regardless.
The survey works through the possibilities in order and records why each was accepted or ruled out, so that whoever reads the report, a solicitor, a freeholder or a contractor, can follow the reasoning.
How we survey a Haringey property
- Externally first: the elevations, the ground or paving against them, and every route water has to the wall
- For flats, the parts of the building outside the demise that can be seen or reasonably reached
- Readings that distinguish surface salts from moisture in depth, rather than a single pin meter figure
- Dew point conditions in the affected rooms, logged and compared with the coldest surfaces
- Ventilation measured, not assumed from the presence of a fan
- Previous damp treatments identified, with whether they addressed the cause
What you receive
A written report with photographs within 24 hours, in plain English, that stands on its own whoever reads it.
- Findings by room and by elevation
- Readings and the pattern they form
- The diagnosis, and the causes considered and excluded
- Recommendations in priority order
- Notes for a purchase, a lease or a disrepair matter where relevant
- A clear line where a quote you hold for a Haringey property goes further than the defect
What happens when you request a survey
- A same day reply, with the fee and our first available times in Haringey.
- One surveyor, no sales visit to follow, because there is nothing to sell.
- A visit of one to two hours for most flats and houses.
- A written report with readings and photographs within 24 hours.
Buyers, landlords, tenants and leaseholders in Haringey use our reports for different reasons, but always because the report has nothing behind it. We carry out no remedial work and take no referral fees, so our conclusion is not shaped by what it would lead to.
Leaseholders, landlords and buyers in Haringey
Leaseholders in Haringey often discover that the cause of their damp sits in a part of the building they do not own. Our report says where the water is coming from and which element of the building it passes through, which is the evidence a freeholder or managing agent needs under the lease. For landlords, damp and mould are hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, and social landlords in England now work to the fixed timescales of Awaab's Law. Our guide to Awaab's Law explains what that means.
By town
Crouch End and Muswell Hill
Late Victorian and Edwardian houses and mansion flats on hilly ground, many converted. Sloping streets mean retained ground at the rear and water running at uphill walls; valley gutters and bays add their share.
Tottenham and Seven Sisters
Victorian terraces and large post war estates. Rear yards and closet wings on the terraces; condensation and cold structure on the estates.
Wood Green and Hornsey
Victorian and Edwardian terraces, with conversions and some interwar housing. Bridged courses, rear additions and mould in converted flats are typical.
Where we cover
We survey across the borough, from Highgate and Muswell Hill down through Harringay and Wood Green to Tottenham.
- Crouch End
- Muswell Hill
- Harringay
- Wood Green
- Tottenham
- Hornsey
- Finsbury Park
- Highgate
- Seven Sisters
Postcode districts
- N4
- N6
- N8
- N10
- N15
- N17
- N22
What customers say about us
We had this company at my parents house to survey. Professional and polite. Good communication and on time for appointment.
Jacqueline Stokes, on Google
Massive thanks to Ben and the team, came over very quickly, very professional and at a great cost.. wld recommend them all very highly
Track day Junkie, on Google
Haringey questions
The damp is in our flat but the leak seems to be upstairs. What now?
This is the most common situation in the borough's converted terraces, and an independent report is what moves it forward. We establish where the water is entering, what route it takes through the structure and which part of the building it passes through, with readings and photographs. That turns a dispute between two leaseholders into a documented defect with a repairing obligation attached to it, which is what a freeholder or an insurer will actually act on.
How can you tell tile hanging is the problem without stripping it?
Close up inspection of the elevation, which means access equipment rather than looking up from the garden, combined with internal readings that show where the water is arriving and in what pattern. Slipped, cracked and frost damaged tiles are perfectly visible once you are at them. Where the felt and battens behind are in question, that needs a small area lifted, and the report specifies exactly where rather than recommending the whole elevation comes off.
Our Muswell Hill lower ground flat is damp at the back. Why?
On the hill, the rear wall often retains ground, and water arrives sideways after rain. That needs drainage and, for habitable rooms, a below ground system, not injection.
Our Tottenham terrace has damp in the kitchen. Is it rising damp?
More often a concreted yard, a downpipe or a leaking rear addition roof. The survey checks those first.
Do you survey mansion flats in Haringey?
Yes. Damp in one flat often comes from a shared roof, gutter or stack, and the report traces it back.
Will you try to sell me damp proofing in Haringey?
No. We carry out no remedial work, so there is nothing to sell after the survey. The report states the cause, the work that would actually fix it and an outline of what that work should reasonably cost, so you can get like for like quotes from contractors of your choice, or put it to a seller, landlord or freeholder.
Nearby
Book a damp survey in Haringey
We survey and report only, with no treatment to sell, so what the report says is the whole of our interest. Same day response to every enquiry, and a written report with photographs within 24 hours of the visit.
Book a survey or call 020 3355 4944