For Home Buyers

As specialists in weathertightness of plaster clad homes, we can provide you with vital information to help you with your purchase.

• Don’t go buying a house before knowing whether the timber is treated and what surprises might be hidden behind the walls’
• Negotiate the right price because you know what needs fixing,
• Have confidence that your new home can be made safe and dry,
• Many banks require a Weathertightness Report before they will lend.

For details on our Weathertightness Pre-Purchase Inspections, click here.

If you want to talk about a particular house you are interested in, you can call us, send us some photos and we can review this briefly with you at no charge.

Moisture Detection Company have been finding and fixing leaks and decay in plaster clad homes since 2005.

• We don’t fill our reports with pages of disclaimers,
• We do our own timber treatment testing for fast, accurate results,
• Our patented Mdu moisture probes measure the moisture inside the framing timber – we don’t just scan the outside of the walls,
• Moisture probes don’t lie – they will show the actual moisture and decay
• We find leaks and decay that can’t be picked up with thermal imaging and surface scanning.

We know that buying a house with plaster cladding is scary.  The price looks good, but is that because there are hidden problems?

• We find both new and old decay and leaks
• Our invasive testing doesn’t damage the gib or cladding
• We offer a range of pre-purchase inspection levels from basic visual inspection through to comprehensive moisture and decay investigation at dozens of locations – to give you maximum confidence before you buy.

Once you have finished buying a house with plaster cladding, Moisture Detection Company makes the house stay safe and dry for you, and future owners.

Moisture Detection Company have long term relationships with houses (not their owners) so that we can ensure the house stays safe and dry from one owner to the next.

When we inspect a house, we don’t just walk away.  We plan to keep that house safe.  That is why we take care to give you the best, most accurate information possible.

On-Going Moisture Monitoring Keeps Plaster Clad Houses Dry

We install a simple, low cost moisture monitoring system in plaster clad houses which finds leaks and decay.  This stays in place as a leak ‘early warning system’ for the house.  In many cases, these can be installed during the ‘due diligence’ phase – talk to us about how to negotiate this with the vendor.

If we find issues, they can normally be addressed without breaking the bank.

We treat untreated or undertreated timber, to put any decay on hold and protect the house.

We find and resolve the issues causing the leaks.

By regularly connecting a moisture meter to the probes we let you know if you need to do any repairs or maintenance.

We are getting some rave reviews after our weathertightness pre-purchase inspection finds the real fixable problems, and the purchasers are negotiating substantial discounts.

Moisture Detection are the only company that monitors for leaks, finds and fixes defects and treats your timber in-situ.

Moisture Issues. The only way to conclusively determine what is going on between gibboard and the exterior monolithic or plaster cladding on a home is to measure the moisture right inside the framing itself. Mdu moisture probes are doing this in thousands of plaster clad houses – invasive testing without the damage.

We either prove the house doesn’t leak or we find the leaks and then fix them.

Higher Risk Houses

Homes built between 1992 – 2004 may have been built with untreated timber or under-treated timber – or they may be well treated.  This is information that purchasers must  find out. We discreetly take samples from behind light switches plate or power points.  We test these for treatment and report back within two working days. A Treatment Certificate can be provided.

We have an in-situ process (RotStop) for treating untreated timber with minimum disruption to the occupants.

High risk building features like high groundlines, missing flashings,  internal guttering systems, lack of eves, a flat roof, no window flashings, etc are just some of the ‘features’ of the house that might cost you money to fix or make the house hard for you to sell.

If just one of these features leaks, the damage can be extensive.  This building surveyors website has some disturbing examples.  We find this before you commit your hard earned money.

When you know what problems are likely to arise, you are prepared and can negotiate a better price.

At Moisture Detection we pride ourselves on being flexible enough to accommodate tight deadlines when you are buying a house.

Please give us a call to discuss your questions and needs.