Surevey Report - Rough Idea of Cost\How Bad?

LongTimeThinker

Hi,

The survey has been done on our House we are Part Exing and a few issues have come up. I dont think they are too bad, but, I am no expert.

Not sure if this is the right forum but whats your thoughts?

I have builders coming round (organised by Part Ex company) and would like to have a rough idea, items are:

1. Slipped and chipped slates, ridge and verge tiling needs pointing (overhaul and repair of roof coverings)

2. Re-pointing of elevations

3. Rot and weathering to windows (Overhaul of some windows). There are 3 windows in total and one tiny one.

4. Overhaul and repair of main house front door casing. Now this one is really stupid, the bottom of the door casing needs replasing. Its a little rotton at the bottom, so it either needs fixing or replasing, I think I could do this myself in a weekend easy!

5. Overhaul and repair of loose brickwork boundary wall. Our yard wall at the back needs pointing....

6. Make good party wall. Not sure on this one. It says "part walling requires making good to prevent fire spread"

7. Eveidens of rising dampness noted to rear. sub floor ventilation seems to be inadequate. Evidence of penetrating dampness noted to roof space (further investigatoins by a specialist contractor). The wall is damp, but its a small area and its not visibly damp.

8. Soil vent pipe suffereing from weathering and corrosion (replace). Now I dont agree at all with this one, its cast iron and is solid as a rock. It "needs" painting.

I have been told not to worry (thats all I am being told at the moment!) but are there any real nasty\cost jobs in that list?

Thanks!

LongTimeThinker

Shamefull bump. Sorry, pretty desperate as I would like a rough guide before these builders come round. Anyone?

G_M

Only a builder could give you a quote.

Many (most) of these issues could fall into the catagories
a) totally unecessary
b) minor patch job measuerd in £10 - £50
c) major repairs

Without seeing them it's impossible to know.

For example the damp could stem from the "sub floor ventilation seems to be inadequate". Are there blocked ventilation bricks? Or air bricks covered by soil outside? An hour digging to expose them or cleaning out the blockage..... damp will dry out over time.

Or you might need a new damp proof course..... !

As for "penetrating dampness noted to roof space ", this could well be caused by the "Re-pointing of elevations" (damp penetrating through gaps between brickwork), OR it could be a dodgy gutter needing 20 minutes up a ladder and a screwdrive to adjust!

keystone

All of these jobs need eye contact to price.

In any event I wouldn't take a great deal of notice. If this was the result of a house buyers report those are so full of CYA as to render them useless in any practical sense.

I am not sure why you are panicing about the arrival of the builder. Let him price the works for you and give you an itemised written quotation (cost yer abaht 2 grand mate isn't really acceptable is it?). Then get two other quotes as well. It is only at that point that you have something meaningful to compare with.

Cheers

LongTimeThinker

G_M wrote: »

Only a builder could give you a quote.

Many (most) of these issues could fall into the catagories
a) totally unecessary
b) minor patch job measuerd in £10 - £50
c) major repairs

Without seeing them it's impossible to know.

For example the damp could stem from the "sub floor ventilation seems to be inadequate". Are there blocked ventilation bricks? Or air bricks covered by soil outside? An hour digging to expose them or cleaning out the blockage..... damp will dry out over time.

Or you might need a new damp proof course..... !

As for "penetrating dampness noted to roof space ", this could well be caused by the "Re-pointing of elevations" (damp penetrating through gaps between brickwork), OR it could be a dodgy gutter needing 20 minutes up a ladder and a screwdrive to adjust!

Thanks G_M - I wish I was a builder! Thats the problem, I cant work out if they are major problems or minor. I have to admit that I think most are fairly minor, but unfortunately I am no expert.

There is one air brick outside the back where the damp is, I havent checked if it is blocked (its not covered by anything).

I'm just trying to gague peoples reactions to see if someone says "ouch, this is definately going to cost you big time".

LongTimeThinker

keystone wrote: »

All of these jobs need eye contact to price.

In any event I wouldn't take a great deal of notice. If this was the result of a house buyers report those are so full of CYA as to render them useless in any practical sense.

I am not sure why you are panicing about the arrival of the builder. Let him price the works for you and give you an itemised written quotation (cost yer abaht 2 grand mate isn't really acceptable is it?). Then get two other quotes as well. It is only at that point that you have something meaningful to compare with.

Cheers

Thanks keystone. I just dont want to be taken for a ride by the builders who are buying our house, its a long story but my wife and I are pretty stressed out with the whole thing at the moment.

G_M

LongTimeThinker wrote: »

Thanks G_M - I wish I was a builder! Thats the problem, I cant work out if they are major problems or minor. I have to admit that I think most are fairly minor, but unfortunately I am no expert.

There is one air brick outside the back where the damp is, I havent checked if it is blocked (its not covered by anything).

I'm just trying to gague peoples reactions to see if someone says "ouch, this is definately going to cost you big time".

Get a metal coat hanger, straighten it out, and poke it through. If it goes right through all the holes to the sub floor space behind, it's not blocked! Or lift a floorboard inside and check from the inside. Is there one at the front too? the air needs to flow. One airbrick won't provide much ventilation.

As for gutters, well, next time it rains, instead of sheltering in front of the telly, go out and see if any of them overflow......

A lot of this stuff is not rocket science!

LongTimeThinker

G_M wrote: »

Get a metal coat hanger, straighten it out, and poke it through. If it goes right through all the holes to the sub floor space behind, it's not blocked! Or lift a floorboard inside and check from the inside. Is there one at the front too? the air needs to flow. One airbrick won't provide much ventilation.

As for gutters, well, next time it rains, instead of sheltering in front of the telly, go out and see if any of them overflow......

A lot of this stuff is not rocket science!

Thanks, I'll go check the airbricks now - like I said, I am not a bulider so it may not be rocket science to you, but I didnt know exactly what an air brick was until I saw this report and googled it.

The gutters at the front have already been replaced last year, I dont think the back ones leak but thanks for the tip, I'll take a detailed look next time it rains. :beer: