Timber Surveys
Alpine Property Group LtdLocal Surveyors Near You.
Alpine Surveys are professional timber and damp surveyors covering the South of England, West Midlands and Greater London. We guarantee our reporting.
30 years experience in providing unbiased and totally independent timber rot and timber infestation surveys
Why Use Alpine Surveys?
- Historic & Listed Properties surveyed
- Highly rated and respected on Checkatrade.com
- We utilise 30+ years experience & the very latest in survey technology
- Thorough & accurate surveys & reports
- Independent of all damp proofing contractors
- We have offices and Surveyors that cover Central & Southern England & South Wales
- We never recommend damaging sprays or chemicals, as there is always a non damaging resolve
Timber deterioration can be problematic within any Domestic or Commercial property. If left without the correct diagnosis, the deterioration can prove to be very damaging, and in turn increasingly expensive to resolve.
Alpine Surveys are recognised as one of the leading truely independent survey companies that resolve timber deterioration and rot.
Our surveys are renowned for being the most detailed, as we believe that there is only one way to resolve an issue with timber deterioration, and that is to ascertain a full understanding of the property.
This will include the property construction type, all areas of deterioration, and any incorrect construction methods or materials that have been used, as such issues contribute to the moisture ingress that causes the deterioration and rot.
This is why our surveys begin with a thorough assessment of the exterior before we even consider the interior of the property.
Call today: 0330 333 9238
Internally our Surveyors will assess the timbers individually within the affected area, or the whole building if required, in order to ascertain firstly which timbers are defective.
Thereafter we assess what type of deterioration is affecting the timber (wet rot, dry rot, or beetle/worm infestation), and to what extent.
This can involve drilling the timber with a fine drill bit, in order to assess the resistence of the timber, in turn confirming the depth of deterioration.
This allows us to determine if the timber can be saved, or if replacement (full or partial) is required.
We will determine exactly what has initiated the deterioration or infestation, which is normally a structural issue, and we will make the correct recommendations to correct the issue.
On completion of our thorough investigation, we will explain in detail the issues with the property, the timbers of concern, and more importantly, what is required to rectify the issues.
All of this information is included within our detailed reports, which follow within two to three working days of the survey.
Why is it better to get an independent timber survey?
An independent timber surveyor will be able to identify the true cause of timber deterioration, timber damp, timber dry rot, timber infestation and timber wet rot issues. Utilising decades of experience and a professional approach to diagnosing all timber issues within domestic and commercial property.
I have been told chemical treatment will resolve my timber issues, is this true?
Sadly, there are many companies within the industry that will innapropriately sell you unnecessary chemical treatments, which, provide a temporary solution, mask, or worsen the situation.
In order to deal with timber issues correctly and professionally, which, will eradicate the problem, an expert surveyor will identify the root cause of the problem and make recommendations to rectify, without the need to use harmful or damaging chemicals.
Using harmful chemicals to treat timber damp, rot, infestation or deterioration is not necessary to resolve such issues and is often the only option used by other companies due to a lack of knowledge, expertise or simply to make more money selling chemicals.
There are various ways that timber becomes deteriorated and useless, which includes rotting and being attacked by wood boring insects.
Many companies will not distinguish the true cause, or in fact the actual type of rot or infestation, and will purely recommend to treat it with chemicals.
On the vast majority, if not all occasions this is not the answer, and if left incorrectly diagnosed and unresolved, there is a high risk that the issue will return.
Alpine Surveys have many years of experience in diagnosing such issues with property timber, and recommend the correct remedial works.
Dry Rot is caused by fungal spores landing on timber, and taking root. However, if the timber is not suitably moist, the fungus can not develop and grow.
Therefore the correct diagnosis should be made to determine why the timber has become suitable, and why the rot is spreading within your property.
When the dry rot begins to develop, grey strands spread across the timber in a web formation, draining the moisture from the timber.
The result of the process is that the timber dries out, and in turn it becomes very brittle and totally useless.
The fungus will multiply until such time as the web strands become what appears to look like cotton wool, and in turn into a brown coloured pancake shaped fungal body which emits thousands of destructive spores into the air.
Alpine Surveys will undertake the correct survey, in order to diagnose the reason why the Dry Rot has developed, and provide the correct recommendations to eradicate it.
Wet Rot is a fungus that develops in areas of timber saturation.
There are locations where Wet Rot is common, such as areas where water leaks have occurred and are left undiagnosed, external timbers that deteriorate for various reasons and are exposed to rain saturation, and areas that are generally damp, dark and poorly ventilated such as cellars or beneath suspended floors.
It is necessary to understand why the rot has been able to take hold at the area affected, in order that rectification works prove to be effective.
Failure to diagnose the true reason, and just treating the affected area, or replacing the timber, is likely to result in a repeat episode.
Alpine Surveys will investigate the reason for the rot occurring, and will not just recommend the remedial works for correcting the deterioration, but will advise on what is required to stop it returning.
We guarantee to provide the correct diagnosis and recommendations to resolve it.
Known commonly as “Wood Worm”, wood boring insects eat away at suitable timbers within our properties.
There are various types of woodworm including Longhorn Beetle, Death Watch Beetle, Wood Boring Weevil, and the more common Furniture Beetle.
The woodworm bore through the timbers, and leave their holes and tunnels, similar to that of a mole underground.
The result of this is a much weakened timber, that will normally become hollow inside.
The first step is to establish if the infestation is live, or is in fact just historic deterioration.
Alpine Surveys will undertake a survey, in order to ascertain if the infestation is active, the level and extent of deterioration, and in turn will provide the correct recommendations, which is highly unlikely to involve a chemical treatment, as these are mostly useless.
Alpine Damp have gained a recognised reputation for our accurate and independent surveys of Historic & Listed buildings.
The surveys have included the assessment of historic timber structures, some dating back 800 years. The process that we follow, allows us to assess every individual timber, fully assess it, and report accordingly.
Please contact us to gain a better understanding of our experience, and why we are trusted to assess and report on such structure.
