Independent damp surveys in Richmond upon Thames

Richmond upon Thames housing, and what it does when it gets wet

The Georgian and early Victorian riverside terraces are solid brick with lime mortar and, in many cases, basements or lower ground floors within reach of the tide. Tidal flooding at Twickenham, Strand on the Green and the Richmond riverside is a periodic event rather than a disaster, and the buildings have lived with it for two centuries. What they have not lived with well is modern reinstatement: cement render, gypsum plaster and impermeable paint applied after a flood prevent the wall from drying between events and make each one worse.

Salt is the second consequence. Repeated wetting leaves hygroscopic salts in the masonry that keep meter readings high long after the wall is dry, so flood affected property here is regularly diagnosed as damp when the moisture reading is telling you about salt, not water. Interpretation matters more than measurement.

Away from the river the stock is Victorian and Edwardian terrace and interwar semi through Twickenham, Whitton and Hampton, with the usual pattern of raised ground bridging damp proof courses and blocked airbricks. Conservation area coverage is extensive, so recommendations have to be capable of receiving consent.

What we are usually called out to in Richmond upon Thames

• Modern impermeable reinstatement preventing flood affected walls from drying between events
• Salt contamination giving high meter readings long after the masonry has dried
• Listed and conservation constraints ruling out standard external remedies
• Basements and lower ground floors within reach of the tide
• Ground raised above the damp proof course on the interwar stock away from the river
• Timber decay in ground floor structures repeatedly wetted and never properly dried

Which kind of damp is it?

In a London building the same stain can have four or five different causes, and in Richmond upon Thames we regularly find two at once. Water rising from the ground through a wall with no working course. Rain entering through a parapet, a gutter, a cracked render or a window head. Moisture from the air condensing on a cold wall. Water from a pipe, a bath seal or a flat upstairs. Each needs a different repair and, in a shared building, often a different person to pay for it.

Our readings are taken to separate them: at depth as well as at the surface, at heights up the wall, on either side of the damp, and alongside humidity and surface temperatures. The pattern, not a single number, is what the diagnosis rests on.

How we survey a Richmond upon Thames 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 Richmond upon Thames property goes further than the defect

What happens when you request a survey

1. A same day reply, with the fee and our first available times in Richmond upon Thames.
2. One surveyor, no sales visit to follow, because there is nothing to sell.
3. A visit of one to two hours for most flats and houses.
4. A written report with readings and photographs within 24 hours.

Most of our Richmond upon Thames surveys are for one of four people: a buyer whose survey flagged damp, a tenant or landlord with mould, a leaseholder trying to get a freeholder to act, or an owner holding a damp proofing quote. Each needs the same thing, an account of the cause from somebody with no interest in the remedy, and that is all we provide.

Leaseholders, landlords and buyers in Richmond upon Thames

Buying in Richmond upon Thames? A homebuyer or building survey that recommends a damp specialist should be followed by somebody with nothing to sell. Our report arrives within 24 hours of the visit, in time to negotiate, and it separates what is wrong from what simply needs maintaining. Landlords and tenants use the same report to settle what is a building defect and what is condensation; see our note on Awaab's Law and landlord duties.

By town

Richmond and Twickenham

Georgian and Victorian houses, many listed, near the river and the park. Lime built walls, cellars and riverside groundwater recur, and conservation controls shape recommendations.

Barnes and Mortlake

Victorian terraces and older riverside houses on low ground in a bend of the Thames. Groundwater, flood resilience and terrace faults are typical.

Teddington and Hampton

Victorian and Edwardian houses and interwar suburbs. Rainwater, extensions and drives over the course dominate.

Where we cover

We survey across the borough on both banks, from Barnes and Mortlake through Richmond and Twickenham to Hampton and Teddington.

• Richmond
• Twickenham
• Teddington
• Barnes
• Mortlake
• Kew
• Hampton
• East Sheen
• Whitton

Postcode districts

• TW1
• TW2
• TW9
• TW10
• TW11
• SW13
• SW14

Richmond upon Thames questions

Nearby

• Kingston upon Thames
• Hounslow

Every area we cover

Book a damp survey in Richmond upon Thames

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