Damp and moisture meters
Condensation sits on a concrete lintel and nowhere on the plaster below. Why does that cold line fit a bridge rather than moisture rising from the floor?
That cold line fits a bridge because the condensation sits on the concrete lintel and nowhere on the plaster below. A concrete lintel is a colder, denser band than the plastered wall under it, so room moisture lands on the lintel first. Moisture rising from the floor would be expected low on the wall, not as a line up at the opening with dry plaster beneath. The survey has recorded that pattern. It has not opened the lintel, has not proved a failed damp course at floor level, and has not decided the wall is rising-damp. The pattern is the bridge.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Condensation needs a cold surface and moist air. Concrete over a window or door chills more readily than a plastered panel that is a little warmer, so beads form on the lintel and stop. Rising moisture is a different storey: it starts at the base and fades as it climbs, and it marks the plaster, the skirting and often the floor edge. A dry wall below a wet lintel is a poor match for that climb. The survey can say so from the pattern.
Deal with the room air and the cold lintel before you fund an injected damp course for a wall that is dry below the opening. Tell the solicitor the note is a cold bridge pattern, not a diagnosis of moisture from the floor. A decorator washing the lintel does not warm it. If you want the thermal break understood, that is a different question from rising damp, and the survey has not mixed them up.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is the condensation limited to the concrete lintel?
- What did the plaster below actually show?
- Are you reading this as a cold bridge rather than rising moisture?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the lintel condensation as a cold bridge.
- Do not treat dry plaster below as moisture rising from the floor.
- Deal with the cold lintel and the room air before you assume a failed damp course.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If a moisture meter clicks on the lintel, is the moisture rising?
Not from this pattern. A click on the concrete shows a damp surface where the condensation sits. The plaster below is unaffected, which is why the line fits a bridge. The survey has not called it moisture rising from the floor.
Could a leak above the lintel look similar?
It could if the survey had found a path from above. Here the note is condensation on the lintel and nowhere on the plaster below, which is the bridge pattern. The inspection has not reported a leak from overhead as the reading.