Conflicting advice isn't unusual in our industry but that's hardly surprising when you consider where the advice often comes from.

This client recently purchased a property. Their L2 homebuyers report identified problems with damp and attributed the cause to a 'failure of the DPC' cop-out. It's pretty clear when you look at the damage that this simply isn't the result of DPC failure however, I guess there was no standard paragraph the surveyor could use that explained otherwise, so drag and drop it is then! The report did however recommend further investigation by a 'damp specialist' so their arse was covered.

So the client acted upon the recommendations and engaged the services of a 'damp specialist' who also happened to be recommended by the surveyor. Anyone spot a trend here......... This survey was undertaken prior to purchase to determine the cause of the problems identified. A report consisting of 2 pages, including the introduction and quote, suggested the damage was merely superficial the result of the wrong type of plaster being used and recommended simply removing the 'wrong plaster' and replacing it with an alternative.

Perplexed by the contradicting advice provided by both the pre-purchase surveyor who clearly spent minutes looking at very little and even less time describing his findings, and the advice provided by the so called damp specialist, the client chose to continue with the purchase (time and financial pressures) and investigate the issue further at a later stage.

Que, the real damp specialist. In this video I'm going to present to you just a fraction of what I observed during my survey. You make up your own mind whether you think this is a failed DPC or simply the wrong type of plaster.

There's so little to differentiate between a 'damp specialist' and a 'damp specialist' everyone's a specialist right?! Well no they're not, but that's hard to recognise when you've been given a recommendation.

This survey took me 5 hours to investigate, I've fully moisture mapped the building, removed skirtings and undertaken intrusive investigations to the walls, timber floors, sub-floors, drains and even taken samples for moisture analysis. Furthermore, until I take the time to collate all this information and then reflect upon what I've seen, I don't know. I have an idea but I let the facts and science prove this.

It's such a shame that in 2024 despite all the advice and guidance available that homeowners are still being let down and don't know how to recognise the specialists by profession and not by name only.

Apologies again for the long video, my stuff is rarely simple and I know I have a habit of rabbiting on! I'm also not comfortable being in-front of the camera especially with a mouth full of metal but I'm persisting with it.