Chartered Surveyors in Deal

Deal’s conservation area contains one of the best-preserved eighteenth-century streetscapes on the
Kent coast, with narrow Georgian townhouses, boatmen’s cottages and later Victorian terraces running
back from the shingle beach.

What we check in Deal

The Georgian townhouses have shallow foundations, solid walls, parapet gutters and — very often —
cellars at or below beach water table level. Damp here is usually a construction and levels problem,
not a failed damp-proof course, and treating it as the latter wastes thousands of pounds. We check
for inappropriate cement render and modern paint systems trapping moisture in soft brick, timber
decay in embedded bressummers and joist ends, and the condition of the roof structure, which is
frequently original. Listed building consent history matters throughout the conservation area.

Surveys in Deal

Georgian and listed property needs a Level 3 Building Survey with a damp and timber assessment.

Services we provide in Deal

• RICS Home Survey Level 2 (Homebuyer Survey) and Level 3 (Building Survey)
• Structural surveys, specific defect reports and crack and movement assessment
• Damp, timber and condensation investigations
• Red Book valuations for probate, capital gains tax, matrimonial and shared ownership
• Party wall notices, awards and disputes under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996
• Schedules of condition, dilapidations and commercial building surveys
• New build snagging inspections and professional consultant’s certificates

Every report is produced by an RICS regulated chartered surveyor, written in plain English, and
delivered with photographs, a clear summary of the significant findings and an indication of likely
repair costs.

Deal survey questions we are asked most

Is the damp in Deal cottages really rising damp?

Usually not. In the older seafront cottages it is far more often a combination of high external ground levels, solid walls with no cavity, impermeable render or paint, and a water table close to the surface. Injecting a chemical damp-proof course into that will not fix it and is money wasted.

What is different about surveying a Georgian townhouse?

Parapet gutters and lead work behind the front elevation, embedded timber bressummers and joist ends, original roof structures, and cellars below external ground level. None of these are visible from the street, and all of them are expensive if they have been neglected.

Book a surveyor in Deal. Call us or use the enquiry form below and we will come back to you the same working day with a fixed fee and the earliest available inspection date.