The job of an inspection is to work out which of several problems you have — because most of them are cheaper to fix than the one everyone assumes.
Talk it throughRising Damp Newcastle arranges damp assessments across Newcastle and the Hunter.
In Newcastle that is a real question rather than a formality. Stepped cracking through the mortar joints points at ground movement, and across much of this city that can mean mine subsidence — which may be compensable and needs an entirely different phone call. An inspection that goes straight to a moisture meter without looking at the crack pattern has skipped the most valuable thing it could tell you.
Moisture is measured at intervals up the wall, not at one spot. Rising damp produces a curve — wet low, drying with height — and that curve is what separates it from a leak, which is wettest at its source and drier in every direction from there.
Ground levels against the wall, the state of the rear lane, paving, garden beds, downpipes, and whether the wall carries a render or paint that stops it breathing. In the terrace suburbs the external check settles it more often than the internal readings do.
A written finding naming the cause, the extent, and the treatment sequence. Usable as a second opinion, or to negotiate on a purchase. If the answer is that you should be talking to Subsidence Advisory NSW rather than to a damp contractor, that is what it will say.
These are the ranges we see quoted around Newcastle. They are wide on purpose. A single-skin cottage wall in Lambton and a double-brick party wall in Cooks Hill are the same line on this table and nowhere near the same job.
| Work | Indicative range | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment and moisture survey | $250 - $450 | Readings taken at intervals up each affected wall, an external check of levels, lanes and downpipes, and a written finding. Where there is cracking it also says whether you should be calling Subsidence Advisory NSW instead. |
| Chemical damp-proof course, per metre | $170 - $330 | Injected into the mortar course. A shared terrace wall sits at the upper end because of access and because it can only be worked from one side. |
| Salt-retarding replaster, per square metre | $120 - $260 | Contaminated render off, breathable system on. Near the water this is rarely optional — the southerly loads the wall with salt from outside while the damp loads it from within. |
| Drainage and ground-level correction | $900 - $6,000 | Dropping a path, cutting a bed back, taking a downpipe away from the wall. On the terraces this often means the rear lane, where decades of resurfacing have raised the ground against the back wall. |
| Subfloor ventilation improvement | $1,200 - $4,500 | For the timber-floored cottages, where a closed subfloor holds moisture under the house. |
Prices are indicative ranges only. A terrace with a shared wall, a heritage-listed facade and an ordinary inter-war cottage all cost differently to treat, and every fixed price follows an on-site assessment.
We arrange assessments across Newcastle and the lower Hunter, including:
Rising Damp Newcastle