Damp Inspections

Thousands of people across the UK believe that their property requires damp proofing. In reality the majority of the problems turn out to be condensation, which is the most common form of damp and also one of the easiest problems to fix.

 

The three most common kinds of damp are:

 

Rising Damp

Rising damp is caused by ground water which moves up the walls through direct contact with the brickwork.

If damp patches are appearing on your first floor or high up on a walls then it is unlikely that the problem is due to rising damp. You will normally notice the damage from rising damp appearing first around the skirting boards and floorboards, plaster will start to crumble and wallpaper and paint will start to peel off.

Every wall is likely to retain some water but usually it is stopped by a protective barrier called a damp-proof course. If this is missing or ineffective from the building then the walls may start to suffer from rising damp and you may need a damp proofing survey.

 

Penetrating Damp

Penetrating damp is cause by water leaking through the walls rather than rising up from ground level. This type of damp is usually caused by structural problems in a building such as defective roofing, guttering, mortar or brickwork.

This can usually be seen by the presence of watermarks that appear on the walls, damaged plaster, salt deposits, powdery surfaces and blistering or bubbles appearing on the plaster.

 

Condensation Damp

This is the most common form of dampness found in the home, condensation is caused from the moisture that is present in the air from cooking, cleaning, washing and breathing. This moisture enters the warm atmosphere and turns to condensation on contact with cool surfaces, or as it loses heat in cooler surroundings.

Unfortunately, mould can appear in any room of the house, whether it is a period home, new property or a bungalow. It is not just a problem exclusive to bathrooms, it can appear around window frames, behind furniture, on mattresses, walls, floors, ceilings and doors. It can even find its way into your wardrobe and on to your clothing, shoes and bags. People wake up in a morning and open the curtains to see streaming windows, especially in the winter, this is usually a sign that you have an underlying problem that needs to be fixed.

 

If wet walls and streaming windows occur over a prolonged period of time, other signs will start to appear such as damp patches on walls, peeling wallpaper and ultimately black mould growth.

As properties become increasingly energy conscious and airtight, we have looked for ways to save energy in our homes through insulation, draft proofing, double glazing and blocking off chimneys, all which has increased the humidity within indoor air:

Unlike rising and penetrating damp, left untreated, condensation can be seriously harmful to your health.

 

 

The good news.... ProServe can provide you with a permanent solution to solve all your mould woes through our innovative range of ventilation solutions. ProServe’s energy efficient Positive Input Ventilations Systems (PIV’s) will provide an all year round healthy indoor environment free from condensation and mould.

 

A PIV system provides whole home ventilation using the Positive Input Ventilation principle. Essentially the concept is to introduce fresh, filtered air into the dwelling at a continuous rate, encouraging movement of air from inside to outside. To achieve this, the unit is mounted in the loft space, drawing air through the filters and inputting it, at ceiling level, into the property. An integrated heater tempers airflow should the temperature in the loft space drop below a set point, ensuring ultimate comfort in the home

The unit uses a mechanical fan to inject fresh air into the house and forces stale air out of the building via natural leakage. The system works continuously in the background, vents are not normally required, so there is often no need for trickle vents — though sometimes it is necessary to have transfer grilles between rooms to enable ventilation of rooms that do not open directly onto the landing.

The PIV systems have a thermostatically controlled heater element, so that in the cold winter months the outside air is warmed before it enters the property. In the summer the heater will not activate and if it gets very warm in the loft the unit will turn off the fan.