9 Crown Row, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 0TH

Lettings Valuer
Liam attended school locally in Ascot and began his career in estate agency aged 18 in the Bracknell area. He has gone on to gain experience within the Maidenhead, Reading and Wokingham markets too. Building relationships is what Liam enjoys the most in his role, which gives him the opportunity to meet and help all kinds of people. Away from work, Liam enjoys playing football throughout the week and for a local Bracknell team on a Sunday (some say the next Sunday League Pirlo).
The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given is…
The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing.
Top of my bucket list is…
To travel around America and Australia.
On Sunday mornings, you can usually find me…
On a football pitch in all weathers – potentially a little jaded from the night before.
My guilty pleasures are…
Watching Super Sunday and the F1 whilst devouring a takeaway. Highly recommended.
The thing I like best about my job…
Helping and advising landlords on how to make the process of letting their property as stress-free as possible, and assuring tenants throughout the process so that it becomes an enjoyable and exciting experience.
The person I’d most like to go for a drink with is…
Sir Alex Ferguson.
24 Jan 2017
No-one likes a damp home. It makes for a musty, unpleasant environment and if not treated damp will have a serious detrimental effect on the structure of your home.
To state the obvious, damp is merely moisture introduced to what should be a dry internal structure. Most people expect that damp comes from the earth below a home known as ‘rising damp’ but in very many cases nowadays, homes were either built with damp proof courses (DPC) or they have subsequently had them installed to prevent this occurring.
Establishing what is causing damp, and perhaps even the formation of mold on internal walls and ceilings, is actually a fairly straightforward process in most instances. It just requires a rudimentary understanding of how a home is built and the primary causes of the introduction of moisture into the home.
For the purposes of this piece, we will assume that you live in a two-storey, brick-built home with a tiled, pitched roof. Here are some ideas on where the moisture might be coming from;
All of the above sources of moisture are worth considering. However, one of the most likely sources of damp has not yet been mentioned. It is condensation!
Many tenants constantly complain of damp patches on walls only for the Landlord to establish quickly that is is a poor understanding of how damp occurs that is causing the issue. For condensation (and therefore damp) to occur, all we need is a relatively warm, perhaps moist, air to be in contact with a colder surface. The more warm moist the air, the more condensation may occur. Regular condensation will cause damp stains, rotting of window frames and a generally unpleasant environment.
To reduce or eradicate condensation you should make sure that whenever you are taking a bath, shower or doing the family laundry, the room is well ventilated. Generally, most bathrooms and laundries these days have extractor fans for this purpose but opening a window will have the same benefit. Don’t dry clothes on radiators unless you also open windows for ventilation.
Another source of warm moist air is the use of a gas fire. Burning gas causes the introduction of heat and moisture. A well ventilated room is essential, not only to avoid condensation but more importantly to reduce the dangers associated with carbon monoxide poisoning! A room with a gas (or open) fire should, these days, have an air brick installed. Make sure it has and consider installing a carbon monoxide alarm in your home. If you are a tenant, ask your landlord.
If you don’t have double glazing then a warm house on a cold winter’s day will likely result in some condensation on the window pains. This is normal and hard to avoid. However, that water runs down and collects on the frame and, over time, this causes windows to rot and become both unsightly and unsound. Make sure you take the time to wipe down interior window panes and sills, especially after a bath or on laundry day. It will eliminate the primary cause of damp in many homes.
Remember, a watertight, well sealed but well-ventilated home will not only stay drier and be more comfortable, healthier and safer for all.
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