THE PROPERTY.
The house is a older on street terrace house.
CLIENT ISSUE.
On entering the house the client guided me to an area in the hall that he suspected there was a leak under the floor.
On my initial visual inspection I noticed signs of damp on the plasterboard under the stairs. A hole had been cut in the plasterboard under the stairs by someone previously to investigate the damp. There was signs of damp rising on the wall and on the floor in this area and the moisture meter backed this up, as per the pictures below. Moisture reading of 500 on the wall in the corner of the under stair area and a reading of 250 on the concrete subfloor.
Discoveries
I then started with an acoustic survey to check if there was a leak in any of the pipes in the area of the damp.
The acoustic survey concluded there was not any leaks in the heating of water pipes nearby. No drop in pressure on the heating system backed this up.
Low moisture readings on the floor in the hallway also back this up.
Conclusion
A moisture and an acoustic survey was inconclusive of leak detection in the area. Tenant was advised to leave it for another 2-3 and check if it was drying out before any more investigation.
