Firm offers probes to test house damp risk

Ian Holyoake, the managing director of cladding system manufacturer and installer Hitex Plastering, has joined business partner Clint Jones to launch the Moisture Detection venture.

The business has moisture probes embedded in the walls of 120 homes and is building a database for government and industry officials. Moisture Detection aims to monitor 10,000 houses by August next year, creating the first extensive database of the leaky building syndrome.

But a rival consultant and sector expert is questioning the start-up business and warning consumers about trusting the results and the inventors. Greg O'Sullivan, of leaky building consultants Prendos, said moisture reading was just one aspect of leaky building detection work and would not tell people all they needed to know.

He said rotten wood hidden behind walls could give a low moisture reading once water had evaporated and the wood had shrunk. Yet decay could be rampant and the house structure and its occupants in danger.

"Inserting random probes in isolated spots is never the full story," O'Sullivan said.

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