Kenwood Damp Proofing Avis 

very pleased with the service. A very neat job with very experienced workers

Noel and Amin were both accommodating and helpful.

Daniel and Kian made a stressful situation bearable with their thoughtfulness and good humour. They kept me informed of everything they were doing. They were very thorough in clearing up after themselves and made sure everything was covered up properly to minimise dust.

Paid £168 for the 'comprehensive damp survey' on a house I'm buying, and it was embarrassing how basic it was.

The website says 'damp surveys will provide a full breakdown of the problems found in your property', but what I actually got was 13 pages of marketing material, a sentence saying basically 'there is evidence of riding damp', 2 pictures of the damp meter (from one room... they say damp was in 2 rooms), and a picture of the front and back of the house (which has no relevance to the damp issues).

I got a floor plan showing where the damp proof course is needed, and a quote. But no explanations of why they think rising damp vs penetrating damp, no photos of the second room which they think needs treatment, no photos of a room which ACTUALLY has damp from condensation issues.

To show proof of rising damp, they should show readings of the wall from the bottom of the wall and at different intervals going higher, not just one or 2 photos.

The survey was a total waste of money. It wasn't comprehensive at all. It was pages of marketing and copy/paste from other surveys.

When I rang Kenwood to ask for more information, they said they said I couldn't speak to the surveyor. I complained, saying I didn't get what I paid for. They said it is a comprehensive survey, but 2 photos, a floorplan and 'In our surveyor’s opinion, this defect is due to the lack of an effective damp-proof course' isn't comprehensive.

I asked for them to send me over all of the surveyors notes and photos (because then at least I can see what else he thought), and I got sent 2 more photos of a meter reading, and another photo randomly of the front of the house, and that's it.

What's worse, is the Sales Manager said 'I don't know why you're complaining, we have you a 5k quote you can use to get off the value of the house', which 1. isn't why I got the survey, 2. I'm not going to try and get money off for something the house doesn't have, because I have morals

Basically you pay money to have a quote, that isn't even true.

I have since visited with a builder who carried out a far more extensive survey, actually inspecting the external walls, said there is no rising damp, and the issue is cracks in the exterior walls and open chimney pots which is causing moisture to get into the walls.

I asked them for a refund and they said no, I then said I'm happy for a partial refund e.g. 50% to cover the travel cost and their time, and again, they said.

IF they had just been honest and said 'apologies the survey wasn't what you were expecting. Have a partial refund', I'd have actually been OK with the situation.

So TLDR: the survey - they won't check your entire house. They won't check any timbers. They won't tell you why they think it is rising damp (and they'll tell you it is rising damp and give you a quote).

Definitely get an independent adviser, who will tell you it is penetrating damp.

Excellent support from the customer service manager Chris Allum — very professional, responsive and helpful.

The guys were great. They did an excellent job fixing our damp problem, and cleaned up well after the project was completed.
The delay getting the work started on the first day was the only reason for marking the score down to 4 stars. A 9.30am Thursday start was delayed to 12.30 and then to 2.45pm, which led to the work not being completed until Monday.

Would not recommend this company - I had some work done 7 years ago and contacted them a few years later due to some discolour of wall...their surveyor said it was condensation ...so I had a ventilation extractor fan professionally installed by a different company... long story short the walls again appear to have signs of damp - under the guarantee I contacted Kenwood who charged me £174 to come and have a look .The surveyor quickly identified that the plastering done(by them) was far too low hence impacted on the treatment that they had completed .
A few days later I received an email - expecting confirmation of what the surveyor had verbally said .Instead I received a brief explanation that I needed to get a plumber out (which I already had done , my plumber clearly showed me that there are no pipes near the damp wall).Kenwood still insisted that it was not down to them and when questioned about the comments by the surveyor we were quickly shut down - saying that it is not the surveyors job to discuss it with us!! To be honest I thought they had me mixed no with someone else that they visited as it had absolutely no refection on what the surveyor had said.
So basically the guarantee is absolutely worthless - it is not worth the paper it is written on .
I have now approached another reputable company to do the remedial work.

Really straightforward and well informed process from booking a quotation visit through to finishing the job. The workers - I think it was Dom and Will? - were fantastic and looked after our property so well whilst completing the works. Everything was left clean and tidy. Can’t fault.

The original survey done on my potential house purchase was done very promptly and the report was received quickly as well. Once i had purchased my house I organised the work and I was very happy with the job. Dan, Danny and Cian did a professional job and tidied up after themselves very well. They put dust sheets over my furniture and separated my living room from my dining room with a dust sheet. I was pleasantly surprised that there was very little remaining dust. I had expected a big cleaning up job afterwards.

Work was done neatly and within the time quoted. Brendan and Jamie were great and talked through all the questions we had

Tom and Reece were brilliant. They were a pleasure to have in the house and were very neat and tidied up as they went. 100% recommend

Excellent and professional company, Reliable, careful, tidy and very responsive to queries. Did an excellent job, and very friendly, excellent contact for technical and pricing by Jim O' Malley of Kenwood

Responded to an advert for FREE damp survey. Filled in details and received a call back a couple of hours later.
After repeating everything i put in my initial request online, the lady informs me that there's a charge of £167 plus VAT. When I queried this, I was told it's because of the area I live in. What?! She then said the management change their free offer approx every 6 months, and that the advert I saw probably said 'free in certain areas'
I advised her that it was completely misleading and therefore I have chosen to go elsewhere.
I may have shot myself in the foot but I have no desire to employ a company who drums up business through deception

Quick to organise a survey, report was delivered within a couple of days

Didn't try to sell me unnecessary products or services

I have used this company on many occassions over the years and i can highly recommend them as they are always so helpful and on point when you need something from them to help a sale i have going through,

From requesting a survey through to receiving an estimate of works and schedule the process has been smooth and quick.
Jim O’Malley and his team have been professional and helpful, happy to answer questions and give advice.

Tom and his colleague were exceptional at their damp proofing works. Every effort was made to minimise disruption and they were helpful and courteous throughout.

This does not receive 5 stars because communication from Kenwood in advance of the works starting was poor. The report provided is not clear enough in informing the customer of preparation required. Given the lack of clarity in the report, my constructive feedback is to suggest that a member of the sales team checks in advance of the works starting that the customer has understood the preparation required.

Jim o’Malley was really knowledgeable and helpful in providing advice and guidance in respect of a damp proofing issue. I highly recommend this company.

Great service and excellent customer service.
Been using Kenwood PLC for years.

Highly recommend!

Excellent work completed. Prompt survey done by David got the quote the next day and I got the job booked in for the following week. The two workmen Glen and Dan were professional, friendly and explained the whole process to me. They did a wonderful job. Thank you.