Damp and moisture meters
Mould sits on a cold concrete lintel in a bedroom and the skirting below is dry. Why does that pattern fit condensation better than rising damp?
The pattern fits condensation better than rising damp because the mould is on a cold concrete lintel, up at the window, while the skirting below is dry. Condensation settles on the coldest surface, and a concrete lintel in a heated bedroom is a typical cold bridge. Rising damp would be expected low down, at the base of the wall, where this skirting was dry. The survey has read the pattern. It has not laboratory-tested the moisture, has not diagnosed rising damp from the lintel, and has not said the wall needs a damp-proof course.
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?
Rising damp, where it genuinely occurs, wets the masonry from the ground upward and marks skirtings, plaster and finishes low on the wall. Mould on a lintel with a dry skirting is the wrong way up for that pattern. The lintel cools, room air drops moisture on it, and mould follows. That can happen in a house with a perfectly ordinary damp course. The survey can say which pattern it saw. It cannot turn a high, cold, mouldy lintel into a rising-damp specification.
Deal with the cold surface and the room air: heating, ventilation, and how the window is used, which a joiner or a ventilation specialist can help with if the lintel keeps growing mould. Tell the solicitor the report does not call this rising damp and does not specify injection. The survey has not measured humidity over time. If the skirting later shows a damp line, that is a different pattern and a different note. It is not what the dry skirting and the mouldy lintel have shown.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Was the mould on the lintel, with the skirting below dry?
- Did you treat that as condensation on a cold surface rather than rising damp?
- Was any laboratory test done, or only a visual pattern?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read lintel mould and a dry skirting as condensation, not rising damp.
- Improve heating and ventilation at that cold window before any damp-proof treatment.
- Do not specify a new damp-proof course from this pattern.
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 meter reads high on the lintel, has rising damp been proved?
A high reading on a cold, mouldy lintel fits surface moisture. It is not a laboratory test and it is not rising damp, which this dry skirting does not support. The survey has not made that diagnosis. No later decision about the lintelmeter was made, and this visit did not supply one.
Does mould on the lintel mean the concrete is leaking?
No. The note is mould on a cold surface. The survey has not said the lintel lets rain through, and the dry skirting keeps the pattern up at the window rather than in a leak down the wall. What happens next for the lintelleak is outside this note and was not settled here.