Damp treated at its source, not painted over.
Damp patches, blistering paint and white salt are symptoms, not the problem. We take moisture readings and trace where water is actually entering before specifying any treatment, so the wall is repaired at the cause rather than covered over.
- Free site inspection
- Written, itemised quote
- 1-year workmanship warranty
- Same-day callback
At a glance
How do you treat dampness and seepage in a wall?
By finding where the water is getting in before treating anything. Damp on a wall is a symptom: it could be a concealed line weeping, rain driving through an exterior face, a bathroom or terrace slab above, or ground moisture rising through the plinth. We take moisture readings, isolate the source, strip and dry the affected area, then treat and reinstate it.
When this is the answer, and when it is not.
Sending you to the wrong service wastes your money and our time. This is how to tell.
This is likely right if
- A patch keeps darkening after every spell of rain and returns however often it is repainted
- Paint is blistering, or white powdery salt is coming through near the skirting of a ground-floor wall
- A ceiling stain is spreading under a bathroom or a terrace and you need to know which of the two it is
- Damp shows around a window frame, a sunshade junction or on the inside of a monsoon-facing wall
Something else comes first if
- The wall is cold and wet only in an unventilated bathroom or bedroom corner, that's condensation, and extraction and airflow have to be sorted before any coating
- The water is arriving from a terrace slab, a parapet or the flat above, that source has to be treated at its own level first, and we quote it separately
- Plaster has come away over a large area, or concrete is spalling with reinforcement showing, repair, and a structural engineer's opinion on the slab, comes before damp treatment
What the service includes.
Moisture survey and source tracing
Readings taken across the affected surface and on dry areas nearby, then the likely routes checked, concealed lines, chajja and sill junctions, the wet area or slab above, and the plinth.
Written findings before work starts
You get the readings, what we believe the source is, what we'll treat, and what somebody else has to fix first. If the cause sits outside your walls, we say so in writing.
Stripping back and de-salting
Blown and hollow plaster hacked off past the edge of the damp, salt deposits brushed off the masonry and the debris cleared. The wet area is always wider than the stain you can see.
Drying and re-testing
The opened wall dried out with airflow, then re-checked with the meter. We work to the reading, not to a date, because a treatment applied over a wet substrate comes away with the moisture.
Treatment to the agreed system
Cementitious waterproof coating, a waterproofing admixture in the replaster and a damp-tolerant primer, chosen for whether we're working the water side or the inside face, and stated in your quotation.
Reinstatement and re-check
Plaster brought back level with the surrounding wall, primed and finished to match, then the area re-checked with the meter after a spell of rain.
Not included, or quoted separately
- The plumbing repair itself, we locate and expose the leak, a plumber replaces the pipe or fitting, and we make good after
- Terrace, roof, parapet or exterior elevation work above the damp, surveyed and quoted as its own scope
- Anything inside a neighbour's flat, a shaft or an association-controlled common area, which needs their consent first
- Structural assessment of a slab, beam or column, including spalling concrete with reinforcement showing
- Removing and refitting tiling, sanitaryware, modular kitchen units, wardrobes or false ceiling to reach the wet face
The sequence.
Inspection and moisture readings
We map how far the wet zone extends with a meter, reading dry parts of the same wall as a reference, and photograph what we find.
Isolating the source
Supply lines shut and watched, wet area floors ponded, chajja, sill and terrace junctions checked, and the wall compared after rain against a dry spell.
Written diagnosis and scope
The source named, the treatment specified, and anything that must be fixed by a plumber, the association or the owner above set out plainly.
Opening up and drying
Failed plaster removed beyond the edge of the damp, salts cleaned off, and the wall left to dry with airflow until the meter says it is ready.
Treat and replaster
The agreed waterproofing system applied to the masonry, replastered with an admixture where specified, then primed for a damp-affected surface.
Finish, re-check and hand over
Finish coats to match the surrounding wall, a re-check of the readings after rain, and your written warranty with its conditions issued on completion.
What moves the price on this job.
We do not publish a rate, because it would change once someone measured your property. These are the variables that decide it.
- How much investigation the source needs, a leaking sill junction shows itself quickly, a concealed line that only weeps under pressure doesn't
- Whether the wet face can be reached, or sits behind tiling, a wardrobe, a duct or a false ceiling
- The area of plaster coming off, which is set by the meter readings, moisture travels through plaster further than it discolours it, so the sound edge usually sits well outside the visible stain
- Whether we can treat the water side of the wall or are limited to the inside face, which needs a heavier build-up
- The number of visits, because drying happens between them and can't be compressed
- What the reinstatement has to match, plain emulsion, a texture, or a tiled wet area
Dampness and Seepage Treatment — your questions.
Can you not just paint over the damp patch with a damp-proof paint?
Not while the wall is still taking in water. Paint bonds to the layer under it, so if that layer is damp or carrying salt, the new coat lifts along with it. Moisture moving out of the wall pushes the film off, and salts crystallise behind it. A damp-block coating over a live source usually just moves the wet patch to the next weak point.
How do you work out where the water is coming from?
By elimination, on site. We map the wet area with a moisture meter against dry readings nearby, then test the likely routes: shutting the supply line and watching whether the readings fall, ponding a wet area floor, checking chajja and sill junctions, and comparing the wall after rain against a dry spell. Where it is still unclear, we open a small test patch rather than guess.
How long does the wall need to dry before you treat it?
As long as the readings take to come down, thickness of the wall, how long it has been wet, and the weather all change that, so we work to the meter rather than to a date. Drying is the stage people ask us to skip, and it is the one that decides whether the treatment holds. We'll tell you where the readings stand at each visit.
The leak seems to be from the flat above. What can you do?
We put the finding in writing, with the readings and photographs, so you've something to take to the owner above or to your association. Meanwhile we can treat your side of the wall or ceiling to limit the damage, and we'll say plainly that this is holding water back rather than stopping it. The lasting fix is at the source, in their bathroom or on the slab.
Will the damp come back?
If the source is fixed and the wall is properly dried and treated, that patch should stay dry through the following monsoon. What we can't control is a new leak, a source in someone else's property, or a terrace that hasn't been dealt with. A little salt bloom can also surface as the wall gives up its remaining moisture; that wipes off. The written warranty states its conditions.
Let us look at your walls first.
Tell us about the property and we will set up a free colour and wall inspection. You get a written, itemised quotation afterwards, with no obligation to go ahead.
- We call you back the same day to get a picture of the property and the surfaces.
- We agree a time and come out for the free inspection.
- You get the written scope and itemised quotation.
- Nothing starts until you approve it.