Standard Heritage

Damp and mould: understanding and addressing the health risks for rented housing providers; UK Government 2024;https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/damp-and-mould-understanding-and-addressing-the-health-risks-for-rented-housing-providers/understanding-and-addressing-the-health-risks-of-damp-and-mould-in-the-home–2 Following on from the release of the governments paper after the tragic and avoidable death of 2-year-old Awaab Ishak due to damp issues that lead to the black mould issue in his family home, we now provide a service aimed … Read more

Following on from our article All about lime we have written about bricks, to help us understand the importance of getting our mortars right. Before the industrial revolution and the development by Abrham Derby of coke (roasted coal) as a fuel, bricks were made by hand and ‘fired’ in clamps; clamps were temporary structures made up … Read more

Standard Heritage partnered up with AP Cost Consultants early in 2022 with a view to tendering for local projects in the historic environment. The firms have complimentary skill sets and were perfectly placed to tender for a project put out by Ramsgate Town Council – the re-purposing of the Grade II listed building; Ramsgate Fire … Read more

About Lime  We all too often hear people say “ just use lime” as if that’s a good enough instruction for a mortar mix. This lack of understanding  is misguiding and in a lot of cases the wrong type of lime in a mortar mix can be just as damaging as cement. In this note, … Read more

Conservation Philosophy, its roots through to current policy and application. Michael Foley was asked for a Critical Statement of his Conservation Philosophy for his Portfolio submission for the very well respected Professional Development Diploma in Historic Building Conservation and Repair; PDD ( Building Cons.) This is the final part of the qualification and is on … Read more

  What motivates us to do things, to try and make a difference ? Here is Michael Foley’s bio on his LinkedIn page, explaining why he decided to re-train and  become a building surveyor when at the top of his game as an accomplished craftsman carpenter and joiner with decades of experience in the construction … Read more

Standard Heritage is currently involved in helping  some of its clients with alterations and extensions to their old buildings. There is a general misconception that you have to match an existing  buildings style when building an extension, particularly when dealing with a listed building. This is far from the truth ! When adding to an … Read more

We like to think that our clients are the best people to explain what we do and how we go about things. Michael was fantastic. My house has all sorts of damp problems and a damp report could have been scary and overwhelming! However, Michael gave really useful, impartial advice throughout and practical step-by-step recommendations … Read more

Michael Foley of Standard Heritage and Charles Reilly of Georgian Brickwork Ltd attended the Conservation and repair of brick and flint masonry course at West Dean College recently. It was a Busman’s holiday for Charles as he is one of the country’s leading traditional bricklayers, who also runs training courses on traditional brickwork in his … Read more

We contacted Standard Heritage to see if they would be able to carry out a survey on my parents +200 year old house prior to us buying it. Michael replied promptly with a competitive price and we agreed a date. His enthusiasm and passion for historic buildings was apparent during the survey and he spent … Read more

Standard Heritage was called to a property in Margate in Thanet with a suspected outbreak of Dry Rot. The property had been surveyed and there was some rot damaged skirting board, so the survey report ( Home Buyers) recommended further investigation. Completely dry timber We carried out a ‘targeted specialist survey’ and found the area … Read more

Standard Heritages principle surveyor – Michael Foley was at West Dean College recently completing module No. 7 of 10 to qualify for their Professional Development Diploma. This latest module was the Building Conservation Masterclass – Conservation and Repair of Structural and Architectural Metal Work. Michael is in his third year of part time study at the college … Read more

Not only do we get great feedback from our clients, we also get it from other property professionals too. It is really good to see what mortgage providers think of our services  compared to the  ‘alternatives’ ! “I have studied the Damp Report produced by Michael Foley AssocRICS. This is a traditional surveyor’s report, not … Read more

How long does a damp survey take? Our damp surveys usually take between three to four hours depending on various factors. But the real answer is – until we find the problem ! This can take all day sometimes. Over two hours were spent in the subfloor area of this property during a survey, following … Read more

We dropped in on one of Georgian Brickwork’s Professional Development courses in their Ramsgate workshop this week to see how things were going. The course being held was a  four day comprehensive practical study of gauged arch construction. The course starts with the history and development of the gauged arch which is delivered ‘on site’ … Read more

Our first email of 2018 was from one of our clients that engaged us last year to carry out a survey for insurance purposes; ‘Hi Michael First up, some good news! We finally got some cash out of our insurance company and it’s fair to say that it was incredibly useful to have your survey … Read more

Standard Heritage carried out another specialist Timber and Damp survey today. The client had been told that he needed £15,000 worth of ‘damp proofing, timber treatment’ and re-plastering  for a new old house that he wanted to buy. The property had been surveyed by two different ‘qualified damp specialists’ who came up with two very … Read more

Here is an example of un-damp proofing ! The base of this listed buildings walls were damp, and this was after various attempts to ‘damp proof’ them ! Before the cement plinth was removed, we took a series of masonry samples from deep with in the wall, they were damp with moisture contents high enough … Read more

We contracted Standard Heritage shortly after buying a Grade II Listed cottage right down on the harbour. Being a timber-framed building directly exposed to the elements, it needs a high level of knowledge and expertise to maintain – which is exactly what Standard Heritage provide. Michael  (principal surveyor) is very reliable and has great passion … Read more

Luke Blaskett;  We had had some bad experiences with surveyors who lacked the specialist knowledge needed for period/historic buildings. ‘We required a survey to satisfy our mortgage company, but didn’t want to carry out inappropriate work to the building (which had been recommended by other less experienced surveyors). Fortunately we found Standard Heritage. The survey … Read more