Age and type of house
Flint work with brick dressings has cement strap pointing that is shelled off in patches. What damp path is the failed pointing, and what rising-damp treatment has it not specified?
The failed pointing is a path for rain into the joints, and it has not specified a rising-damp treatment. Flint work with brick dressings has cement strap pointing that is shelled off in patches. Strap pointing sits on the face of the joint. Where it has shelled, the joint behind is open or recessed and rain can run into the wall. That is a penetrating-damp route at the face. The survey recorded the shells and the open patches. It did not prescribe a chemical injection, a new damp course, or any other rising-damp treatment.
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?
Cement straps on flint often crack and fall because the ribbon of mortar is stuck to the face rather than packed into the joint. Brick dressings can show the same failure at quoins and window edges. The damp question that follows is water entering at those openings, which is not the same as moisture rising from the ground. A high reading, if one was taken, would still not be a specification. The inspection did not design a treatment and did not say the wall needs one.
Ask a mason used to flint how the joints should be made good, and keep that advice separate from any damp-proofing sales visit. The solicitor does not need a treatment warranty the survey never wrote. Do not read shelled straps as an order to inject the wall. The report identified a rain path at the pointing. It specified no rising-damp treatment.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where has the cement strap pointing shelled, and what joint is left open?
- Did you specify any rising-damp treatment, or stop at the failed pointing?
- What of the flint and the brick dressings was too covered to see?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the shelled straps as a rain path, not as a treatment order.
- Ask a flint mason about the joints, not a damp product by default.
- Keep any later damp investigation separate from this pointing note.
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 the brick dressings are soft, is that rising damp?
Soft brick is a condition of those dressings. The survey has not specified a rising-damp treatment, and failed strap pointing is a rain path at the joints. Softness can have more than one cause. The report did not convert the dressings into a chemical damp-course specification. That treatment was not ordered.
Does one intact strap mean the wall is weathered properly?
One intact strap is one joint that has not yet shelled. The survey found patches where the cement pointing has come off, and those patches are the rain path. A surviving ribbon nearby does not close the open joints and does not specify a rising-damp treatment. The failed areas remain the finding.