Survey first, sale second
Our surveyors are salaried. Nobody here earns more by finding more damp, and about a third of our surveys end with advice and no work for us at all.
Damp & timber surveyors · Bath, Bristol & west Wiltshire
Dryhouse: damp and timber surveys and repairs for old houses in Bath.
Most of the damp we’re called to isn’t rising damp. Keep scrolling and watch what the right repair does to this wall. We find out what it is, fix that, and prove it with a meter reading.
Surveyed, fixed, and proven with a meter reading before we leave. Then we come back at six months to check.
- Fixed-fee surveys from £195
- Report in 3 working days
- Lime first in old buildings
- CSTDB Qualified surveyors, formerly CSRT
- PCA Property Care Association member
- 20 yrs Insurance-backed guarantees
- 2,140 Surveys since 2009
- 4.9 From 186 Google reviews
How we work
Honest diagnosis first
Most of the damp we’re called to isn’t rising damp. It’s a gutter that spills onto the same stone every winter, a cement render that won’t let the wall breathe, or a bathroom with no fan. We find out which, show you the readings, and put it in writing before anyone quotes you for anything.
Materials old stone can live with
Bath stone and rubble walls dry out through their faces. Where cement and gypsum have sealed the moisture in, we take them off and go back to lime.
Proof, not promises
We take readings before we start and again before we leave, at the same marked points, and send you both sets. Then we come back at six months.
Which damp is it?
Three kinds of damp. Three different fixes.
Get the diagnosis wrong and the money goes into the wrong wall. This is how we tell them apart.
01 From the ground up
Rising damp
- What you see
- A tidemark up to about a metre, salts that leave the paint fluffy and white, skirting boards going soft.
- Usually caused by
- No damp-proof course, or one bridged by a raised path, soil heaped against the wall, or cement render run down to the ground.
- The right fix
- Lower the ground or clear the bridge first. If it still rises: a DPC injected into the mortar course, then lime or salt-resistant plaster to 1.2 m.
Injection from £85 per metre · re-plastering from £58 per m²
02 From the outside in
Penetrating damp
- What you see
- Patches that grow after rain and shrink in dry spells. Stained cornices, damp chimney breasts, wet window reveals.
- Usually caused by
- Blocked or leaking gutters and downpipes, failed lead flashings, cracked render, and hard cement pointing that pushes water into the stone.
- The right fix
- Mend the water’s path outside, repoint or re-render in lime, and let the wall dry before anyone re-plasters.
Most gutter and flashing repairs £180–£650 · lime repointing from £70 per m²
03 From the air inside
Condensation
- What you see
- Black mould in corners and behind wardrobes, windows streaming in the morning, a musty smell that is worst in winter.
- Usually caused by
- Cooking, showers, drying washing and breathing: a family of four puts about nine litres of water a day into the air, and it settles on the coldest wall.
- The right fix
- Humidity-controlled fans in the kitchen and bathroom, a positive input ventilation unit in the loft for the worst cases, and a mould wash. No DPC, no plaster.
Fans from £295 fitted · PIV from £895 fitted
What we see most weeks
Nine signs, and what they usually mean.
-
01 A brown line low on the wall Water wicking up, or the ground outside bridging the damp course. -
02 Paint lifting in blisters Salts crystallising under the paint as the wall dries out. -
03 Black mould in streaks Condensation on a cold wall. Ventilation, not a damp course. -
04 A tide-lined stain from above A leak or a failed gutter. Follow it up, not down. -
05 Windows streaming every morning Too much moisture in the air with nowhere to go. -
06 A stained cornice in a corner A parapet gutter or downpipe overflowing behind it. -
07 Plaster crumbling to powder Salts pushing gypsum plaster off old stone. Lime copes; gypsum does not. -
08 White salts at the base Water leaving the wall and leaving its salts behind. -
09 Holes and soft timber Woodworm, often long gone, or wet rot where a leak has been at work.
Services & prices
What it costs, before anyone visits.
Guide prices for 2026, including VAT. Your fixed quote comes after the survey, and it is the price you pay.
Damp & timber survey
A surveyor on site for 60 to 90 minutes, readings on a grid, salt tests where it matters, and a look at gutters, ground levels and pointing outside. Written report with photos and a moisture map within three working days.
- Flat or terrace
- £195
- Semi or detached
- £245
- Listed, or five bedrooms and up
- £295
Taken off the bill if we do the work.
Mortgage damp report
For buyers whose lender or surveyor wrote “damp: refer to a specialist”. We find the cause, cost any work, and speak to your surveyor directly.
- Report
- £245
- 48-hour turnaround
- +£60
Most go out within three working days.
Condensation & mould
Humidity-controlled fans, positive input ventilation for the worst cases, a mould wash and breathable paint. No damp-proof course, no new plaster.
- Extractor fan, fitted
- from £295
- PIV unit in the loft, fitted
- from £895
- Mould wash & stain block
- from £180 a room
Penetrating damp
The water’s path outside, mended first: gutters, downpipes, lead flashings, cracked render and hard cement pointing.
- Gutter or downpipe repair
- from £180
- Lead flashing renewed
- from £420
- Lime repointing
- from £70 per m²
- Cement render off, lime render on
- from £95 per m²
Rising damp
Only once leaks, bridging and condensation are ruled out. A damp-proof course injected into the mortar course, and lime or salt-resistant plaster to 1.2 m.
- DPC injection
- from £85 per metre
- Re-plastering
- from £58 per m²
A 4 m terrace front wall, injected and re-plastered: £1,450–£1,900.
Cellars & basements
Cavity drain membranes where water genuinely has to be managed, with a perimeter channel and a pumped sump. Lime-plastered vaults where the building is listed.
- Cavity drain membrane
- from £125 per m²
- Sump, twin pumps, battery back-up
- from £1,650
A 20 m² vault: £4,800–£7,500.
Woodworm
We check whether it is active first: most old flight holes belong to beetles that left decades ago. Live outbreaks are treated with low-odour boron.
- Treatment
- from £395
- Most lofts and floor voids
- £395–£850
Dry rot & wet rot
Find and stop the water, then cut out what has failed and treat what stays. Dry rot cannot live without moisture, so the first job is always the leak.
- Contained outbreak
- from £1,200
- Joist ends & skirting repairs
- from £350
All prices include VAT. Scaffolding, and listed building consent where it is needed, are quoted separately. Every repair includes a free re-test at six months, and DPC and cavity drain work carries a 20-year insurance-backed guarantee.
Our work
Four walls, before and after.
Drag across each picture. The readings are from the same marked point, on the same meter, before the works and at the re-test.
Widcombe, BA2
Grade II listed townhouse, 1790s
Basement kitchen, back wall
- What we found
- A 1970s cement render outside and gypsum plaster inside, sealing the stone in. Another firm had quoted £6,800 to inject and tank.
- What we did
- Took the render off and re-rendered in lime, cleared a blocked area drain, and re-plastered inside in lime with listed building consent.
Before 28.6%
After 13.1%
WME at the marked point, at nine months
- £4,350
- 8 days on site
“The other firm wanted to inject and tank. Dryhouse found the drain.”
Larkhall, BA1
Victorian end terrace
Front bedroom
- What we found
- No rising damp at all. Black mould every winter from condensation: no extraction anywhere, and washing dried indoors.
- What we did
- Humidity-controlled fans in the bathroom and kitchen, a positive input ventilation unit in the loft, a mould wash and breathable paint.
Before 21.2%
After 12.0%
WME at the marked point, and humidity from 78% to 52%
- £1,640
- 1 day
“Five winters of mould, gone in one. We should have called them first.”
Bradford-on-Avon, BA15
Weaver’s cottage, 1700s, rubble stone
Chimney breast and window wall
- What we found
- A failed lead flashing at the chimney, and a stone sill that tipped rain back into the wall instead of off it.
- What we did
- New lead flashing, the stack repointed in lime, the sill reset, and the plaster patches repaired in lime putty.
Before 24.9%
After 12.6%
WME at the marked point, at six months
- £2,980
- 4 days
“Proper lime people. The plasterer explained every coat.”
Clifton, BS8
Lower ground flat, Victorian villa
Front bedroom below the pavement
- What we found
- Ground water coming through the front wall after every heavy rain. A genuine case for a membrane, and we said so.
- What we did
- Cavity drain membrane to the walls and floor, a perimeter channel, a twin-pump sump with battery back-up, insulated and boarded.
Before 31.0%
After 14.2%
WME at the marked point, at six months
- £11,600
- 3 weeks
“The readings sheet is still taped inside the cupboard door.”
Old stone has to breathe
Bath was built to get wet and dry out again.
Bath stone is a soft, porous limestone. For two hundred years it took on water in winter and dried out through its faces in summer, through lime mortar, lime plaster and limewash. Then came cement render, gypsum plaster and plastic paints, which hold the water in.
A lot of the damp we find in Georgian Bath is exactly that: a wall that cannot dry any more. Taking the wrong material off is often most of the cure.
- Lime plaster and limewash inside
- Lime render and pointing outside
- No cement tanking on listed walls
- Listed building consent handled with the council
143Listed buildings since 2009
6Lime plasterers on our books
How a survey works
From the first call to the six-month re-test.
Every report reads like the one on the right: what we measured, where, what it means, and what to do in what order.
- 01
Book
Tell us what you’re seeing. Photos help. We confirm a time within one working day.
- 02
Survey
60 to 90 minutes on site: readings on a grid, salt tests where it matters, and a look outside.
- 03
Report
Within three working days: photos, a moisture map, the cause in plain English, and what to do first.
- 04
Quote
A fixed price, valid for 60 days, with nothing added on the day.
- 05
Works
Most jobs take two to five days. Floors protected, rooms left clean, readings taped inside a cupboard door.
- 06
Re-test
Free, at six months, at the same marked points. If it isn’t drying, we come back.
7 Prior Park Buildings, Bath BA2 · basement kitchen
| Point | Height | WME |
|---|---|---|
| A | 150 mm | 28.6% |
| B | 600 mm | 24.1% |
| C | 1,000 mm | 16.2% |
| D | 600 mm | 14.0% |
| E | 300 mm | 31.0% |
Diagnosis
Water is entering through the back wall from a blocked area drain, held in by a cement render outside and gypsum plaster inside. Not rising damp: the readings fall with height only near the drain.
Recommended, in this order
- Clear and regrade the area drain.
- Remove the cement render; re-render in lime.
- Lime plaster inside after three months’ drying.
Reviews
What people say once the wall is dry.
4.9 186 Google reviews
- ★★★★★
They told us we didn’t need the £7,000 injection another firm had quoted. It was the gutter. £320, and the wall has been dry for two winters.
Harriet, Widcombe
- ★★★★★
The report was the clearest document I’ve had from any tradesman: photos, a map of the readings, and what to do in what order. Our mortgage went through the following week.
Sam, Oldfield Park
- ★★★★★
Proper lime people. The plasterer let me watch him do the vault and explained every coat as he went.
Jonathan, Bradford-on-Avon
- ★★★★★
Mould in the kids’ room every winter for five years. Two fans and a unit in the loft later, nothing. I wish we’d called them first.
Priya, Larkhall
- ★★★★★
They found live woodworm in one joist and old holes everywhere else. Treated the one, left the rest, and said why. Honest.
Martin, Corsham
- ★★★★★
Our basement flat used to take an inch of water in every big storm. Membrane and pumps went in over three weeks and it has been dry since.
Ellie, Clifton
Questions
The things people ask before they book.
Anything else, ring the office. You will get a surveyor, not a call centre.
Call 01632 960 271Is rising damp real?
Yes, but it is rarer than the industry would like. Genuine rising damp needs a wall with no working damp-proof course, wet ground, and nothing else going on. We diagnose it after we’ve ruled out leaks, bridging and condensation, never before.
My mortgage survey says “damp: refer to a specialist”. What now?
That is a meter reading taken in passing, not a diagnosis. Book a mortgage damp report: we find the cause, cost any work, and talk to your lender’s surveyor directly. Most reports go out within three working days, and 48 hours is possible.
Why lime, and not modern plaster?
Old solid walls dry out through their faces. Gypsum plaster and cement trap moisture and salts behind them, so the damp moves sideways or upwards and the plaster blows. Lime lets the wall breathe and copes with a little moisture without failing.
Will you sell me something I don’t need?
Our surveyors are salaried and nobody earns commission on work. About a third of our surveys end with advice only: clear a gutter, lower a flower bed, run the fan for longer. The report says so in writing.
Can you inject a damp-proof course into a listed building?
Usually not, and usually it would not help. Most listed walls in Bath are better served by lowering ground levels, taking cement off and re-plastering in lime. Work to a listed building needs consent, and we help you get it.
How long will the wall take to dry?
The old rule of thumb is about a month for every 25 mm of wall, so a 450 mm stone wall can take a year or more to dry right through. The surface comes down much sooner. We re-test at six months and tell you honestly how it is going.
Do you give guarantees?
Yes: 20-year insurance-backed guarantees on DPC injection and cavity drain systems, 10 years on re-plastering, and 2 years on ventilation workmanship. Because they are insured, they stand even if we were not here to honour them.
What should I do before the survey?
Clear a metre in front of the walls you are worried about, lift a corner of carpet if you can, and do not run a dehumidifier the day before: it hides exactly what we need to see.
Where we work
Bath, Bristol and west Wiltshire.
Our office is on Walcot Street, five minutes from the centre of Bath. Most surveys happen within five working days of the call.
- Bath 10–20 min
- Bradford-on-Avon 20 min
- Keynsham 20 min
- Corsham 25 min
- Midsomer Norton 25 min
- Frome 30 min
- Trowbridge 30 min
- Chippenham 30 min
- Melksham 30 min
- Bristol 35 min
Drive times from the office, outside rush hour.
Book a survey
Tell us what the wall is doing.
We will call within one working day to confirm a time. Photos of the problem help us bring the right kit.
- £195–£295 fixed fee, taken off the bill if we do the work
- 3 working days for the written report
- No obligation, and no follow-up calls you didn’t ask for