How to investigate a damp smell?

[tgibson]

Hi,

One of the bedrooms in my house has a bad damp smell but no signs of mould on the wall and no signs of water damage. Who do I call if there are no mould inspectors in my town? Everyone I have spoke to tells me they only deal with visible mould on the wall. I’m worried about rising damp or moisture in the walls due to cracks in the bricks on the wall outside of the room. 

thank you for your help. 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @tgibson,

If there’s a persistent damp smell without any visible mould or staining, it could be coming from hidden moisture in the walls, flooring or subfloor. The best people to contact in this situation would be a leak detection specialist. They generally have equipment like thermal imaging cameras and moisture metres which can help track down areas of dampness that aren’t obvious to the eye.

If you’d like to do some preliminary investigating yourself, we stock handheld moisture metres that can give you an indication of whether there’s excess moisture in the walls or timber. That might help you narrow down the source before engaging a professional.

Since you’ve mentioned cracks in the external brickwork, it could also be worth having a builder or bricklayer take a look. If water is getting into the wall cavity through those cracks, it may need to be repaired to prevent further problems. 

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[tgibson]

Thank you. Which moisture reader would you recommend to detect moisture in the wall or under the carpet? 

[MitchellMc]

The Ozito 6 -60% 0.2 -2.9% Digital Moisture Meter ODMM-P11 would be fine for what you're looking at.

Mitchell