Traditional, listed & conservation buildings
Pre-1919 buildings are designed to breathe. Diagnosed by someone who understands how.
Old buildings work differently
Solid-wall buildings built before about 1919 have no cavity and no modern damp-proof course. They were designed to absorb and release moisture through breathable materials — lime mortar, lime plaster, permeable paints. They manage water by letting it evaporate back out.
The damage happens when someone treats an old building like a new one: cement render, gypsum plaster, plastic paints, injected chemical DPCs and tanking. These trap moisture in the wall, push it elsewhere, and create the very damp and decay they were meant to cure — while quietly destroying historic fabric. It's one of the most common and most expensive mistakes made on period homes in the valleys.
The independent difference
Our diagnosis is grounded in how the building is actually built to behave. We assess breathability, identify what's interfering with it, and recommend repairs that work with the building rather than against it — and because we have no treatment to sell, there's no incentive to over-specify.
Damp diagnosis that protects historic fabric
Listed and period buildings are designed to breathe — and the wrong "cure" can damage protected fabric, fall foul of listed building consent, and make the damp worse. I diagnose the real cause and never specify anything that harms the building or breaches consent. Independent, breathability-led, and on the side of the building.
Nothing to sell
No injection DPCs, tanking or impervious renders to push — just an honest diagnosis of what's actually causing the moisture.
Minimally invasive
Non-destructive methods wherever possible, any sampling kept to a minimum and agreed with you first — appropriate for protected fabric.
Consent flagged, not crossed
Where works would need listed building consent or heritage-sensitive specification, I flag it clearly and refer — I stay in diagnosis.
Reports for older buildings
Traditional building damp diagnosis
Traditional building condition report
Got a period or listed building?
An independent diagnosis that protects the fabric and your wallet. Same-week appointments across South Wales.