Pricing DIY jobs before house purchase

nikki2804

Hi, I'm looking for a little advice.

FTB and I've found a house that I love. Its non standard construction (steel built) but from a little research it looks like the bank i've got the appointment with will lend on it (fingers crossed)

Anyway, the home report shows that the house has asbestos soffits. The guttering needs redone - will this cause issues?

Asbestos sheeting round boiler, I did want to redo the kitchen at some point so would this cause issues? Likely cost?

Also, theres a bird nest in the roof void, who would I get to remove this? Or can I do it myself?

I have a family of plasterers, joiners and decoraters so anything that needs done will be done at cost price but I want to factor all this in. House is fixed price of £80k, dropped from £85k. Good sized rooms and huge garden, ex local authority and built roughly in the 1950's.

Anyone got any experience of work on the above?

TIA

MX5huggy

Find another house, have you seen what happens to steel in 60 years.

ic

Personally I'd run a mile from this house. Get a standard build house without scary issues like asbestos.

nikki2804

To be fair, asbestos is only an issue if its damaged and the dust becomes airbourne. The houses in that area have been standing 60 years and no one has died of asbestos related issues.

Can you link me to a source in relation to steel built houses being a problem? They are harder to insulate but i want all the information before making a decision.

ormus

get the steel frame checked out carefully.
ive seen 1950s pre fabs with very bad corrosion at the base of the uprights.

ormus

http://www.fullerandsons.co.uk/history_res_f&s.html

some history.

nikki2804

ormus wrote: »

http://www.fullerandsons.co.uk/history_res_f&s.html

some history.

Very informative thank you. I've got a second veiwing tomorrow, if I really love it i'll look into a structural survey. Hopefully will negotiate on the price due to this.

Bonus is, i know the neighbours on either side so will find out if there are any known issues on the street. Obv this is not as good as a survey but it gives me a little idea.

Its a lovely little house so fingers crossed everythings ok, its ex LA but I suppose at lot can happen in the years that its been privately owned.

ormus

i reckon a lot of councils were very glad that so many tenants bought their pre fab homes off them.
the bill to repair them all properly would be astronomical by now.
same goes for concrete panels, system build.

Jaynne

nikki2804 wrote: »

To be fair, asbestos is only an issue if its damaged and the dust becomes airbourne. The houses in that area have been standing 60 years and no one has died of asbestos related issues.

How do you know that? I would walk an absolute mile from a place with asbestos in it. Read up on the stuff its decidedly dangerous and never leaves your lungs after breathing it in. I'm probably the least alarmist person I know but wouldn't consider buying that place.

saxonrosecliff

I would also walk away but not because of the asbestos - lots of houses have asbestos in them but because where I live there are three big council estates built in the 50s of this design. Around 5-10 years ago the whole lot had to be demolished and rebuilt due to not being structurally sound - they have a very short lifespan compared with other methods of construction.

Mrs_justjohn

I can't comment on steel framed homes but asbestos need not be scary. Many home sthat are 20+ years old will have asbestos (or materials containing asbestos in them). It is safe unless damaged. Following some simple safety rules you can remove asbestos yourself, actually disposing of it can be trickier so you would need to check with your local council as to facilities.

http://www.tameside.gov.uk/asbestos

I would suggest the asbestos would be the least of the two worries.