Horrible underpinning situation post searches. Advice?

ruggedtoast

Woke up this morning both somewhat more convinced we dont want to go ahead with this purchase. It all feels wrong and no one has been straight with us from the beginning.

As an aside, the garage roof is clearly leaking and damp, from all our inspections, when it has always been unlocked. Coincidentally, when our surveyor went round it was locked.

Our friendly (ie not through the solicitor) requests to have it fixed have been strung out and out until now when they also insist that they've had it looked at and its fine.

Its just another thing. I dont trust these vendors at all anymore. They bought this place for £15,000. Its now up for more than 15 times that and we havent had a straight word about anything.

Lotus-eater

ruggedtoast wrote: »

It all feels wrong and no one has been straight with us from the beginning.

That's an absolute, walk away.

You will find the right house, just this isn't it.

bryanb

Haven't read all posts, if you haven't exchanged contracts - RUN!

prosaver

ab7167 wrote: »

Me too. Cavity wall tie failure can be very serious, and cause the entire outer leaf of the wall to peel off. That is an extreme case, but possible...

the surveyor said to us -we had cavity wall failure -so we got a builder round to have a look and said no it hasnt the brickie was crap who built the house and built it like that. So we bought it....
However I knocked a hole for a new window in the said wall and seen the wall ties and they were ok .... :cool:
Buy the house... Im a builder and got a hnc in construction
1,Its not going to fall down.
2,get 5 estimates and ask the builders questions and see if they all say the same thing . then you know that the problem
if you get it fixed (the work should be guaranteed and if it still cracks up again it will be under guaranteed or sue your neighbour.
Trust me the house wont fall down...houses just dont relay on wall ties (its not like the game ker plunk)
enjoy christmas life to short
remember get 5 estimates and ask the builders questions and see if they all say the same thing . then you know that the problem
good luck mate :beer:

silvercar

On the face of it, your neighbour being underpinned 23 years ago, shouldn't effect the home; if anything it should make it more stable. Its the insurance issue that is now a concern and that leads to worries over selling it in years to come. Its a difficult one.

prosaver

hey come on 23 years ago underpinning ...dont worry about it..concrete get tougher with age and doesn't stop hardening for 100 years so the underpinning will be stronger than ever
just read your other post and if you want to .. go for it
when we got insured nobody ask about history of repair etc .try churchill and do it online...They dont ask nosey question

bryanb

prosaver wrote: »

try churchill and do it online...They dont ask nosey question

Ever heard of non disclosure of material facts?

sunshinetours

On the contrary I would walk away if you have a bad feeling and vendors aren't being as open as they could be. As Prosaver says I am sure the house won't fall down but that doesn;t mean you won't have similar issues you are having when you come to sell on - also not dislcosing material facts to insurance company is a no-no especially these days unless you want a potentially uninsured house - that part is poor advice

silvercar

bryanb wrote: »

Ever heard of non disclosure of material facts?

Agreed. But 23 old underpinning of a neighbour shouldn't effect the stability.

JimmyTheWig

silvercar wrote: »

Agreed. But 23 old underpinning of a neighbour shouldn't effect the stability.

That's up to the insurance company to decide.

OP, I suggest you go no further without a specialist report (as per Eric1). This could be throwing more good money after bad and you may prefer just to walk away now.
But to carry on without knowing the extent of the problem has got to be the worst of all worlds...