Moisture control as an investment: Why the increase in the value of your home is greater than the cost of treatment

Before we dive into the numbers, we need to know what moisture enemy we are dealing with in your home. Moisture in the home comes in different forms. Recognising the specific moisture problem is therefore the first step towards the right solution.

Rising damp

Rising damp is one of the most persistent and structural moisture problems in older houses that do not yet have a good, watertight waterproofing layer. Groundwater then soaks up into the porous bricks.

You can recognise it by the moisture spots, salt efflorescence, loose plaster or flaking paint and wallpaper. And that mainly on the underside of the interior or exterior walls, approximately up to 1.20 metres in height.

Damp walls

When the walls feel constantly clammy, we speak of damp walls. This may be due to rising or penetrating moisture, but at least it causes the indoor environment to become unhealthy and the energy bill into the air. After all, dry walls insulate much better.

You will recognise it because the walls feel cold and clammy when you touch them. Stains or circles also appear on the paintwork and you notice that the humidity in the room remains high. In addition, you smell a typical musty odour as soon as you walk into the room.

Penetrating moisture

When your exterior walls are damaged, cracked or porous due to age, driving rain can penetrate deep into the facade. This is when we talk about penetrating moisture. The moisture then makes its way inside.

You recognise it by the moisture spots that are located at random heights on the interior walls. Often on the side where the wind and rain hit the façade the hardest.

A damp cellar

The basement is the lowest point of your home and is constantly under pressure from the surrounding groundwater. Especially during heavy rainfall, the hydrostatic pressure can become so great that water is forced through the basement walls or the bilge seam. Then you suffer from a damp cellar.

You will recognise it by puddles of water on the basement floor, permanently damp or shiny basement walls and a musty smell that permeates the rest of your home.

Condensation moisture

Condensation moisture unlike other moisture problems, is not due to water penetrating from outside, but purely to the lack of correct ventilation in the home. Daily activities such as cooking, showering, washing and breathing produce litres of moisture every day. If this warm, moist air has nowhere to go, it settles on cold surfaces and we speak of condensation moisture.

You will recognise it by the drops on the inside of the windows, musty smells and windows that remain tarnished for a long time after showering or cooking.

Mould on the walls

The direct and dangerous consequence of long-term condensation moisture or other untreated moisture problems is mould on the walls.

You will recognise it by the persistent, unsightly black mould spots and dots in the corners of ceilings, behind cupboards or in the bathroom and bedroom. This is not only detrimental to the value of your home, but also to your health.

Moisture in new-build homes

People often think that moisture only occurs in older houses, but nothing could be further from the truth. In the construction of modern homes, thousands of litres of water are used, just think of the concrete, screed and plaster. If a new-build home is sealed and insulated too quickly without building moisture can dry out completely, then the moisture remains in the structure.

You will recognise it by consistently high humidity in the new home, condensation on the windows and, in the worst case, immediate mould on the new plaster.

Many owners looking to sell their property ask us the question: “Can I selling my house with a moisture problem?” The short answer is: Yes, you are legally allowed to do so. However, you are obliged to explicitly disclose this to potential buyers, as moisture damage falls under the duty to report defects. Do you fail to do so? Then you risk legal proceedings afterwards for hidden defects.So while selling your home is allowed, it is a bad decision financially. Moisture is now the ultimate value destroyer in the property market. A moisture problem therefore brings direct consequences and disadvantages to the value of your home.

• The ultimate turn-off factor for 80% from buyers: The vast majority of prospective buyers are looking for a turnkey home. As soon as they see mould, notice loose wallpaper or smell a musty basement smell, they immediately give up. Moisture, in the minds of potential buyers, indicates structural misery, unforeseen costs and months of rebuilding. You immediately lose a huge pool of potential bidders, which means your property will be for sale for much longer.
• The final blow to banking expertise: Buyers today almost always need a bank expert or an independent appraiser to complete their mortgage. Once the expert has active moisture problems or degraded walls, the bank will immediately deduct it from the appraised value. Sometimes, the bank even refuses the loan until the problem is resolved, which can completely ruin your sale.
• A dramatically weak negotiating position: The few buyers who do remain interested see it as an opportunity to haggle aggressively. And the biggest financial pain lies in the fact that the buyer always counts with a huge margin of safety. Where professional moisture control you through AquaConsult could cost, say, €3,000, the potential buyer demands a discount on the asking price of €15,000 or €20,000 to cover the risk. So you lose money directly at the negotiating table because you did not carry out the repair yourself.
• Aesthetic renovations become worthless: Have you just invested thousands of euros in a brand new designer kitchen or a modern bathroom, but there are moisture spots on the wall? Then a buyer or estimator will completely overlook that beautiful finish. An untreated damp problem will bring down the value of all your other renovations.
• The invisible loss leader: A basement that doesn't count. When valuing a house, an estate agent looks at the usable area. A damp cellar is nothing more than a musty storage area and thus does not count as valuable living space. A dry, sealed basement, on the other hand, can be converted into an extra bedroom, hobby room or home office. These are the square metres that can instantly boost the selling price by tens of thousands of euros.
• The EPC disadvantage: Damp walls lose their insulating effect, because wet bricks simply conduct cold inside faster and heat produced inside faster outside. As a result the heating must constantly be one degree higher stand. This results in a worse EPC score. As buyers today extremely focusing on the energy efficiency of a property, this disadvantage makes for an even lower market value.

So the conclusion is very simple: do nothing about the moisture problem is not an option. Hiding the moisture problem is not allowed and leaving the problem untreated will cost you more at sale than the actual treatment price of the problem. By intervening now, you will remove buyers' doubts and protect your own wallet.

Meanwhile, we have the moisture problem recognised and understand its risk to your loss of value. Now it's time for the solution. Once you detect the moisture problem, you can take proactive action to stop the loss of value of your home and turn it into an added value.

At AquaConsult, we don't believe in treating symptoms. We tackle the source of the moisture problem. Depending on the exact diagnosis made by our experts, we put one of our targeted and professional solutions In.

1. Injecting walls

• Deployed at: Rising damp and persistent damp walls.
• The solution: Injecting walls. Our experts accurately drill holes in the affected walls just above the floor. They then inject a high-quality, environmentally friendly gel. This gel spreads into the pores of the masonry and forms an impenetrable, water-repellent barrier. From then on, the groundwater can definitively no longer climb up.

2. Remediation of plastering

• Deployed at: Walls damaged by rising damp or damp walls.
• The solution: The remediation of plastering. Only inject the walls is often not enough. Over the years, walls have absorbed salts from groundwater. These salts continue to draw moisture from the air, even if the wall has been injected. Our experts remove the old, affected plaster down to the stone and then apply a special salt-resistant membrane. Afterwards, they also provide professional re-plastering. This will make your walls perfectly even, dry and paint-ready again.

3. Basement sealing or caulking

• Deployed at: A damp cellar and basement infiltration.
• The solution: With a professional basement sealing or waterproofing our experts make the basement walls completely waterproof again. They first fix the walls mechanically and then apply various waterproof cementing layers, mortars and coatings. The vulnerable bilge seam is also made impermeable in the process. Your basement transforms from a musty storage area to a perfectly dry and usable room.

4. Basement drainage

• Deployed at: A damp cellar with extremely high groundwater pressure.
• The solution: Basement drainage. Sometimes the pressure of groundwater is so great that a traditional basement is not sufficient. In that case, we at AquaConsult opt for basement drainage. Our experts dress the basement with a special bubble membrane that collects the water seeping in in a controlled way and leads it via built-in channels to a collection pit. An automatic submersible drain then drains the water to the sewerage system. Your basement is guaranteed to stay dry and usable.

5. Concrete injection

• Deployed at: Moisture in new-build homes and basements with cracks in concrete.
• The solution: In modern homes or cast concrete basements, settlement or shrinkage can cause a crack in the concrete where water seeps through. With concrete injection we solve this locally and effectively. Under high pressure, we inject a special polyurethane resin directly into the crack. This resin reacts immediately as soon as it comes into contact with water. It foams up, expands and completely and permanently seals the crack to its deepest core.

6. Facade impregnation

• Deployed at: Penetrating moisture and porous exterior walls.
• The solution: Facade impregnation. Our experts first thoroughly clean the external wall and then apply a transparent, breathable coating to it. This impregnating agent soaks deep into the facing bricks and joints. As a result, the driving rain beads off the wall and can no longer penetrate. And that while the façade can still breathe from the inside.

7. Mechanical ventilation

• Deployed at: Condensation moisture and mould on the walls.
• The solution: The only way to banish condensation and mould for good is controlled air circulation. AquaConsult installs smart and energy-efficient ventilation systems. These systems continuously measure the humidity in the house. As soon as it gets too high, while showering or cooking, the humid air is automatically removed and replaced by healthy, dry outside air. No more condensation and therefore no more mould on the walls.