Our work
A look at recent jobs
Damp treated and walls put right across Barking and nearby.
Rising damp, penetrating damp, basement tanking, replastering, condensation and mould across Barking — free survey, written diagnosis, and a long-term guarantee on the work.
Most “rising damp” is not rising damp. It is usually a bridged course, a blocked airbrick, a leaking gutter or plain condensation — and injecting a chemical DPC into any of those is money burnt.
A proper survey with moisture readings and a written diagnosis of the actual cause — before anybody quotes you for a treatment.
Where a course has genuinely failed or was never there: a chemical DPC installed correctly, and the wall replastered so the salts cannot come back through.
Water coming through from outside — failed pointing, cracked render, a blocked gully or a leaking gutter — traced and fixed at the source.
Cellars tanked or fitted with a cavity drain membrane and sump, turning a wet basement into a dry, usable room.
The most common cause and the most misdiagnosed. Ventilation and heating put right, and the mould washed down and treated properly rather than painted over.
Salt-retardant replastering after treatment, plus woodworm and wet or dry rot treatment where timber has been affected.
Nine times out of ten it is a bridged course, a blocked airbrick, a leaking gutter or plain condensation — and injecting a chemical DPC into any of those is money burnt. We survey first and tell you which one you have, even when the answer is that you do not need us.
Send photos of the damp patch on WhatsApp — inside and, if you can, the outside wall behind it. That usually tells us a lot on its own.
A proper survey with moisture readings and a written diagnosis of the actual cause — then a fixed price to fix that cause.
Treated, replastered where needed and cleared up — with a written guarantee behind the work.
Public-liability insured, with references from regular customers you can check first.
We find the cause first. If it is a gutter rather than a DPC, we will tell you, even though it is a smaller job.
Long-term written guarantee on the treatment, backed by proper insurance — not a handshake.
One price for the work, agreed after the survey. No day-rate creep and no scare tactics on the doorstep.
Damp treated and walls put right across Barking and nearby.
Barking sits low, close to the Roding and the Thames, and that shapes what actually causes damp here. The Victorian terraces around the old village and Rippleside were built with a slate damp course, and slate does not fail often — but it gets bridged. Sixty years of raised patios, new paths, render taken down past the course and flower beds banked up against the wall all do the same thing: they give water a route around the barrier. Half the jobs we survey in these streets are fixed by dropping an external level and clearing a gully, not by drilling the wall. The Becontree houses are a different story again. They were built as cavity-wall properties with airbricks and open fireplaces, and over ninety years most have been sealed up: double glazing in, chimney capped, airbricks painted or blocked, insulation added. The moisture a family produces has nowhere left to go, so it condenses on the coldest surface in the house — behind the wardrobe on the north wall, in the corner of the bedroom ceiling, around the window reveals. That is condensation, and it presents almost exactly like rising damp to anyone who wants it to. It is fixed with ventilation and heating, not with injection cream. Then there is the genuine article, which does exist: solid-wall property with no course at all, or one that has been breached, and the classic tide mark that stops about a metre up with salting in the plaster. That needs a proper chemical DPC and, just as importantly, replastering with a salt-retardant render — because leaving the old contaminated plaster on the wall means the stain comes straight back through and everyone blames the damp course. We survey before we quote, take moisture readings rather than guesses, and give you the diagnosis in writing including what caused it. If the answer is a gutter, you get told it is a gutter, even though that is a smaller job than the one you rang about. We also handle penetrating damp through failed pointing and render, basement and cellar tanking, timber and woodworm treatment, and mould washing down and treating properly. Fixed price after the survey, guaranteed in writing, and no scare tactics on the doorstep.
Not sure if we reach you? Send your postcode and we'll confirm.
Probably not. Genuine rising damp is far rarer than the industry suggests — most of what we are called to is a bridged course, a blocked airbrick, a leaking gutter or condensation. That is exactly why we survey and diagnose before quoting anything.
Yes. We come out, take moisture readings and give you a written diagnosis of the cause. If the fix is clearing a gully or dropping a path down, we will tell you that, even though it is a far smaller job than the one you rang about.
A single wall treated and replastered is typically two to three days. A full ground floor runs about a week, and a tanked cellar one to two weeks. Replastered walls then need several weeks to dry out before you decorate.
Yes — a long-term written guarantee on the treatment, backed by proper public liability insurance. You get the paperwork, which matters again if you come to sell the house.
Not if the old plaster is dealt with. Most repeat failures are not the damp course at all — they are contaminated plaster left on the wall, so the salts pull moisture back through and everybody blames the treatment.
Barking based, covering Becontree, Upney, Longbridge, Thames View, Creekmouth, Dagenham and Ilford — a free survey, usually within a few days.
Send us a photo of the damp on WhatsApp and we'll see if we can quote you over the phone.