As a structural engineer conducting various building surveys, I've had to learn how to detect damp. I've previously watched informative videos from an individual known for his expertise on old buildings. However, his book lacks professional objectivity and seems to echo the same excessive rhetoric he critiques in the damp roofing industry. The technical inaccuracies are alarming; for instance, he erroneously claims that the expansion of steel can raise several storeys of a building. His most egregious mistake appears early in the book when he states, 'Water can apply a force of 1 tonne per square centimetre.' This demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of physics and water dynamics. A tonne is a measure of weight, while force is measured in Newtons. The pressure from water depends on depth, and at one metre, it's 1 tonne per square metre, equating to 0.0001 tonne per square centimetre. To claim 1 tonne per square centimetre, you'd need to be at a depth of 10 km. If he can't accurately convey such basic concepts, I question the validity of the rest of his arguments. It's unfortunate because a significant portion of the book presents valid points about the need to rethink our approach to old buildings.
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Heritage House is the brainchild of Pete Ward. For years he has run building conservation companies, and worked tirelessly to stop the damp industry in its tracks. Pete has now all but eliminated the dreaded PCA 'Damp Wally', and has written THE industry leading Warm Dry Home book, which is available on the website to purchase. It is your bible to understanding your home, and preventing and dealing with damp issues.
Pete now works with a team of enlightened Building Surveyors, who specialise in working with old homes, Listed Buildings, and generally anything that looks like it might have been built with old materials like timber frames, stone, old brick and lime mortar, thatched cottages and more! The Heritage House Survey team work all over the country from London, to the east, Midlands, Shropshire, Herefordshire, and throughout the north east, and Cumbria.
Pete is one of the leading surveyors in the country of old 'black and white' timber framed buildings.
The company also help educate building surveyors, architects, environmental health officers and many other professionals, in understanding dampness problems in buildings. Pete also teaches building survey at University. See more