Damp Proofing in Newcastle
Newcastle has more solid-walled, pre-1920 housing than almost anywhere in the region, and that is where most of our damp work in the city happens. Tyneside flats in Heaton, Byker and Fenham, the big terraces of Jesmond and Sandyford, the stone and brick of Benwell and Arthur's Hill: all built without the cavity walls and damp courses that later houses rely on. We diagnose which kind of damp you have before we quote, fix it at the cause, and replaster so the room is ready to decorate.
Damp in Newcastle homes
Tyneside flats bring a problem you do not get elsewhere: two households in one building with a shared party wall and a shared front elevation. A leaking bathroom in the upper flat shows up as a stain in the lower flat's ceiling, and rising damp in the lower flat's front wall can be bridged by a path that was raised when the street was repaved. We trace the moisture to where it actually starts, which sometimes means telling you the fix belongs to the flat next door, before any plaster comes off.
In Jesmond, Gosforth and the West End the Victorian terraces have solid brick walls that were built to breathe. Where they have been covered with hard cement render, gypsum plaster or plastic paint over the decades, moisture that would once have evaporated is trapped, and it shows as blown plaster, bubbling paint and a tide mark along the hallway and front room. The right fix on those walls is often a new chemical damp course with a breathable renovation plaster, not another coat of waterproof paint.
The twentieth-century estates in Kenton, Westerhope, Walker and Longbenton have cavity walls and a working DPC, so what we usually find there is condensation and black mould rather than rising damp: cold corners, blocked or missing vents, bathrooms without extractors. We will tell you when the answer is ventilation and insulation rather than injection, because a damp course does nothing for condensation.
Parts of Newcastle we cover
We work across the whole of Newcastle and the streets around it, including Jesmond, Heaton, Gosforth, Fenham, Byker, Walker, Benwell, Kenton, Westerhope, Sandyford, Shieldfield, Kingston Park, Denton, Lemington, Newburn, Ouseburn, Arthur's Hill and South Gosforth. There are no travel charges anywhere in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Damp work in shared and let Newcastle homes
A large share of the older housing in Heaton, Jesmond, Sandyford and Fenham is let, much of it to students and young professionals, and damp in a let flat has a deadline attached. Landlords need the cause found, the work done and the room handed back before a tenancy starts, and tenants need to know the mould on the bedroom wall is being dealt with properly. We quote fixed, agree a date, and plan the strip and replaster so the flat is usable again within the week. Where a tenant's heating and drying habits are part of the problem, we explain that to both sides plainly rather than leaving the landlord to guess.
On a Newcastle survey we also look at what is under and behind the room. Many terraces here have suspended timber ground floors with air bricks along the front, and those vents are often buried by raised pavements, blocked by paint or covered by a later porch. Without airflow, the void stays damp, the joist ends and skirtings suffer, and the walls above show the moisture. Clearing or adding ventilation is sometimes the cheapest and most important part of the job, and we check it every time before any plaster comes off. We also look at the rainwater goods at the back, because many Tyneside flats share a downpipe and a gully in the yard, and a blocked shared gully can soak the base of both flats' rear walls for years without anyone noticing.
How we do damp proofing
The full process, step by step, and what it involves.
location_onOur Newcastle guide
The homes in Newcastle and the problems they tend to have.
photo_libraryCase studies
Real jobs written up: the problem, the work and the result.
menu_book5 warning signs you have rising damp
Our guide, written for homeowners.
Our 20-year guarantee
Where we install a damp proof course, you get a written 20-year guarantee against rising damp coming back through it, and it transfers to a new owner if you sell. For penetrating damp, condensation and the replastering that goes with them, our workmanship promise applies: if something we did is not right, we come back and sort it.
Damp Proofing jobs we have written up
Rated by customers across the North East on Checked & Vetted, MyBuilder and Google. Read the reviews.
Damp Proofing questions from Newcastle
Yes. We can phase the work room by room so the tenant keeps a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom usable, and we sheet everything and clear up each day. If it is easier, we can also book the job into the gap between tenancies with a fixed finish date so the flat is ready for the next move-in.
Not quite. A cellar sits below ground, so water comes through the walls from the soil around it rather than rising from below. Treating a cellar to use it as a room means tanking or a membrane system rather than a damp course. If you only need it dry enough for storage, ventilation and drainage outside may be enough. We tell you which after we look.
We can treat and replaster your side and fix anything on your own property that lets water in. We will also put in writing what we found on the shared parts, which helps if you need to take it up with your neighbour or their landlord. What we will not do is replaster over a source that is still active and pretend it is fixed.
More of what we do in Newcastle
Damp Proofing near Newcastle
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