Rising Damp - asking the vendor to fix before completion

Melaniep101

G_M wrote: »

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.

Hi G_M

Yes, see your point. The house we're buying is a probate house, so an elderly lady was living there until she passed away. Her two sons are the beneficiaries and vendors, so they've not been living in the property. We've had the lenders survey and our own independant survey done on the property and they've both picked this up, hence we instructed a contractor to give us a quote on the repair to the DPC. The contractor we chose has a good reputation and is well known for being honest when work doesnt need to be done, so we've mitigated being ripped off as much as we could!

My point is that this old lady probably wasnt in a position to remedy the damp problem or didnt notice it. The two sons don't seem to have made an investment in the property and only stand to make a good profit.

G_M

Melaniep101 wrote: »

Hi G_M

Yes, see your point. The house we're buying is a probate house, so an elderly lady was living there until she passed away. Her two sons are the beneficiaries and vendors, so they've not been living in the property. We've had the lenders survey and our own independant survey done on the property and they've both picked this up, hence we instructed a contractor to give us a quote on the repair to the DPC. The contractor we chose has a good reputation and is well known for being honest when work doesnt need to be done, so we've mitigated being ripped off as much as we could!

My point is that this old lady probably wasnt in a position to remedy the damp problem or didnt notice it. The two sons don't seem to have made an investment in the property and only stand to make a good profit.

You have still not enlarged on the damp! Where is it? How extensive? What symptoms? How identified? What cause?

Your contractor may be honest, may have a good reputation, but at the end of the day he makes money from installing dpc!

Have you spoken to the surveyor and asked probing questions (like the ones above)?

Have you identified any of the symptoms yourself when viewing?

The history of the house actually makes me even more sceptical, not less. It's been unlived in for a while, so has been unheated. Damp, if it exists, may be the result of that rather than a faulty dpc! Some condensation on the cold walls would send a 'damp meter' into hyper-charge!

A good airing followed by central heating could be all it needs.

There again, maybe it needs £3K spending on it.

FireWyrm

Deleted to clarify the thread.

G_M

My post was directed at the OP - Malanie.

That's the trouble with 'hyjacking' threads - it becomes confusing. Start your own thread FireWyrm!

As I said before, a basement situation is not comparable.