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We provide treatments for woodworm, dry rot and rising damp, these all carry our own 20 year guarantee which can also be complemented with our chemical companies' insurance backed guarantee. We also install the Helibeam system which can have a manufacturer's 10 year guarantee. Wall tie replacement carries our own 10 year guarantee.

To complement our damp-proofing systems we have fully trained plasterers to complete any treatments.

Surveys are free for all services unless otherwise specified.

Chemical damp-proof courses

Although a physical damp-proof course should be present in all properties built this century, it can be made ineffective for a number of reasons. Bridging by external render, cement plinths and solid floors; interference when building extensions and failure through age are just some of these reasons. We have successfully formed a chemical based damp-proof course in many thousands of properties using a silicone-based chemical.

This method is both odourless and very safe to use. Dampness causes the most rapid and severe degradation of building materials and decorations. It causes unsightly spoiling of decorations, disfiguring mould growth and deterioration of plasterwork. More importantly, it is responsible for the most destructive mechanism of structural deterioration: dry rot (Serpula Lacrymans).

Re-plastering

Re-plastering is an important part of curing dampness. Although injecting a chemical based damp-proof course will prevent any further damp rising, the damp already present has to dry out naturally. Hydroscopic salt taken up into the brick will have contaminated the existing wall-plaster, causing staining and watermarks on the wall surface. This must be taken off and replaced with new plaster that is mixed to the correct specification to prevent the salts that are still present in the brickwork, transferring over into the new plaster-work and causing the staining to re-occur.

Tanking

Tanking is a term used for the positive and negative waterproofing of below ground structures such as cellars, underground tunnels, etc. to prevent lateral penetrating dampness.

Application is by means of two slurry coats painted onto the bare brickwork or a render base coat, this can then be plastered over and permanent decoration can then take place within a period of a few weeks. Alternatively a Delta Waterproof Membrane can be affixed to provide a permanent barrier.

Timber decay

Timber decay arises as a result of severe dampness, and is potentially the most destructive agent within any building. Decay by wet rot fungi such as the cellar fungus, Coniophora Puteana, tends to remain localised to the source of dampness and is restricted to the wood itself. If left unchecked it frequently causes joist ends and other bearing timbers to collapse, for example, where the joist ends are embedded in damp masonry.

However, infection by the true dry rot fungus (serpula lacrymans), can be far more destructive within a building than the wet rots, due to its ability to grow through and across inert substrates such as brickwork and plaster. This allows the fungus to contaminate other timbers within the building so spreading the extent of decay and destruction. Unfortunately dry rot is rather 'secretive' in its activity, preferring stagnant, humid conditions. Hence, when it is discovered the damage it has caused is frequently very extensive.

Wood boring insect attack

Common Furniture Beetle, as the name suggests, is the most common insect that attacks softwood and European hardwood. Larvae hatch out from the eggs and burrow into the timber feeding on the sapwood, progressively weakening it, for up to four years; when fully grown the larvae are approx. 3mm long. Adult beetles emerge from the timber at the completion of the pupa stage through 1-2mm diameter flight holes.

Treatment of this beetle is by means of a water-based woodworm killer applied under pressure to all accessible, undecorated timber surfaces.