Prepare Your Home for Winter

Most of the properties in our part of London are over 100 years old. Older properties are at greater risk of damp penetration and damage during the colder and wetter winter months. You may notice as the seasons change that there is an increase in condensation internally, dark patches to external walls and signs of damage to brickwork, which can, in turn, lead to internal damage to decorations and damage to the timber structures of these types of building. There are some simple and cost-effective measures you can take to guard against common causes of damp in readiness for the upcoming months:

●     Clear gutters and drains of clutter. Commonly neglected, guttering and drains to downpipes can overflow when blocked or obstructed, leading to water pooling or running down external surfaces, saturating walls and penetrating into the property. Ensuring these elements are freely draining away can avoid more expensive remedial works and you can expect to pay between £20-£25 per hour for this service.

●     Check gutter joints - if you see white staining to the joints of your guttering, it is likely that these elements are leaking. It is relatively cheap to have these resealed (approximately £50-£125 per joint).

●     Check and renew the decorations to the window sills. It may not seem to be of particular importance if the paint to your timber or stone window sills is a little tired, however, this can allow water to enter into the property beneath these areas. Applying a new coat of weatherproof paint can safeguard against this and also keeps your property looking smart!

●     Check, repair and redecorate render. Render is typically applied as a damp proofing measure and requires maintenance and upkeep to ensure its waterproof integrity. Patch repair or redecoration to the render can be relatively cheap (at between £100-£250 for a small area) and can prolong the life of the render as well as avoid damp ingress.

●     Remove moss from roof coverings. If moss growth is present, it can retain water against the roof coverings and, potentially, cause damage to the roof tiles or allow water to seep between the joints, risking damage to the roof timbers below. Removal of moss typically costs between £8-£15 per square metre and will also guard against debris build up to the guttering.

●     Remove plant growth from external walls. Whilst aesthetically pleasing, training or allowing plants to grow in contact with external walls can be a cause of damp penetration, trapping water against the walls and allowing for saturation to occur. Ivy, in particular, can cause damage to external brickwork and is an attractive home to rodents and insects.

●     Check sub floor vents are present and unobstructed. Many older properties feature a suspended timber framed floor structure; this type of flooring requires ventilation to the sub floor void beneath to remove humidity and avoid damage to the floor structures from damp ingress. There should usually be external sub floor vents at the front and rear of a property (as a minimum). Obstruction of these vents with plant pots/external items or blocking/closing these up to avoid rodent infestation is a common cause of insufficient ventilation, allowing moisture to build up in the sub floor void and, eventually, leading to humidity damage and damp ingress.

●     Check the ventilation inside the property. Condensation and humidity build up internally is a common cause of decorative damage and can lead to mould growth within the property. Key areas of excess humidity are the bathroom, kitchen and laundry rooms. Ideally, these areas should be fitted with single room heat recovery or humidity activated extract fans. That said, simply opening a window to allow for humid air to escape or allowing existing extractor fans to run for a longer period of time to ensure their effectiveness is a low cost solution (whilst this may seem counterintuitive to the current energy concerns and potential heat loss, in which case you may wish to consider the installation of a single room heat recovery fan).

Carrying out simple checks and minor maintenance to your older property ensures its waterproof integrity, protects its structure and avoids problematic mould growth. Signs to look out for are darker coloured areas of external brickwork, dark patches on internal walls and ceilings, peeling, cracked or bubbling decorations, failing areas of plaster, significant bounce to floors and decay to skirting and joinery.

If you think that your property is affected by significant damp which is not due to a minor issue such as those identified above, we would recommend inspection and repair by a qualified professional to ensure the protection of your property.