In our fourth and final programme we discover some seriously dodgy damp-proofing

Damp is a fertile area for rip-off traders as the very word can set alarm bells ringing and panic householders into paying anything to have the problem dealt with. In reality, many older properties in Britain have some form of damp within the structure, but often this does not need serious remedial work to treat. As you can’t see what is really going on with damp you do rely on the damp-proofing company to be honest.

In our Derby house, our off-duty nurses have noticed a strange smell. Our structural expert John Topp has discovered a small area of damp in one of the interior kitchen walls; not serious, the wall simply needs treating and replastering. We had heard of a damp-proofing company that was using cold calling and high pressure selling to rip off their customers and wanted to see what they would make of our problem.

Without a proper inspection of our kitchen wall, the damp-proofer claimed that the damp-proof course along a large part of the property had failed and informed our nurse that she would need a new one; the original small damp patch in an internal wall seemingly been forgotten. 

Falsely claiming to be backed by the local Trading Standards body, he quoted £790 to undertake the work.

Top Tip: Don’t take someone ’s word for being backed by Trading Standards or any other association. Ask for contact details and always check references.

Instead of drilling new holes into the walls for the damp-proofing chemicals, this company drilled out some old holes from a previous, ineffective installation. Where they attempted to treat a cavity wall, they only drilled into the outer brickwork and simply ‘squirted’ some silicone fluid into the holes, rather than the correct method where a carefully measured volume of fluid is pressure injected. Most of the silicone ran out of the holes and ended up on the garden path.

The work was the worst example of damp-proofing that John Topp had ever come across. The whole job, which would normally take a couple of days, took this team around an hour and a half to complete. Pointless, inappropriate and a very expensive waste of time, our nurse was offered a guarantee for 30 years that was not worth the paper it was printed on.