I am buying a new property for which the offer has been accepted and it is currently going through the purchase process. Its a 1930's end terraced property. I have had a detailed structural survey done on the property which has highlighted dampness on most walls (less than a metre high). This includes the wall on the end terrace side and the shared wall. At some places the dampness reading is quite high. The property has wallpaper on most walls.
The surveyor says "Our general observations and the measurements taken with a moisture meter indicated that the damp-proof course is ineffective in many places and that damage to plaster and decorations is occurring as a result of this."
I called in a local professional damp proof expert (has been in the business 30 years) and this is what they say "From the pattern of the readings obtained, it would appear, the damp proof course is being bridged by internal plaster which has been taken to the floor behind the narrow skirting board, so to overcome the problem, remove the skirting boards, along with the bottom 75mm of wall plaster and fit 5" new skirting boards. For the chimney breast area their recommendation is to go to bare wall, apply SBR, dry flex salt membrane and replaster"
Questions:
- Based on your experiences, do you think this should do the job to avoid the dampness in the future? If yes, do i need to re-plaster as the plaster will have been salt contaminated by now?
- The company has quoted £2k (i think its way too high) for the above work. I can remove the skirting boards and remove 75mm of plasterboard myself (using sharp chisel and hammer or a specific power tool). Any recommendations here?
I would appreciate any help received. Thanks in advance.