Sources. Pathways. Reservoirs. Evaporation.
Moisture problems are rarely what they first appear to be. A damp wall may be fed by a leaking gutter, a blocked cavity, condensation, rising ground moisture, salt contamination, or several of these at once. Prescribing a remedy before the cause is understood wastes money and, in historic buildings, frequently destroys sound fabric.
Our investigations trace moisture from its sources, along its pathways through the construction, into the reservoirs where it accumulates, and out through evaporation. We never diagnose from a moisture-meter reading alone. Readings are interpreted alongside the construction, exposure, salts, temperatures, ventilation and the history of the building.
The result is a diagnosis supported by evidence, and a repair strategy that favours careful investigation, retention of sound fabric, compatible materials and proportionate intervention.
What we investigate.
Each subject links to more detailed guidance explaining how we investigate and what our reports provide.
Timber Surveys
Assessing decay, beetle activity and the true condition of structural timber.
Read guidance →Condensation & Mould
Temperature, humidity, ventilation and use, all assessed together.
Read guidance →Environmental Monitoring
Data logging that shows how a building actually behaves over time.
Read guidance →Historic-Building Surveys
Condition and fabric surveys informed by conservation experience.
Read guidance →Testing & Sample Analysis
Gravimetric moisture, salts, mortars and timber species analysis.
Read guidance →Micro-drilling
Resistance drilling to assess concealed timber condition without opening up.
Read guidance →Warranties at the expense of common sense.
Much of the damp and timber industry is built around selling products: chemical damp-proof courses, timber treatments and proprietary remedial systems, each backed by a warranty. The warranty looks reassuring, but the business issuing it profits from the treatment, not from the diagnosis. The predictable result is treatment specified where none is needed, symptoms addressed while causes remain, and historic fabric cut away to satisfy a guarantee document.
SMT Associates sells no products and installs no systems. Our only interest is a correct diagnosis and a proportionate repair. Where moisture is traced to a defective gutter, a blocked vent or hard cement pointing trapping moisture in a wall, the remedy is to fix the actual problem, not to inject chemicals into it.
Over three decades this evidence-led approach has repeatedly saved clients substantial sums, and saved buildings from irreversible and unnecessary intervention. Fungal decay dies when the moisture that sustains it is removed. That is common sense, and it is also good building science.
From diagnosis to repair.
Investigation is only the beginning. Because SMT Associates is a practice of Chartered Building Surveyors with planning and conservation expertise, we can carry a project through from diagnosis to completed, monitored repair.
- Repair recommendations that address causes and retain sound fabric
- Conservation specifications using compatible, breathable materials
- Listed building consent and other approvals where required
- Tendering and contractor coordination
- Contract administration during the works
- Monitoring to confirm the building is drying and the repair has worked
See how this works in practice at Chepstow Castle and Bodmin Jail.