Condition ratings
The report names both timber decay and damp. Why might one contractor's visit fail to answer both sentences?
One visit can miss one of the two questions because the sentences do not ask the same thing. Timber decay and damp can share a room and still need different eyes, different opening-up and different written answers. A contractor instructed only for the damp, or only for the timber, has not automatically cleared the other line by being in the house.
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?
Surveyors name both because moisture and decay often sit together, and because each can also exist without the other being proved. A damp specialist may comment on moisture in plaster and masonry. They may not be the person who opens joist ends, identifies fungal decay or says whether structural timber has lost its section. A timber specialist may not give you the damp diagnosis the other paragraph asked for. If your instruction to a single firm does not mention both questions, their report can be silent on one of them and still be a proper answer to the job they were given.
Write two questions into the booking, or book two people, and say which walls and which timbers are in play. Ask for a written report that quotes the survey sentences it is answering. The home survey itself only saw what was visible: it did not test the services, it did not guarantee concealed timbers, and its ratings remain its own view until a specialist writes. One van on the drive is not evidence that both paragraphs have been closed. Read the specialist paper against each sentence before you tell the solicitor the follow-up is complete.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which sentence is about timber, and which is about damp, in your view?
- Would one follow-up visit of yours have answered both, or only one?
- What should a specialist's report quote so I can see both points covered?
What are the typical next steps?
- Split the survey's two sentences into explicit questions.
- Check the specialist's brief covers each question you still need answered.
- Do not treat one site visit as an answer to both lines.
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 damp firm mentions a soft skirting, is the timber sentence closed?
Not by a passing remark. You need the timber question answered in the terms the survey set.
Can one firm do both if the brief says so?
Yes, if they are instructed to answer both and their written report actually does. The visit fails when the brief, or the report, covers only one.