A full building survey looks at everything. Sometimes you don't need everything; you need one question answered properly: what is causing this, and what should be done about it.
A crack has a cause, dampness has a route. I work methodically over the affected area and the fabric around it, establish what is most likely happening and why, and tell you plainly what it means for the building.
When defect diagnosis is the right call
- A visible problem before you commit: a crack, bulge, or damp patch you want explained before buying, or before instructing works.
- A recurring issue: something previous repairs have not fixed, where the cause was never properly established.
- Conflicting advice: contractors disagree, or each proposes a different (and expensive) remedy, and you want an independent perspective.
- "Further investigation recommended": a mortgage valuation or Level 2 (Homebuyer) report has flagged a specific concern and left you to act on it.
What you get
I inspect the affected area and its context closely, identify and explain the most likely cause or causes, and write it up in plain English with clear next steps, whether a specific repair, a period of monitoring or a particular further investigation. I want you to finish the report knowing exactly what you are dealing with, and what to do about it.
The problems I am usually called to
Damp. Routinely misdiagnosed, and expensive when it is. Rising damp is rarer than commonly supposed, and a wall that is wet because a gutter has been overflowing for two winters, or because a path was laid above the internal floor level, will not be cured by a chemical injection. Establishing which of those it is costs less than the wrong cure.
Cracks and movement. What matters is whether it is active, what is driving it, and whether the building is accommodating it or failing to. Where the answer needs load-path calculations I say so and bring in a structural engineer, taking fabric, moisture and the non-structural causes myself.
Roofs and rainwater. Slipped tiles, a failed flashing, decayed pointing, a valley that has never worked properly. Water often enters somewhere other than where it shows inside, which is why chasing the stain rarely works.
Timber. Rot and beetle in embedded timbers, and whether what you are looking at is active or the long-dead evidence of a leak somebody fixed thirty years ago.
Repairs that made it worse. Cement render over a solid wall, an impermeable floor slab, a chemical damp course injected into a building that never needed one. These take years to show, and they are behind a good many of the second opinions I am asked for.
What happens
Tell me what you are seeing and where, when it appeared, whether it is changing, and anything already tried. That is usually enough for me to quote, and I will tell you the turnaround at the same time.
On site I work outwards from the symptom: the affected area, the fabric around it, the elevation above it, and whatever the building is doing to put water or load where it should not be. Photographs throughout.
Then the report, and a conversation about it if you want one.
Recent work
Fees
I quote each defect diagnosis individually, and it is generally more proportionate than a full survey because it is targeted at one problem. The fee depends on the nature of the defect, the access involved and the distance from North Norfolk. Use the form below and I'll come back with a quote.