Teesside damp proofing FAQs

A chemical damp proof course with replastering is £70 to £120 per linear metre, so most single rooms land between £600 and £1,400. Surveys are £150 to £350, condensation work £180 to £1,200, mould treatment £300 to £900 a room, and below-ground waterproofing £80 to £250 per square metre.

Yes. The property is assessed, the cause is stated, the extents are measured and the work is set out in writing before you decide anything.

Usually because of scope: how far the plaster is stripped, whether skirtings, sockets and flooring are included in making good, and whether the guarantee is insurance-backed.

On anything above about £500, or where contractors disagree, yes. An independent report costs £150 to £350 and stops you buying the wrong treatment.

A level tide mark under about a metre, a band of salts, blown plaster and soft skirtings, plus external ground levels at or above the damp proof course. Drilled samples tested for moisture and salt content confirm it.

A defined patch rather than a band, which darkens within hours of driving rain and traces back to a fault: a gutter, a render crack, an open joint, a sill or a bridged cavity.

It produces black spot mould on cold surfaces, corners, window reveals and behind furniture, it peaks between October and March, and it leaves no tide mark or salt band.

Only as a first pass. They read conductivity, so salts in a dry wall show as high moisture. That matters on the coast where masonry carries sea salt.

Injection and replastering to one room is typically one to two days on site. Drying is the long part, roughly a month for each 25mm of wall thickness before final decoration.

Not with vinyl paper or oil-based paint. Use a breathable mist coat and emulsion for the first year, and give the wall its drying time or the finish will blister.

The room needs clearing back from the treated walls, and floor coverings usually need lifting near the skirting. A good quote states who does that.

Once the source is stopped and the fabric dries, yes. A persistent musty smell after treatment usually means either an under-floor void that is still damp or ventilation that was never addressed.

It can be. UK health guidance links damp and mould exposure with respiratory infections, worsened asthma and allergic reactions, with infants, older people and anyone with a lung condition most at risk.

It removes the colour and leaves the growth in the porous surface, so it returns in the same outline. Biocidal treatment, removal of contaminated finishes and a fungicidal paint system is what lasts.

A patch under about a square metre on a hard surface, with gloves, an FFP3 mask, eye protection and ventilation. Larger areas need containment and HEPA extraction.

20 or 30 years for a damp proof course and 10 to 20 years for waterproofing, insurance-backed by an independent provider so it survives the contractor closing down.

Damp from a different cause, later bridging by new paving or render, decorating before the wall has dried, and missed annual servicing on a basement pump system.

BS 6576 covers chemical damp proof course installation and BS 8102 covers protection of below-ground structures. Look for a surveyor qualified to CSRT, or CSSW for basement design.

Report it in writing with photographs and dates. Where the cause is the condition of the property, such as missing extraction or a failed damp proof course, it is a repair issue, and rented homes in England are held to specific damp and mould standards with set timescales for investigation and remedy.

That is a standard caution rather than a diagnosis. A dedicated damp report turns it into a measured cost, which is a negotiating position rather than an unknown.

Lenders sometimes retain funds pending a specialist damp report and, in serious cases, completion of the works. Having the report and a costed specification ready keeps a purchase moving.