How honest should you be?

martindow

marc-h wrote: »

Our house has an original slate roof that in extreme weather can leak a little bit. A few drips come through in one place. We may have got is sorted by the time we come to sell and it isn't a hugely expensive job to fix. I'm not sure if I should be routinely telling prospective buyers about it or wait until it is or isn't mentioned on a survey. We weren't told about it when we bought the house. The fact we haven't got is sorted in the few years we have lived here probably indicates it isn't that much of an issue.

I would get this fixed asap, especially if it is cheap or easy to fix. If buyers notice this or it comes up on a survey it will put worries in their minds as to what other faults you appear not to be bothered about.

marc-h_2

martindow wrote: »

I would get this fixed asap, especially if it is cheap or easy to fix. If buyers notice this or it comes up on a survey it will put worries in their minds as to what other faults you appear not to be bothered about.

You are probably right. It happens a few times a year with usually long gaps in between so we never get round to sorting it. Due to the nature of our roof it wouldn't be spotted unless they had a specialist look at it, our survey said the roof looked ok but no detailed inspection was done do to lack of access. We could just do nothing and hope we get a buyer has stupid as we were!

martindow

marc-h wrote: »

You are probably right. It happens a few times a year with usually long gaps in between so we never get round to sorting it. Due to the nature of our roof it wouldn't be spotted unless they had a specialist look at it, our survey said the roof looked ok but no detailed inspection was done do to lack of access. We could just do nothing and hope we get a buyer has stupid as we were!

And that viewings happen on dry days! There is still the problem of the standard questionnaire you will complete which has several general questions to put you on the spot over this issue.

Is there no staining of ceilings or other plasterwork? It might be difficult to plead ignorance if there are signs that it is an existing problem.

marc-h_2

martindow wrote: »

And that viewings happen on dry days! There is still the problem of the standard questionnaire you will complete which has several general questions to put you on the spot over this issue.

Is there no staining of ceilings or other plasterwork? It might be difficult to plead ignorance if there are signs that it is an existing problem.

The story is a bit more convoluted that the summary I gave on here. There isn't really any staining because the ceiling was repainted after a bigger roof problem that was sorted. The little leak hasn't caused staining again since then. I have given up hope on finding a reliable roofer which I think is why I have been reluctant to get this sorted. Someone was meant to fix it completely but it seems they didn't but too long had passed before we realised. Then there was another roofer who kept making promises for about 6 months before disappearing. There were about another 3 that came to give us quotes for the bigger job that were ridiculous, even people from the same company couldn't give us the same story twice. This was ages ago and we have lived with it since then.

This isn't why we are moving but it would be nice to forget about it and make it someone else's problem, without fear of comeback. To be honest I probably wouldn't really do it as I am too nice a person. That is also probably why I keep getting taken for a ride by the dodgy roofers!!