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Independent damp surveys in Kensington and Chelsea
Kensington and Chelsea has the deepest basements in London and the strictest constraints on altering anything above ground. That combination produces a particular kind of damp problem: a heavily engineered space below ground, a historic fabric above it, and very little room to change either.
Kensington and Chelsea housing, and what it does when it gets wet
The borough went through two decades of basement excavation, and a great many houses now have one or two storeys below ground that were dug out under an existing building. These are waterproofed to a design standard, usually a cavity drainage system with a perimeter channel and sump pumps. They are also maintenance dependent in a way owners are rarely told about clearly. A channel that silts up, or a pump that has never been serviced, produces water inside a space that was dry for a decade, and the usual proposal is to redo the tanking rather than to clear the channel.
Above ground it is stucco and solid brick, largely listed or in a conservation area. The same rules apply as elsewhere in central London: the render is the raincoat, it must be lime based and permeable, and cement patching and impermeable paint make matters worse. What is unusual here is the value of the fabric, which means damp is often first raised by a surveyor acting for a buyer rather than by an occupant noticing it.
The northern part of the borough, around North Kensington and the Portobello area, is a different stock again: Victorian terraces converted to flats decades ago, with shared roofs, stacks and rear extensions, and the split responsibilities that come with them.
What we are usually called out to in Kensington and Chelsea
- Cavity drainage systems failing at the channel or the pump rather than at the waterproofing
- Basement conversions where a service penetration was not detailed correctly
- Stucco and lime render damaged by cement repairs and impermeable paint
- Pre purchase surveys where damp has been flagged on a high value listed building
- Shared roof, stack and rear extension defects in converted flats in the north of the borough
- Second opinions on quotes to re waterproof an entire basement
Where we cover
We survey across the borough, from Chelsea and South Kensington up through Notting Hill to North Kensington.
- Chelsea
- South Kensington
- Notting Hill
- Holland Park
- Earls Court
- Kensal Green
- World's End
- Brompton
- Ladbroke Grove
Postcode districts
- SW3
- SW5
- SW7
- SW10
- W8
- W10
- W11
Book a survey in Kensington and Chelsea
Same day response to every enquiry, and your written report within 24 hours of the visit. Put your postcode in the form and we will confirm cover and fee the same day.
Book a surveyOr call 020 3355 4944.
Kensington and Chelsea questions
Our basement is leaking. Does the whole waterproofing system need replacing?
Usually not, and this is the most common overspecification we are asked to review in this borough. A cavity drainage system has maintainable parts: perimeter channels that silt, sumps that fill, pumps that fail and float switches that stick. Most of the failures we inspect are in those, not in the membrane. We survey the whole system including the parts a re waterproofing quote tends not to mention, and report what has actually failed, which is frequently a fraction of the cost proposed.
We are buying and the survey flagged damp. Is that a reason to walk away?
It is a reason to find out what it is before you commit, which is a different thing. A homebuyer report will flag elevated meter readings and recommend a specialist, because that is what it is required to do; it does not diagnose. The outcome is often something modest, such as ground levels or a gutter. Occasionally it is something serious enough to reprice on. Either way the number you need is a diagnosis and a cost, which is what an independent survey gives you before exchange rather than after.