Age and type of house
The rear closet wing is one brick thick and the front wall is thicker. Why must a damp reading in the wing stay in the wing?
A damp reading in the closet wing must stay in the wing because that wall is one brick thick and the front wall is thicker. They are not the same construction, so a reading on the thin rear wall does not describe the front. The survey has located the moisture with the single-skin wing. It has not tested a damp-proof course through the house, and it has not decided that the thicker front is wet because the wing was.
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 one-brick closet wing has no cavity to break the rain. Moisture from driving rain, a leaking pipe, or cold plaster shows quickly on the inside of that thin wall. The front of a Victorian terrace is often a thicker wall with a different exposure. Copying the wing's reading onto the front invents a second defect. The meter, if one was used on the wing, was on the wing. It was not a tour of every wall.
Tell the solicitor and anyone pricing work that the damp comment is the rear wing, and ask them not to write it up as house-wide rising damp. If the wing needs a repair, that is the thin wall, its rainwater goods and its finish. The survey has not specified a chemical treatment for the front, and it has not cleared the front either. Keep each wall with the evidence that belongs to it.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which wall carried the damp reading, the single-skin wing or the front?
- Why should that reading not be copied onto the thicker front wall?
- Did you test a damp-proof course, or only record moisture where you found it?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the damp reading with the one-brick closet wing.
- Do not describe the thicker front as wet because the wing was.
- Ask for any repair quote to name the wing, not the whole house.
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 wing smells musty, is the front wall included?
Only if the front itself showed damp, which is not what was reported. A musty closet wing fits a thin rear wall. The survey has not transferred that smell into a reading on the thicker front. House-wide wording would join two different walls. Leave the front off that sentence.
Can one high reading on the wing set a treatment for every room?
No. One reading belongs to the wall it was taken on. The wing is one brick thick and the front is thicker, so the same figure would not even mean the same thing. The survey has not ordered a treatment, and it has not spread this result through the house.