22 September 2026 · 5 min read · Oscar Markham
Damp proofing has a trust problem. Use it.
Almost every homeowner considering damp work has heard a story — a neighbour, a relative, a programme on the television — about somebody sold an expensive treatment for a problem that turned out to be condensation. That scepticism is in the room before you arrive.
Diagnosis is the product, not the cure
A homeowner with a stain spreading on a bedroom wall does not know whether they have rising damp, penetrating damp or condensation. Those have different causes, different fixes and very different prices.
Advertising a survey that establishes which is happening is both more honest and more effective than advertising a treatment, because it answers the question actually being asked.
Say the thing your competitors will not
Tell people plainly that a significant proportion of damp complaints turn out to be condensation and ventilation, which is cheaper to fix and does not need a chemical course.
It costs you some jobs. It wins more, because it is the single clearest signal that you are not the kind of firm the stories are about.
The survey fee question
Free surveys lift enquiry volume sharply and fill the diary with ventilation problems in houses an hour away.
A modest fee, refunded against any work, filters hard and signals that the survey has value. Most established firms in this trade end up there.
The work nobody advertises for
Pre-purchase damp reports for people buying older houses. Quick, well-priced, low-risk, and a steady stream of them exists in every town.
Almost no firm advertises for it, which makes it about as uncontested as work gets in this trade.
Written by Oscar Markham, founder of Dublin Growth Digital. We run lead generation for Irish estate agents and trades, reported every Friday in enquiries and booked work.