Damp and moisture meters
Damp inside lines up with a cracked stone sill and the wall base is dry. Which defect should be read first?
Read the cracked stone sill first. The damp inside lines up with that crack, and the wall base is dry, so the pattern points at the opening rather than at moisture climbing from the ground. The survey has not opened the wall and has not laboratory-tested the sill. Alignment is a reason to take the sill before a house-wide damp label. It has not specified the stone repair. The dry base is why rising damp is the poorer first reading.
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 cracked sill lets rain through the opening onto the inner face, often in a patch that matches the crack. That is penetrating damp at the window. A wet base with a tide along the wall would be the pattern people call rising damp, and the base here is dry. Reading the ground first would ignore the match the surveyor could see. The crack still has not been dressed, pinned or replaced in any specification. First in the reading is not a works order.
Ask a mason or a window contractor to look at the cracked sill as the first defect, and keep any damp treatment away from the dry base unless new evidence appears. Tell the solicitor the internal damp was read with the sill, not as a ground-floor failure of a damp-proof course. The survey has not proved the crack is the only path, because it did not open the reveal. It has said which defect to read first, and that is the sill.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which defect should be read first, the cracked sill or the wall base?
- Why does a dry base change the order?
- Did you open the reveal, or rely on the alignment you could see?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the cracked stone sill before any rising-damp label.
- Ask a mason to look at that sill as the first defect.
- Do not treat the dry wall base as moisture from the ground.
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 sill crack is fine, should the base be read first anyway?
No. Fine or wide, the damp lines up with the sill and the base is dry. The first reading is still the cracked sill. The survey has not switched to the ground because the crack looks modest. A fine crack can still pass water. The dry base remains the reason not to start with rising damp.
Does lining up prove there is no other path?
It does not prove a negative. It says which defect to read first. The survey has not opened the wall to exclude every other route. The cracked sill matches the damp, and the base was dry. Start there. Do not promote an unseen second path ahead of the one the pattern shows.