Has anyone else been held to ransom by a damp-proofing company?

Question

We're trying to buy a property and are on our third go at the moment.

The surveyor reommended a damp and timber survey, the mortgage company insisted it was done by a member of the Woos Preservation and Damp-proofing Association, who are, what a surprise! all damp proofing contractors.

The guy walked into our propective 100 year old house, did not carry out a proper investigation, took no samples, didn't even look under the carpets, saw that it didn't have a modern damp course and immediately prescribed £5000 worth of work.

So the mortgage company holds back that much money.

The house itself hasn't been decorated for several years and yet there is not a trace of damp or marks on the walls, floors or even under the stairs.

Which means we have to back out, on the whim of someone who calls themselves a professional but is just out to make himself some cash.

How often does this happen? Be honest! How do people manage to buy houses these days? Sorry for the rant

Answer 1

i will start by saying i am a damp proofing contractor and yes this does happen alot in the industry. at least 50% of the companys around are cowboys who dont have a clue about damp proofing or treating it. theres a company at the moment selling damp proofing company franchises on ebay, basical you buy the area franchise go on a 2 week training course and woopty do your a damp expert, its a joke and giving a bad name to the honest damp contractors who get tied in with the same brush.

there are 2 different types of surveys you can have done firstly a free survey by a damp contractor(which you have already had done) this will only be a internal and external visual appraisal and wall surface testing with a moisture meter. when carried out by a good contractor these surveys are around 90% accurate.

the second a destructive survey, these are carried out by a third party surveyor who has no involvment in gaining any works contract. they take samples of wall and timber and conduct test in a lab, these are 100% accurate. unfortunatly they are not free and cost around £100 per hour, depending on the size of the problem can cost £1000 easy.

my advise is to have a read up on rising damp and how it all works and what the treatments are, here is a very good website that helped me a huge amount when training to be a surveyor www.buildingpreservation.com/. spend a few hours on this site and i guarantee you will know more about remedial treatments than half the contractor you have round.

armed with your new found knowlede ask the surveyors questions during the survey, ask them to show you how the damp meter works etc, the good surveyors will be able to answer all you questions, the c**p ones wont have a clue and youll make them look stupid. you should then be able to find out the truth behind what works need doing.

when picking the contractor to do the surveys dont go for the big companys, they are almost all usless. try and find small family run companys who are either PCA members or sovereign chem or triton chem approved.

anyway good luck

how much did you pay for the survey? some company will charge a small fee usualy between £50-£100 to do a survey for buyers. this is because a high percentage of surveys we carry out for buyers do not materialise into any work, so we charge a small fee to cover our time doing the survey and writing the up the report. if you paid a small few that doesnt mean they company will carry out lab test for you, as i said this is very expensive £100 and hour.

Answer 2

These people take the bloomin biscuit.

It's the "old boy" network. The B.S. these people come out with is hilarious.Plus, you could do it yourself for about £400. but they wont have that because your not certificated.

Drop your offer on the house and barter with the DPC company,play a bit tougher with these pizz takers!

Answer 3

It does happen an awful lot of the time...there is nothing to stop you getting another quote from someone else...many damp proofing companies will give free quotes on the proviso that they get any work....so you dont have to go with just one....but yes they do hold you to ransom, especially in this day and age when a mortgage is hard enough to get....see if the sellers will go halfway towards the cost...as I dont suppose they want you to pull out either.

Answer 4

I would suggest that you get quotes from other Damp Proofing Companies, then when you have a few estimates, take them to your mortgage lender and show them the estimates.

Typical isn't it, they are in league with each other, it is about time this practice stopped.

Good Luck

Answer 5

it sounds like you are better off without a mortagae company that prescribes what is basically a scam.

Answer 6

it doesn't hapend!

Answer 7

Its correct that house buying is one of the most stressful things you ever do.

I understand your ranting. Good luck

At least you have not got bats in the loft cos that costs loads too !

Answer 8

You are right to rant.

This sounds like a company who wants to fleece you by quoting for a full damp proofing renovation when all you need is a touch up job.  Kind of like a mechanic trying to sell you a whole new car because your tyre went flat.

I rent so I've never had to pay for maintenance on my house, my landlord is in charge of that.  But from what I hear this happens quite often.  In the UK they are called cowboy contractors.

Answer 9

My thumbs up goes to Nick T, great advise and knowledge, I am a self employed carpenter and know all too well the difficulties of trying to compete with the dodgy element thats out there.

I priced a job tonight poor women has had her kitchen destroyed by a complete idiot and charged her double my price she now got to pay me the correct the mistakes and try to salvage as much of the worktops, units & doors as I can.

Sorry about the rant but if I had left a job looking like that I wouldn't be able to sleep at night