London Property Preservation Limited

Being a small business, we wondered whether a more visual way of explaining our services would be the right way to go.
Damp & its acquaintances such as Dry-Rot, Wet-Rot & Wood worm can be quite hard to explain & sometimes you don’t want to visualise such little horrors…
So we thought a short video may help with explaining the treatments & services we can provide if you are unfortunately visited by one or more of these annoyances.

London Property Preservation are a small, but well managed, damp proofing and timber preservation company, offering unbeatable value for money. We pride ourselves in visiting our prospective clients and offering a full diagnostic report on your issue.

Although we cover the South East of the UK, we have been known to travel further afield, so please get in touch, no matter where you are.

We are also on Local directories such as Freeindex, Yellowleaf & Yelp. 

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Please contact us if you require any further information:-

Email @LPP@Rocoja.co.uk

Website – London Property Preservation

Call on 020 8689 0073

Ghostly goings on – Could this be the reason for your Damp Problem?

I’ve been looking into reasons for damp, other than the obvious no damp proof course, broken DPC, not enough height above ground etc etc & have been a little surprised over some of the answers I have found.

There is a huge field of belief out there that “ghost” mists following old river pathways can cause damp issues in new builds.

Upon further investigation, these ghostly mists have also received blame for damp in old houses where rivers run deeply underground, but the mist still follows over the path the river would’ve run if it was still at ground level.

Living in London, I know first hand that there are many many old waterways which are now covered by “regeneration”. These were waterways, emanating from canals, serving as London’s water supplies over 250 years ago.

Sometimes these canals & underground rivers can be seen on old schematics & deeds, sometimes its just word of mouth or if lucky old photo’s.

In central London, these underground rivers have most definitely caused issues in Victorian built houses, where the problem of rising damp was not even envisaged when the buildings were erected.

So with this in mind I have looked at some stories of these mists & rivers; many people seem to agree that mists will sometimes follow long gone rivers/canals that have been filled in or moved, its almost as though the mist remembers where the path of water was and will continue to form along that pathway….This has been connected to the ghost stories of old where people will have visions of figures walking along roads that may now stand at a different height, so the figures may be only half seen.

It seems that “spirits” travel along paths which may no longer actually be there.

It seems simple now, London & the SE of England is most deffinitely a river centric area, After-all London itself was built up around the Thames for just that reason, ease of movement, trading etc. So why wouldn’t we expect some kind of trade-off to be made. Well as said, many of the buildings that went up hundreds of years ago just were just not built in an era when damp issues were thought about / envisaged – maybe this contributed to the terrible respiratory diseases which were around then? Just a thought….

But now, with the technology we have, regenerative building really should have the right damp course at least, but reading through the media reports, it seems this isn’t always the case.

So if you have any worries, please contact a specialist (NO,  I am not talking about a Psychic or dowser to contact the ghosts or divine the river) I mean a professional damp proofing company.

Contact one who will do a full independent report for you.

That’s where London Property Preservations come in.

However if you think Casper may be to blame,

I am not sure we can help 🙂

Email us here – LPP Email

Website here – www.LondonPropertyPreservation.co.uk

Facebook here – LPPltd

Twitter here – LPPltd

Rising Damp – Is Rigsby alive & well in Surrey & the South East?

Well, The subject I’ve been tasked to tackle is Rising Damp & showing my age a little now, the first thing I thought of was this!

Rising Damp Opening credits  and lets be honest, it did make a fair few of us giggle back then  – the series about the bumbling landlord & the eclectic mix of tenants.

The regular miss-haps that befell them, the double-entendre’s that are sadly lost in nowadays society & the fantastically funny “romance” between Miss Jones & Mr Rigsby.

All set against a ramshackle building which, to be frank was a perfect setting for “Rising Damp“.

The real Rising Damp is not so funny… He’s a naughty upstart, who’s a natural “social climber”… He will do his best to attain the headiest heights.. Starting from ground level & creeping up walls, internal & external brickwork, in fact anywhere to get up as high as he can.. Seeking prominence & attaining heights. He needs help though, otherwise he would be anywhere & everywhere…

Technically, he isn’t a “he” at all – forgive me, too many years of watching “the apprentice”. He is a naturally occurring phenomenon called “Capillary Action“. This the ability of a liquid to flow in narrow spaces without the assistance of, and in opposition to external forces like gravity – think Paintbrush pulling up paint between their bristles.. or washing up sponge pulling up water.

For many homes affected its simply ground water, which is attracted to the dry bricks & mortar & starts to be pulled into the buildings structure.

Of course, during planning stages this is usually addressed, BUT sometimes nature takes over & the natural thing for the water to do, is rise up via the capillary action if there is a porous material above it. Also, if the damp proof course which was effected during construction is somehow breached (age, works etc) – the “apprentice” I described before will see an opportunity & take it – all guns blazing…

The moisture will move from the outside wall through to inside walls fairly smoothly & this is when the Rising Damp becomes apparent.. plaster becomes soft & wall covering discolour.

The moment you suspect you may have a Rising Damp issue, its best to get a specialist in, such as London Property Preservation, to ensure your problems are identified & dealt with effectively. the walls affected hold onto salts which travel upward with the moisture  as will the internal plaster – so a thorough remedy must be applied.

What to look for:-

 

 

 

 

Damp patches on external walls

Damp on internal Walls

Wet patches on Wallpaper

The good news is – LPPltd Can & will help.

So – Rigsby, if you had’ve called us, back the, maybe Miss Jones would’ve succumbed a bit quicker,. as your home would’ve been a bit brighter & a LOT dryer!!!

Contact LPP ltd now on 020 8689 0073

Please visit us via email or the Website for more info  

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