Thank you for visiting Durie Heritage – building surveyors.
What we do:
We specialise in the lost and unloved, the damp and forgotten, the old and even the new, the vast and the very cute. We specialise in surveying buildings and identifying what has gone wrong (building pathology) and in happily confirming what is operating as it should.
What we don’t do:
We do not carry out any work that we recommend. We do not have affiliations with tradesmen or contractors of any kind. We do not recommend damp proofing, waterproofing, chemical injection, applying membranes or other forms of preventing evaporation.
What we have:
Alison and I both have first class honours degrees in building surveying – so 8 years of study of building construction and materials. CSRT or CSTDB ‘qualifications’ are achieved in 2 or 3 days! Alison and I also have Masters degrees, mine in the conservation of historic buildings.
How we do it:
Working in a small family business, we are also not required to wear suits, ties and shiny shoes when undertaking surveys. We wear cargo pants, polo shirts, stout boots and work jackets. This allows us to access all areas, whether it is the cobweb-infested never-before-entered roofspace or the damp, dingy and rotting subfloor. We carry drain lifting keys to inspect manholes too. Try and find another building surveyor who does that!
This is what makes us different. We access areas not normally even considered by most surveyors, even building surveyors – yes, there is a difference, a big difference. As heritage building surveyors, we allow for a detailed and full inspection. The only way this is possible is by getting up close to the fabric, testing and inspecting the areas which are difficult and usually too dirty for other ‘surveyors’ to enter. There are very few of us around hence our geographical spread.
Where do we do it:
Now based in Leominster in Herefordshire in the West Midlands, we are prefectly placed for Wales, the central belt, from Lancashire to north Somerset and Herefordshire to Hertfordshire and points inbetween. Beginning the business in Scotland, we remain busy throughout, from Banff and Buchan to the Borders and from Campbeltown to Crail operating from Dunblane in Perthshire.
What should you do now?
There should be enough information in the following pages for you to cobble together solutions to common problems on your own if you wish or, you can contact us to arrange a survey. We are extremely busy so, if we don’t respond immediately to your telephone message, please call back or email to make sure we don’t miss your enquiry.
We look forward to providing you with the correct information and helping you to understand your home.
Services
The most comprehensive type of survey. A full examination of all accessible parts of your house from chimneys to drainage including all parts in-between.
A detailed investigation into the causes of dampness and an assessment of any damage and on-going risk or decay, and a detailed explanation of possible remedies.
Diagnosing the numerous and, sometimes, complex reasons for failure takes experience and a full understanding of different types of construction and materials to be able to give accurate advice.
What You Should Know
There are numerous ways for moisture to affect a building and it is impossible to categorise them simply as it suggests equally simple fixes.
Rising damp is used as an umbrella term and is actually an accumulation of defects at ground level none of which are solved by waterproofing walls. Commonly it is caused by poor external maitenance. Damp proofing does not repair these defects.
Penetrating damp is not a defect, it is caused by ANY and all external defects so not simple to diagnose and with no simple fix either no matter what you are told by anyone else.
Damp proofing and rising damp remedies is big business so it attracts people who want to make money with no conscience. At worst they are fraudsters, at best they are idiots. Either way, they lack a conscience.
A 3-day course to sell chemicals. They are not damp experts or surveyors or preservation professionals. They are salesmen who need to sell you damp proofing to make money.
Why stone? Why lime? What makes it so special? Solid walls v cavity walls. Good quality materials.
