Damp and moisture meters
Outside paving sits above the damp-proof course beside the kitchen. What mechanism is that, and why is it not a specification for chemical injection?
It is bridging of the damp-proof course, and it is not a specification for chemical injection. Outside paving beside the kitchen sits above the damp-proof course, so the ground level outside is higher than the barrier in the wall. Moisture can pass the barrier by way of the paving and the masonry above it. The survey has recorded that relationship. It has not specified an injection, and it has not decided that a chemical damp-proof course is the remedy. The mechanism is the high paving. Lowering the paving, or separating it from the wall, addresses 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?
A damp-proof course works when the outside ground and any render or path stay below it. Paving taken above that line connects wet ground to the brick the barrier was meant to protect. That is bridging, and it is visible. Chemical injection is a drilled treatment sold for rising damp, with its own assumptions about an otherwise clear wall. High paving makes those assumptions beside the point: the water has a route around the existing course.
Ask the surveyor to confirm the paving is above the damp-proof course and that no injection was specified. Tell the solicitor the mechanism is bridging beside the kitchen. A builder can say how the paving should sit relative to the course, in writing, without a chemical system attached. Do not accept an injection quote as if it were the survey's recommendation. The lender should hear 'paving above the damp-proof course', which is the defect that was recorded.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is the paving above the damp-proof course beside the kitchen?
- Did you specify chemical injection, or only the high paving?
- Is the mechanism bridging, rather than a failed barrier you have proved?
What are the typical next steps?
- Call it bridging where the paving sits above the damp-proof course.
- Do not read the note as a specification for chemical injection.
- Deal with the paving level before anyone sells a damp treatment.
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 kitchen plaster is salty, does that order an injection?
No. Salt in the plaster can follow moisture from the high paving. It does not specify a chemical system. The survey recorded paving above the damp-proof course, which is the mechanism, and it did not order injection. The inspection did not stretch the high paving into any wider claim at all.
Would a gap between paving and wall still be bridging?
Not in the same way, if the gap actually drops the contact below the course. The survey's finding is paving that sits above it. Until that relationship changes, the mechanism remains bridging, not an injection specification. Keep the high paving inside the facts the surveyor actually recorded on the day.