Rising damp My is it my problem or the flat management freeholder? Please help

[lillylilly]

hi there. We have owned our flat for 5 years. Its bottom floor. We are having problems with damp , condensation etc. But 7 days ago our fuse box when crazy, and left us with no electricity. We got a electrician out who replaced and fixed it. It lasted a day and the fuses started to blow one by one. Electrician came again (good friend of ours) came again. Fixed and repaired the lot but again it happened a few hours later. He thinks its due to rising damp causing the problem. but yet again he fixed it and all is not working again and we have no electricity. I have come home to my mums for 3 wks on a break after having my second child. I cannot go back to a flat that has no electric. So as you can imagine i am pretty stressed.

We pay flat management fees of £100 pm. I dont know what to do to fix this problem! I am a leaseholder. My partner who is there has called flat management and they said to e-mail details. So he did. They came back and said unless we can prove its rising damp they are not going to do anything. A survey has not been carried out since 2007 on the building and they are refusing to do anythin g. Does anyone know or advise on what my position is here? is it my problem or theirs? Who can i get to prove it? and what rights do i have if my flat is not fit to live in. WORRIED SICK

[mariner51]

How old is the property? Approx year built?

Does damp affect any wall or just outside facing walls?

Any other signs of rising damp eg 'tide' line in exposed plaster or wallpaper?

With respect to your elec friend, is he qualified to diagnose rising damp? Has he checked elec wiring and appliances for poss shorts?

 

If Managing Co are not prepared to investigate supposed rising damp, as owner-occupier you MAY be able to get local EHO to inspect and provide an opinion, or you will have to engage a rep qual damp surveyor. Be warned, a thorough inspection could involve removing a vertical length of plaster from ground level to determine extent. The pointed 2 electrode damp detectors cannot adequately diff between rising or penetrating damp and condensation.

Rising damp is normally due to a failed damp course, which may have been injected rather than a physical DPM.