Surveying equipment and tests

Damp investigations and Building Surveys of Residential Property detail the general equipment you are advised to use for a building survey.

Something else can be very useful, which is often overlooked: the human senses. Sight, touch, smell and hearing can all play a part in the investigation. (Your communications skills and agility will also be challenged.)

Take full advantage of the information being supplied by your other senses:

• Listen for dripping water, creaking floorboards, wind penetration through gaps in doors and windows. Sometimes you can even hear pests.
• Feel for cold or hot surfaces (taking care to avoid injury). You may detect obvious wetness. You will sense air temperature changes, and can pick up air movement using a wet finger or the side of the cheek or ear. Tap surfaces to assess condition (such as hollowness or de-bonded finishes) or construction method, tread firmly on floors to assess condition or construction, or feel drips of water.
• Your sense of smell helps you to detect wood rot.
• Your sense of balance may help you to pick up unevenness of floors or changes in slope.
• You will soon develop an awareness of humid conditions.

This section looks at commonly used surveying equipment and tests, highlighting the advantages and possible pitfalls of each. Some new or under-used instruments and methods are also introduced. But whatever piece of diagnostic equipment is to be used in any dampness investigation, it is not the use of the equipment that presents the greatest difficulty, but the analysis of the readings or results obtained. There is no substitute for 'learning by doing'. Repeated practical site experience conducted with an open mind often leads you to a correct diagnosis of dampness problems.

Equipment and tests are also described in the case studies: the table indicates which techniques were used in each.