Basements and cellars
A Victorian coal hole grating lets water onto the cellar steps. Has the survey tanked that wall or only seen the stain?
The survey has only seen the wetting, not tanked that wall. A Victorian coal-hole grating lets water onto the cellar steps, which is a path for rain onto the stair and the masonry beside it. The visit can record the grating, the water, and staining on the steps or the wall. Tanking is a barrier system applied to keep moisture out. It was not installed on this inspection, and a home survey does not carry it out. The path was observed. The wall was not waterproofed by the report.
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?
Coal holes were pavement openings into cellars. A grating that still discharges onto the steps is putting rain where the old chute used to. Staining shows wetting has marked the surface. It does not map how far water has crossed the brick, whether salts are active, or whether an older tanking coat is already there and failed. The survey looks. It does not line the wall, inject it, or stay through a wet week to see the worst of the flow.
Tell the solicitor the grating is a live path for water, and ask whether any damp guarantee or old cellar work is in the papers. Those papers are not this report. A specialist can specify tanking or a better way to take the water away, if you instruct that later. Do not tell a lender the wall has been tanked because a stain was photographed. The survey stopped at what it could see on the day.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Was the coal-hole grating recorded as a path for water onto the steps?
- Did this visit install or certify any tanking?
- Does a stain, by itself, map how far the masonry is wet?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the wall as seen, not as tanked.
- Ask the solicitor for any old damp papers.
- Keep a specialist specification separate from this report.
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
Could the same staining be an old mark rather than water arriving now?
It could. A stain can be historic, and the survey has not watched the steps in rain. The record is a grating that lets water onto those steps, plus the mark. That is a path and a symptom, not a history of every wetting, and not proof the wall was lined. Read the detail beside the photograph. Do not assume the mark is only old.
Does noting the grating replace a check of the drains in the pavement?
No. The grating is a cellar opening, not a drainage survey of the street gulley or the house drains. The visit saw water reaching the steps. It did not camera the drains and did not prove where the rain should have gone instead. Ask if a separate drainage look is needed. The stain note does not include one.