Damp specialists like me make money treating damp problems. So it’s good news when a domestic client asks for a survey to ‘quote for the rising damp that the mortgage surveyor has found’.
With this open invitation to quote for work, the clients is lining him/herself up for a loss – this is why we have so many shady characters involved in our industry – easy meat.
Anyway, my girls explained that we do proper surveys and that is why we need to make a small charge for them. Today was a good example; I did find the damp, which was not visible and was only detectable using an electronic moisture meter (like the one the mortgage surveyor used).
However, I have not issued a quotation for work. The ‘damp’ is merely condensation and some rising-damp-like symptoms caused by bridging of the existing bituminous felt damp-proof course.
Take a look at this short summery to see.
I charged £60.00 including VAT for this inspection, after being recommended by the estate agent selling the house. I know that many ‘yellow pages specialists’ would just have given a quote for a chemical DPC and, the client, being already ‘primed’ by the lender’s valuation report would probably not have doubted it.
Alas, the wall tie survey didn’t go quite so well for the client, but hopefully he can negotiate a discount on the house price, so he is not out of pocket.
Dry Rot.