Independent damp surveys in Wandsworth
Wandsworth is dominated by late Victorian and Edwardian terraces built quickly for a growing suburb, and by what has been done to them since. Almost every house between the commons has been extended at the back, dug out underneath, or both, and the damp we are asked to look at is usually sitting at the junction between the original house and whatever was added to it.
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Wandsworth housing, and what it does when it gets wet
The standard house is solid brick with a two storey rear closet wing, a slate roof and a valley or parapet gutter somewhere it cannot easily be seen. Side return infills are near universal now. The junction between a new flat roof and the original brickwork is the single most productive source of penetrating damp in this borough: a flashing that was chased in badly, an upstand that is too shallow, or an outlet that ponds. It shows up internally as a damp patch on a first floor wall, well away from the actual defect.
Basement conversions are the other Wandsworth speciality. A dug out and tanked basement is a sealed box below ground with a pump in it. When it works, it works. When it fails, it fails comprehensively, and the failure is usually a blocked perimeter drainage channel, a pump nobody has serviced, or a tanking system that was lapped incorrectly at a service penetration. We are frequently the second opinion after a first firm has proposed re tanking the whole thing.
Proximity to the Wandle and the Thames matters less than people expect for rising groundwater and more than people expect for the age and condition of drainage. A lot of the original clay drainage under these streets is now at the end of its life, and a cracked drain under a solid floor produces a persistent, localised damp patch that no amount of injected damp proof course will touch.
What we are usually called out to in Wandsworth
- Damp on a first floor wall traced to the flashing or upstand where a side return infill meets the original brickwork
- A converted basement with water coming back, where the cause is drainage channel blockage or a pump, not the tanking itself
- A second opinion on a quote for re tanking or a chemical damp proof course running into thousands
- Persistent localised damp over a cracked clay drain beneath a solid ground floor
- Timber decay in the closet wing where a valley gutter has been overflowing for years
- Condensation and mould in a rear bedroom after the loft was converted and the ventilation path was lost
Which kind of damp is it?
In a London building the same stain can have four or five different causes, and in Wandsworth 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 Wandsworth 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
Inside the report
Each Wandsworth report follows the same order, so it reads easily to a buyer, a landlord or a court:
- Scope and conditions on the day
- Observations, with photographs
- Measurements, with where each was taken
- Conclusions on cause
- Recommendations and an outline cost
- Limitations: what was not inspected and why
From request to report
- Send the request form or call. We reply the same day with the fee in writing.
- We agree a visit, including evenings and weekends, and arrange access to any communal areas if needed.
- The surveyor spends as long as the Wandsworth property needs.
- The written report follows within 24 hours.
Most of our Wandsworth 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 Wandsworth
Buying in Wandsworth? 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
Battersea and Clapham Junction
Long streets of Victorian terraces, many converted, and large modern riverside developments. Closet wings, yards and conversions dominate in the terraces; ventilation in the new flats.
Putney and Southfields
Victorian and Edwardian houses and mansion flats. Bays, valley gutters and shared roofs recur.
Tooting and Balham
Victorian and Edwardian terraces, with the Totterdown Fields estate in Tooting. Rear additions, yards and bridged courses are typical.
Where we cover
We survey across the borough and the streets around it, from Battersea and Clapham Junction out to Earlsfield and Tooting.
- Battersea
- Clapham Junction
- Balham
- Tooting
- Earlsfield
- Southfields
- Putney
- Wandsworth Common
- Nine Elms
Postcode districts
- SW11
- SW12
- SW15
- SW17
- SW18
What customers say about us
Really happy with the damp survey by ATI. Tom was friendly, professional and took the time to explain everything clearly. We’d been dealing with the issue for over a year, and Tom managed to find the root cause, which was such a relief. Really appreciate his help and would definitely recommend him.
Nala Nala, on Google
Just want to say a huge thank you to Tom at ATI, from the initial survey to continued support in resolving a damp issue we have in our recently purchased property. The survey was prompt, detailed and had a clear solution on what our next steps are. During such a stressful time Tom has kept our minds at ease through this whole process, he really does go the extra mile and we couldn’t thank him enough!
Sanjay H, on Google
So If anyone else is having issues like ourselves don’t hesitate to get in contact with Tom he will certainly look after you.
Wandsworth questions
We have been quoted for a chemical damp proof course. Should we get a second opinion?
Yes, and it is one of the most common reasons people call us in this borough. An injected damp proof course treats rising damp. If the moisture is coming from a failed side return flashing, a cracked drain or a bridged external ground level, injecting the wall changes nothing and the problem returns once the replastering has dried. We survey independently, we do not carry out remedial work, and we will tell you plainly when the work you have been quoted for is not justified.
Our basement conversion is damp again. Does it all need redoing?
Usually not. Most of the failures we see in Wandsworth basements are in the maintainable parts rather than the waterproofing itself: a silted perimeter channel, a sump pump that has never been serviced, or a detail around a service penetration. Those are a fraction of the cost of a re tank. We inspect the whole system, including the parts a re tanking quote tends not to mention, and say what has actually failed.
Our Battersea terrace has damp in the back room. Is it rising damp?
More often a concreted yard, a leaking closet wing roof or a downpipe. The survey checks those first.
Our Putney mansion flat has damp after rain. Whose problem is it?
Rain related damp usually comes through the roof, gutters or walls, commonly the freeholder's responsibility.
Do you survey new riverside flats in Wandsworth?
Yes. We measure ventilation and look at construction details, and the report can support a warranty claim.
Will you try to sell me damp proofing in Wandsworth?
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 Wandsworth
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