UPDATE: Full Survey - changes needed from seller - how to go about it?

evoke

OP: as others have said, get a FULL STRUCTURAL SURVEY done. It is RICS' recommendation that on older properties a full structural survey is done. It'll be worth the extra £300. Place no value whatsoever on the mortgage valuation survey - that is designed for the mortgage company.

efunc

G_M wrote: »

There two aspects to this. The quality of the original work and the cost.

Quality. The reason for Building Regs is NOT just to give the Town Hall bods something to do. It is to ensure that building work is both safe, and up to standard. Example: lofts are not intended for living in, so the joists are not designed for weight. If a cowboy builder 'converts' a loft without strengthening the joists, then all the furniture (and people!) up there could end up in the florr below! Building Regs is to ensure this does not happen. etc etc.

So, do you want to live in a property that is potentially unsafe?

No doubt this is all technically correct, but just to give it some perspective, I've been living/working in an 'unofficial' loft conversion for the past 30 years or so in an old detached house. It has the original un-strengthened joists, on which there are floor boards and even chipboard on some un-boarded edges. This space has been home to a recording studio for many many years consisting of a great amount of heavy, heavy, HEAVY analogue equipment, consoles, speakers, etc. Over the decades there have been full band practices up there, drum kits, brass bands, all sorts. There have never been any kind of issues whatsoever. No flexing of the ceiling below, no cracks, or deformation of any kind. I think 30 years of this kind of abuse is long enough to establish it's basically safe. I've considered doing the necessary work to add more joists etc, but haven't round to it. I don't really think it's too expensive though. So, while it's right to be cautious, it doesn't always pay to be alarmist.

andy208833

Full survey then you know exactly where you stand and no pricey surprises in the future......hopefully!

gingertips

vaderag wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice - am going to sort out a full survey today.

Bit worried about the loft conversion tho - if i did get the council in and they said no, would i be obliged to get it all sorted?

why dont you ring the council and get their advice...would they agree to grant permission retrospectively once you put everything right? Also your surveyor should be able to give you idea of cost to put right

G_M

efunc wrote: »

No doubt this is all technically correct, but just to give it some perspective, I've been living/working in an 'unofficial' loft conversion for the past 30 years or so in an old detached house. It has the original un-strengthened joists, on which there are floor boards and even chipboard on some un-boarded edges. This space has been home to a recording studio for many many years consisting of a great amount of heavy, heavy, HEAVY analogue equipment, consoles, speakers, etc. Over the decades there have been full band practices up there, drum kits, brass bands, all sorts. There have never been any kind of issues whatsoever. No flexing of the ceiling below, no cracks, or deformation of any kind. I think 30 years of this kind of abuse is long enough to establish it's basically safe. I've considered doing the necessary work to add more joists etc, but haven't round to it. I don't really think it's too expensive though. So, while it's right to be cautious, it doesn't always pay to be alarmist.

Apologies. Clearly I was wrong to alert the OP to a potential danger here.

Since your loft has not had an issue, efunc, in the last 30 years, then clearly the OP's conversion must be safe.

why dont you ring the council and get their advice...would they agree to grant permission retrospectively once you put everything right? Also your surveyor should be able to give you idea of cost to put right

That is certainly an option but remember that
a) having rung the council and thereby alerted them to the lack of Building Regs, the option of indemnity insurance is removed (the insurance is invalid if the council are notified) and
b) whilst they WILL agree to grant BRs 'once everything is put right' they (and/or the surveyor) will not be able to cost the works without exposing joists etc/ripping up floor etc - which the seller is unlikely to be happy about. Does the the insulation behind the walls meet BR standards? Impossible to say without breaking through the plaster/plasterboard to take a look.

vaderag

I have now had the full survey done and a few key things have come up:
1) Damp in the walls - has been injected before, but didnt take, so suggested that they should have a guarantee
2) Boiler is leaking so needs repair
3) Chimneys need repointing/flashing
4) An electrical wiring test was suggested as they saw an old fuse box...

My question is...

Obviously 1 and 2 i need to request that the sellers sort out before I buy - do I go via the estate agent for this?

3 i would like them to do as well - is this an unreasonable request?
4 - should i worry about getting this done before i move? All their electrics seem to work well when we've been there... I don't have the full survey document yet, but all this i got down off the phone, and he didn't seem to make too big a deal out of it...

Thanks!

kford224

vaderag wrote: »

I have now had the full survey done and a few key things have come up:
1) Damp in the walls - has been injected before, but didnt take, so suggested that they should have a guarantee
2) Boiler is leaking so needs repair
3) Chimneys need repointing/flashing
4) An electrical wiring test was suggested as they saw an old fuse box...

My question is...

Obviously 1 and 2 i need to request that the sellers sort out before I buy - do I go via the estate agent for this?

3 i would like them to do as well - is this an unreasonable request?
4 - should i worry about getting this done before i move? All their electrics seem to work well when we've been there... I don't have the full survey document yet, but all this i got down off the phone, and he didn't seem to make too big a deal out of it...

Thanks!

I think it depend on whether these things need to be done in order for the mortgage people to pay out. We had a few things come back (electrics being one) but we were expecting it and it wasn't a condition of the mortgage, so we are going to do them when we move in.

If you want them done, the you're best off renegotiating the price to accommodate for them. Then you can get them done yourself in your own time and not worry about the whole process being held up

vaderag

kford224 wrote: »

I think it depend on whether these things need to be done in order for the mortgage people to pay out. We had a few things come back (electrics being one) but we were expecting it and it wasn't a condition of the mortgage, so we are going to do them when we move in.

If you want them done, the you're best off renegotiating the price to accommodate for them. Then you can get them done yourself in your own time and not worry about the whole process being held up

Mortgage has been confirmed - valuation survey came out fine...
So it's pretty much for my piece of mind!

mac2008

vaderag wrote: »

I have now had the full survey done and a few key things have come up:
1) Damp in the walls - has been injected before, but didnt take, so suggested that they should have a guarantee
2) Boiler is leaking so needs repair
3) Chimneys need repointing/flashing
4) An electrical wiring test was suggested as they saw an old fuse box...

My question is...

Obviously 1 and 2 i need to request that the sellers sort out before I buy - do I go via the estate agent for this?

3 i would like them to do as well - is this an unreasonable request?
4 - should i worry about getting this done before i move? All their electrics seem to work well when we've been there... I don't have the full survey document yet, but all this i got down off the phone, and he didn't seem to make too big a deal out of it...

Thanks!

I wouldn't say it's obvious the vendors have to do anything before you move in, certainly not sort out alleged damp issues or changing a fuse box. If these issues came up in a house I was buying I'd first speak to the surveyor informally to ascertain more details,take further specialist advice/quotes as appropriate, then negotiate a reasonable amount off the price to do the work to my satisfaction after I moved in. What amount I decided on would depend on quotes from trusted professionals, and how much I'd offered in the first place.

The boiler for example - what's the nature of the leak? Could be almost nothing, could be completely shot. Either way, you can guarantee the vendor will do the cheapest possible repair to stop the leak. If it blows up the day after you move in, you've very little comeback.

I do think it's unreasonable to expect them to commit to spending any money before exchange for such potentially routine problems.

vaderag

By obvious i meant that the damp proofing should have a guarantee and they've had the boiler done recently, so i should imagine the same...