Why Choose a Damp Detectives Survey?

The difference between an independent surveyor and a “free survey” from a damp proofing company can save you thousands of pounds — and protect your family’s health.

The Problem With “Free Surveys”

Damp proofing companies offering free surveys aren’t doing it out of generosity. The surveyor works on commission — every treatment they recommend earns them money. This creates a fundamental conflict of interest: the worse they make your damp sound, the more money they make.

One Surveyor. Your Area. Every Time.

Some independent survey companies cover large territories by deploying different surveyors to different jobs, depending on who is available. That means the person who turns up may have little local knowledge, and the person you spoke to when booking is not the person writing your report.

With Richard Bull, that’s not how it works.

Richard covers his own defined territory across the East Midlands, West Midlands, South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire — the same area, every survey, consistently. This is how the Damp Detectives franchise is structured: each surveyor owns and works their own region. There is no pool of available contractors. When you book a survey in Derby, Nottingham, Leicester or Birmingham, you get Richard Bull — the surveyor who knows your local housing stock, your local building types, and your local conditions.

The Qualifications Behind Every Survey

Richard holds a combination of specialist qualifications that exceeds the standard expected in the independent damp surveying industry — covering moisture science, microbiology, environmental health, and traditional buildings.

⚠️ A Personal Understanding of What’s at Stake

In November 2017 — just two months after leaving 16 years working across manufacturing, distribution, and waste disposal industries — Richard suffered a spontaneous pneumothorax: a collapsed lung. It happened on the same day his youngest daughter was born. He spent 10 days in hospital. The cause was never established; spontaneous pneumothorax often isn’t. But the timing made an impression. Whatever the reason, it was the moment mould, air quality, and what people breathe inside their homes became something Richard takes personally on every survey.

What Our Clients Find

🏗️ Specialist in Period & Traditional Buildings

As a SPAB member and holder of the Level 3 Award in Energy Efficiency in Older Buildings, Richard understands that modern damp proofing methods — cement renders, chemical injection, tanking — can be actively harmful to period properties. Historic buildings were designed to breathe. Trapping moisture behind impermeable barriers causes accelerated decay, not protection. If you have a pre-1919 property, specialist knowledge matters enormously.

Part of the Damp Detectives Network

Richard Bull operates as part of the Damp Detectives franchise network — the UK’s leading independent damp surveying organisation. Each surveyor in the network covers their own defined territory, maintaining independence and local expertise. There are no shared pools of contractors, no handoffs between regions. The same surveyor who covers Derby covers Nottingham, Leicester and Birmingham — because that is Richard’s territory, and Richard’s alone.

For nationwide coverage or to find a Damp Detectives surveyor in another part of the UK, visit dampdetectives.co.uk.