This afternoon I looked at a very contemporary flat in the heart of Clifton; it was so contemporary it had a ‘ living’ flat roof made up the glasses and sedums that was partially waterlogged and looked rather like a football pitch, a third grade football pitch at that. For all the water it held, the ceiling was quite dry. There are however some suspect areas around the perimeter of the lower roofs where attention will be required which perhaps is quite surprising for a fact that he's so young. I shall of course point all of this out to my client who I suspect is already aware that something will be found, because despite being contemporary nothing is quite as straightforward as perhaps we would always like…   more »

I am quite sure that Queen Victoria would have had smelling salts but today little deodorisers plugged into the electrical ring main do the job, but what an appalling smell they give off. Of course one has to ask the reason why it was plugged in, in the first place and I suspect the answer is that it was masking the smell of damp. The boiler was on at full thrust, so the house was unbearably hot, even on a relatively cold day and again one has to ask the question why it is left on and the answer is that it is probably trying to dry out the house. Well there are two posing questions, but I don't think it's as bad as all that. However, significant condensation is evident in the house, in the roof space and in the front bedroom, where I would expect it, but not when the house is vacant and there's not even a bed in the room. The roof void is contaminated with condensation and this will l need significant ventilation to keep it as dry as possible. Some of the walls were seemingly damp to look at, but again most of this was due to condensation. I think there has been some past movement in the property but nothing too untoward. The house has a new roof but I was unable to get onto it despite there being ladders up to it, because it was raining, because it was windy and because Christmas is around the corner and I did not want to fall off!   more »