Rising Damp - asking the vendor to fix before completion

Melaniep101

We're currently in the midst of purchasing a 3 bed detached property, mortgage offer recieved, searches almost done, almost ready to exchange.

Our survey has flagged up a rising damp problem, to which we've got an estimate of approx £3k to remedy.

Would you guys be asking the vendor to pay for this to be fixed or would you just accept the fact that old houses have problems?

Would be grateful for your opinions as we're FTB's and aren't sure of the etiquette

Thanks

tyllwyd

It would be pretty unusual to ask the vendor to get the work done themselves - it would potentially hold the chain up, and you would have no control over the quality of the work done.

You might want to consider going back and negotiating with the vendor regarding the price considering the work that the survey has thrown up.

BitterAndTwisted

Reduce your offer by at least £3k if you're absolutely certain that it will cost £3k to put it right. Get an experienced builder in to give you a firm quotation to justify the reduction.

I would NEVER, EVER trust a vendor to get any work done properly. If they haven't had it done for their own comfort or to get it ready for sale at a sensible price then they won't be doing it for you.

Doozergirl

Rising damp is incredibly evident. Hard to hide and very smelly.

Having a surveyor stick a prong in the wall, detect moisture and then calling out someone who sells damp proofing solutions who wants to sell you one, isn't actual evidence of rising damp.

I would have a proper independent, paid for, damp and timber survey to see what the issue may or may not be.

theartfullodger

B&T sums it up well!! Don't trust the vendor to fix it.. get it done properly yourself if you really want the place.

FireWyrm

Hmmmm...well, I'm in the same issue. The basement conversion of the victorian terrace is damp according to my building survey. According to the vendor, and confirmed by her solicitor, there is a warranty in place for the work. I've told my solicitor to tell her to call on it before we exchange. Was this the right thing to do? I'm loath to re-negotiate the price since it doesnt help us very much. If we re-negotiate the price, then we dont actually end up with cash as such, just a reduced mortgage. I dont see how renegotiating the price helps us all that much. Any thoughts?

G_M

The basement conversion of the victorian terrace is damp

Well to start with this is not 'rising damp' is it? More likely to be 'falling damp' or 'seeping damp'! Totally different problem.

Rising damp is incredibly evident. Hard to hide and very smelly.

Having a surveyor stick a prong in the wall, detect moisture and then calling out someone who sells damp proofing solutions who wants to sell you one, isn't actual evidence of rising damp.

Doozergirl is right.... and wrong. The 'prong' does NOT detect moisture. It detects an electrical current, which may be conducted by damp, or by minerals in the wall. It works fine on wood (wood only conducts electricity if damp) but is unreliable on other surfaces.

If there is no other evidence of damp (smell, mould, peeling wallpaper, darkened paint patch etc), I'd be sceptical.

Even if there IS damp, it could be a simple leaky downpipe or earth/flowerbed outside breaching the dpc.

More here.

FireWyrm

I'm not a surveyor, but I get that there are different types of damp. The guy who should know the difference told me that the wall was damp in the basement (which is actually now the kitchen) and that this is due to the DPC between the inside wall and outside failing (whatever the heck that means). I know from the EA that there is some sort of guarantee in place, but what I dont know is a) whether it's worth the paper it's printed on and b) whether I *should* be asking the vendor to get it fixed prior to exchange. Since the OP posted a very similar issue to myself, I think any advice there would be applicable to me, regardless of the type of damp we have.

I *could* just drop the price to cover the work which is £3K I'm told, but it doesnt leave us with cash in hand to actually do the work as far as I understand it, just a lower mortgage by 3K. To get this, I have to renegotiate with the building society and get yet another flipping mortgage offer sent out. I think they might be losing patience with me and I dont want to do this. What I need is for it to be fixed and whoever, to get it done, but I'm not sure who or how.

Melaniep101

FireWyrm wrote: »

I'm not a surveyor, but I get that there are different types of damp. The guy who should know the difference told me that the wall was damp in the basement (which is actually now the kitchen) and that this is due to the DPC between the inside wall and outside failing (whatever the heck that means). I know from the EA that there is some sort of guarantee in place, but what I dont know is a) whether it's worth the paper it's printed on and b) whether I *should* be asking the vendor to get it fixed prior to exchange. Since the OP posted a very similar issue to myself, I think any advice there would be applicable to me, regardless of the type of damp we have.

I *could* just drop the price to cover the work which is £3K I'm told, but it doesnt leave us with cash in hand to actually do the work as far as I understand it, just a lower mortgage by 3K. To get this, I have to renegotiate with the building society and get yet another flipping mortgage offer sent out. I think they might be losing patience with me and I dont want to do this. What I need is for it to be fixed and whoever, to get it done, but I'm not sure who or how.

This is exactly our issue, we could negotiate a lower purchase price, but we would still need to find the £3k upfront and redo all our mortgage etc. As the house we're buying is a doer upper anyway, it means that any funds we have to replace kitchens/bathrooms etc will be eaten up by damp proofing work.

G_M

Melaniep101 wrote: »

This is exactly our issue, we could negotiate a lower purchase price, but we would still need to find the £3k upfront and redo all our mortgage etc. As the house we're buying is a doer upper anyway, it means that any funds we have to replace kitchens/bathrooms etc will be eaten up by damp proofing work.

Assuming the property really does need £3Ks worth of dpc.

If I were the seller (and I can envisage this scenario in X years when I sell), and had lived in the property happily, without any indication of damp, for years, and a surveyor came along with his 'prong' and said 'damp', and then a damp proof course salesman came along and said "£3K", and my buyer said "I want £3K off the price", I know what I'd reply......

Now, this may not be the case here, but you have not enlarged on this damp problem so we don't know.

FATBALLZ

From what I've read rising damp is rare and often diagnosed by mistake. You should get a 2nd/3rd opinion on this to make sure you know what it is you're dealing with so you know how much it costs to fix.