Cornerstone provides independent expert property investigations for a host of clients, including Social, Local Authority, and Private Housing, NHBC, Structural Surveyors, and Insurance providers, seeking to define the root causes of reported damp, condensation, and mould
The UK has some of the oldest and most varied housing stock in the whole of Europe and, with a decarbonisation journey ahead, the need for a better understanding of our existing building conditions, construction types, and orientations is embedded in our process for determining and assisting the future health of a home or indeed a working environment.
The delivery of recognisable root causes aligned with structural behaviour delivers timely understanding, guidance and education for defined remediations alongside cost-effective long-term solutions.
With a significant surveying history indicating that 91% of all structures surveyed for damp and mould were dry and hence suffered an atmospheric-related issue, our drive is to share demonstrable knowledge in a user-friendly process for immediate guidance, support, and credible undertakings for early remedial measures.
Ensuring safety for building occupants
At Cornerstone, our expert knowledge and guidance for investigating the root causes of reported dampness, condensation, and mould have been used for cost-effective long-term solutions, and is now readily available for all concerned building occupants.
We are all aware that the Housing Ombudsman is issuing maladministration warnings to a number of social housing landlords. But is that due to genuine administrative matters or a misunderstanding of root causes for reported issues that can, and does, lead to unfortunate undertakings not delivering the expected outcomes to housing alone? What about the places we attend to work, teach and learn, plus hospitalisation?
Cornerstone are conscious of the need for a uniform approach that will serve to deliver credible diagnosis alongside specific guidance for building occupants and structural owners/ landlords with particular emphasis on the safety of those who occupy the buildings for periods of time.
Property Health App
A unique ‘Property Health App’ has been developed to enable those dealing with damp, condensation and mould issues to seek immediate advice for its likely development and how simple aspects can be utilised to determine if it has indeed been resolved.
This proactive approach will align with timely guidance and existing policies & procedures by enhancing awareness of what mould needs to develop and, how the cycles cab be broken to reduce the potential. In addition, SMART guidance embraces a ‘did you know’ approach’ in place of ‘blame.
We divulge the root causes and how they can be rectified for the long term. This strategy enables landlords to enhance their tenant relationships and property owners to work closely with everyday occupants alongside an advanced awareness of structural and atmospheric behaviour.
Where complex issues persist, Cornerstone is here to help – as and when you need it.
Long-term expert support embraces a system designed to manage Structural Health with a defined delivery of trend data for better decision making.
Defining a Healthy Building?
As respected expert consultants, our detailed findings demonstrate credible root causes alongside key guidance for longer-term healthy dwellings.
David Bly Managing Director adds: “Our significant number of bespoke surveys to date indicate 91% were healthy dwellings, suggesting the structure was dry and not displaying any clear defects. However, where defects were noted, their rectifications are prescribed with a defined expected outcome.
The results place a greater emphasis on determining how moisture generation is managed alongside ventilation adequacy with fact-based root causes that removes blame and replaces it with peace of mind guidance”.
Property Mould
How structural materials behave is a key consideration when reviewing properties for their current health in terms of warmth and prevailing structural behaviour when aligning weather conditions with indoor activities.
Cornerstone recognises that moulds are ‘symptoms’ of a problem and take a number of days to germinate. Therefore, in many cases, onset problems are driven mainly by periodic atmospheric trends that, if left to sustain, can result in visual evidence on surfaces and items.
Mould outbreaks are not likely due to a single aspect, and in our experience, a number of factors are embraced to define, report, and advise on credible solutions.
The introduction of IoT electronic sensor devices can provide sought-after early warnings. However, recognising the cause of an ‘alert’ is key to determining a viable solution. Moisture meters and thermal cameras are support mechanisms, not solution-defining devices.
With guidance and knowledge wanting to be embraced by a host of clients across all building sectors, Cornerstone delivers CPD-accredited training covering all aspects of damp, condensation and mould for administrative staff through to Technical personnel, including metering equipment and their data interpretation.
To learn more, contact us now…
