Opinion on survery findings please.

Legacy_user

In my opinion,Surveys bring up lots of things which normally people can live with for years and not have a problem, nevertheless, they can cause worry. A recent survey of a property shows that there is :-

*a fanlight that is jammed
= clean and WD40

*a party wall in the roof space is not to the top, (I think two bricks too low).
= builder to fill in

*circuit protection is by rewire-able fuses.
= electrician to replace

*a surface wired spur socket
= unsure here

*they couldn't find the external stop-!!!!
= so what? the water board would know.

*the supply pipe is lead
= our current house has a lead pipe from meter to tap

maybe you would care to give an opinion on these and say would or should they be attended to? and costing please.

swagman

I can't suggest costings but the only ones on the list that would cause me anxiety are the electrical ones, where regulations apply and a correctly qualified electrician is needed, and the lead pipes, which over a period can have a health effect.

keystone

islandman wrote: »

In my opinion,Surveys bring up lots of things which normally people can live with for years and not have a problem, nevertheless, they can cause worry. A recent survey of a property shows that there is :-

*a fanlight that is jammed
= clean and WD40

*a party wall in the roof space is not to the top, (I think two bricks too low).
= builder to fill in

*circuit protection is by rewire-able fuses.
= electrician to replace

*a surface wired spur socket
= unsure here

*they couldn't find the external stop-!!!!
= so what? the water board would know.

*the supply pipe is lead
= our current house has a lead pipe from meter to tap

maybe you would care to give an opinion on these and say would or should they be attended to? and costing please.

Frankly it ALL falls in the "so what" category. Surveyors are unversally opeating the CYA principle these days to the extent that the survey report (particularly if its a bog standard housebuyers report) is almost meaningless IMHO.

To pick up on the two items mentioned by the previous poster.

Electrics - rewireable fuses are not a concern TBH. When the electrics were put in they would have been put in to the standard current at the time of the build. Now whilst they won't meet the 17th Edn that (or its predecessors) is not retrospective. As I say its a "so what" scenario. If you are looking to have additional work done on your electrics then the consequence of that might be that the parts of the installation affected MAY have to be brought up to 17th Edn standards which will increase the price of the job obviously. If you are personally concerned (ignoring the surveyor) about the state of the electrics then get a registered domestic installer round to do a Periodic Inspection report. He will inspect and test the whole system and provide you with a report on the state of the system and any recommendations he has.

Lead Water Main - far too much scaremongering about this - the health risks are really negligible - certainly compared with the amount of muck from traffic fumes you inhale every single day out on the street. Again its "so what" TBH If you do not say where the tap is relative to the meter but if there are lead pipes in the kitchen (for example) and you are having the kitchen refitted then its good practice for that to be replaced at the same time.

HTH

Cheers

TomsMom

*a fanlight that is jammed
= clean and WD40

I just think the surveyor is being helpful here.

*a party wall in the roof space is not to the top, (I think two bricks too low).
= builder to fill in

There is a risk of fire spread from the other property and agree that it should be attended to. I used to be a secretary to three surveyors, many years ago, and this was pointed out and required attention then.

*the supply pipe is lead
= our current house has a lead pipe from meter to tap

Some people don't like the "health" aspect of having lead pipes and although not it may not be essential to replace them I suppose there are some people who would rather get rid of them.

*they couldn't find the external stop-!!!!
= so what? the water board would know.

Possible that the surveyor just wanted to point this out so the prospective purchaser could make enquiries for future reference in an emergency. We wanted to know about our water pressure when we moved to our present property, as we were having a shower fixed and didn't want to buy the wrong sort where pressure was concerned, so we asked the water company to come out and test it for us. When I mentioned this to someone else asking about their water pressure they didn't realise they could just get it tested like that.

I suppose the electrical things don't come up to current regs .

keystone

TomsMom wrote: »

Possible that the surveyor just wanted to point this out so the prospective purchaser could make enquiries for future reference in an emergency. We wanted to know about our water pressure when we moved to our present property, as we were having a shower fixed and didn't want to buy the wrong sort where pressure was concerned, so we asked the water company to come out and test it for us. When I mentioned this to someone else asking about their water pressure they didn't realise they could just get it tested like that.

Yes you are correct. I've been in my current property a number of years and there is a Water Co stop c o c k out in the road outside my gate - I thought it was mine! We recently had a new neighbour move in and he was required to have a water meter. They fitted the meter on what I thought was my stop c o c k. I wasn't happy obviously but it turned out that mine had been covered over years ago when the pavement was resurfaced. Water Co reinstated access to it. Good job I didn't need it in the meantime!! As regards the pressure a plumber can check the pressure at the washine machine inlet tap or the outside tap (either or both of which are inevitably at mains pressure) with a simple guage every plumber should carry in his toolbox

I suppose the electrical things don't come up to current regs .

They don't have to until and unless a) you want to change something or b) there is a problem which needs attention.

Cheers

TomsMom

keystone wrote: »

it turned out that mine had been covered over years ago when the pavement was resurfaced. Water Co reinstated access to it. Good job I didn't need it in the meantime!!
Cheers

That's exactly what happened here. When we had the house renovated, the builders put all isolation valves in and we didn't give the stop c*ck a thought at the time. A few months later the subject came up and upon investigation we found it had been covered over when the lane was resurfaced. We contacted them and they uncovered it. Makes you wonder where the brains were of the people who did the resurfacing :rolleyes:, or is it the norm to just cover these things up and blow the consequences!

ormus

re the water board and stop taps.
they know as much as you do. when the men turn up they have to do just what you do, that is to search for the tap.
they certainly dont have any detailed maps of their complete system.
its only in modern times, that they have been mapping the whole system.

often a tap will be buried under grass, dirt, tarmac etc...
even when you find a tap, you may have to clear the thing out first. ive seen em full of dirt and sand etc to a depth of 2 or 3 feet.

ic

The report on my house warned that there were "industrial units at the rear of the property". He was referring to the scout hut in the grounds of a church...

ormus

mine said, there are no plans to build a major road in the area (such as the M580b) but we cannot guarantee what the future road plans will be.

in other words, its all boll ocks.