Damp checks
Damp checks when viewing a house in France
Damp is one of the easiest problems to notice and one of the easiest to explain away. Use this list to record what you can see, smell and ask before deciding whether it needs a professional opinion.
Use your nose first
- Pause when you enter each room and notice musty, earthy or stale smells.
- Ask whether windows were opened before the viewing.
- Check cupboards, corners, behind furniture and rooms that feel colder than the rest of the house.
- Look for heavy fragrances, fresh paint or new plaster only in one area.
Check walls, floors and cellars
- Look for salt marks, peeling paint, swollen skirting, black mould, blistered plaster or tide marks.
- Check whether outside ground levels sit higher than internal floors.
- Look carefully at cellars, earth floors, barns attached to the house and north-facing rooms.
- Ask whether any damp treatment has been done and whether the cause was fixed.
Look outside for causes
- Broken gutters, blocked downpipes and water discharging near walls.
- Hard paving sloping towards the house or soil banked against stonework.
- Cracked render, damaged pointing, roof leaks, chimney problems and poor ventilation.
- Vegetation against walls, especially ivy, shrubs and stored wood.
Questions to ask
- Has there ever been a leak, flood, insurance claim or damp specialist report?
- Which rooms are hard to heat or ventilate in winter?
- Is there a cellar, spring, well, stream, drainage ditch or run-off issue nearby?
- What would a local builder or surveyor need to inspect before you offered?
Related checks
- Roof checks for a French property viewing
- Buying a renovation property in France checklist
- What to check before buying property in France
This checklist is not a damp survey. If damp could affect your offer or safety, get a qualified opinion before relying on the viewing.