FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

If you’re confronted with dampness and timber problems for the first time, remember that many other home owners will probably have had to deal with them as well, so here’s how you can benefit from their experience – by browsing through the questions we are most frequently asked.

If you can’t find the answer you’re looking for, then go to our ‘Ask the Experts’ page and let us help you on a one-to-one basis.

We have a small area in our hallway which gives a red damp reading on a meter used by a surveyor when trying to sell our house. It does not look damp, shows no sign of damp and feels good and dry. When does this meter register it as a damp area?

Electrical moisture meters can detect damp before it is obviously visible and they have the advantage of being non-destructive. They measure the conductance of electicity from a battery between the two metal prongs. However they are calibrated to detect the moisture content of timber, not masonry, so their readings are purely qualitative. They tell you where there is moisture, but not how much or what is the cause.

They need to be used with care and ideally just to plot moisture profiles which will aid the specialist surveyor in his diagnosis. Anything metallic in the wall behind - eg aluminium foil on the back of plasterboard or in wallpaper - will give a false reading.

With the dampness described it rather depends on its position in the wall and how far it extends. If low down just above the skirting, it could be a case of the plaster being bridged locally which is allowing moisture in the wall to circumvent the dpc. Alternatively it might be a case of condensation.