Treating damp?

[BackinSE22]

Hi

I've just moved into a ground floor flat and found more damp on the ceiling of the bathroom (which is below a first floor kitchen) to be much worse than when I first saw the flat a few months ago.

Can anyone recommend a good local firm to investigate and then treat it?

Cheers.

[asha024]

Are you sure it's damp? It sounds as if it may be a leak.

[jrpfinch]

If it's not at earth level, it will be a leak or condensation or poor external brickwork.

So bricklayer, plumber or opening the window should do it. May need a plasterer as well to redo the ceiling. Perhaps a fan if it's not practicable to open windows regularly.

[BackinSE22]

Yes you are both right - it was a leak from upstairs (not my flat!) so need something or someone to treat it and make good...

[asha024]

If you are in a flat there is probably one insurance policy for the whole building that you may be able to claim off. Otherwise you can try getting the owner of the above flat to pay for the repairs to the damage which is what I did in a similar situation.

[sarahlou]

When this happened to me I asked about the joint insurance policy for the house but it did not cover the leak, I was advised to get the people above to claim on their home insurance to cover it- when I asked them they preferred not to claim and paid for the repainting themselves. I also had a dehumidifier for a week first to make sure it was really dry and the floorboards above had fully dried out.