Structural Issues highlighted by Survey

Fuji

HELP/ADVICE NEEDED

We have just received a copy of the homebuyers survey carried out last week on a house we hope to buy - the mortgage company won't lend the amount because the surveyor reported the following;


'The Property exhibited signs of severe distortion to the elevations and the roof'
The requirement is that the propert 'needs a structural report from a qualified engineer and undertake repairs as necessary'.


I know from reading the survey carried out on the house we are selling that sometimes the language used to describe faults can be quite dramatic, so we are going to arrange to have the structural survey carried out

Just a few questions for anyone to help with -

How much is a structural survey likely to cost? a quick search on t'internet has given a price of between £800 - £1000 - I guess that this should also give an approx price for the work to be carried out.

Has anyone got any suggestions on the best approach to take if a lot of work is required ? The seller (who lives abroad) had indicated to the estage agent that he wouldn't be prepared to lower the price any further, even if the survey turned up problems.

I guess its a bit pointless to start asking for builders quotes on the work needed before the structual survey has been carried out.

The house is empty and went on the market last summer - no-one has put any offers in, hence no other surveys have been carried out, as far as we know. We have buyers for our house who are ready to move in.

I definitely feel like we're on the rollercoaster ride now.....we have spent the last few weeks desperate to move in but things feel quite a bit different now

If anyone has any suggestions on the best way to proceed then please share them. Thanks in advance

Doozergirl

Unfortunately, this isn't one of those things that reads like a disaster but is pretty insignificant

It's possible that it's some movement which has stopped but it may be an ongoing problem.

You need a structural engineers report, not exactly a structural survey (which will be like your homebuyers only even more in depth). I'd expect to pay around £250 + VAT.

How old is the house? Do you have a link to it? I'd expect to able to see the distortion from outside if it were 'severe'

Your vendor is being a bit of an idiot tbh. If there is a big problem, he won't be able to sell it to someone needing a mortgage, let alone refuse to drop the price.

I also think he should be paying for this report!

benood

I'd phone the surveyor who did your homebuyers for an off the record chat - he'll be able to give you more info over the phone and either put your mind at rest a bit or save you wasting more of your time and money.

Agree with Doozergirl that the seller should probably be paying for the structural engineer.

pingu79

Hi Fuji,

I had a similar situation to yourself, with regard to the homebuyers/ structural report.

The first step is to phone the surveyor who did your homebuyers and see what the situation is. From the description you have given, I'd also go back to the house and have a look from the opposite side of the road, things to look out for are.

1. Do the windows look level, do the cills lean to one side.
2. Does the walls look straight, if it's a brick house do the mortar joints look level?
3. Is the ridge of the roof level?
4. Are there any problems with the lintels?

As for structural inspections there are really two kinds

A. Structural Engineers Report, usually visual and with a spirit level, tapes etc to check for distortion to walls, floors. I wouldn't expect this to be more than £500 tops.
B. Full structural investigation, this would usually take half a day to a day, and ideally would include some intrusive work if possible. up to about £800.


I would go for A, and ask the vendor to pay or at least a decent contribution, always go for an experienced chartered structural engineer. Also I'd ask them to check the geological and mining maps for the property.

Personlly I was lucky in that a collegue carried my report out free of charge:D

Fuji

There have been further developments on this story

I called the surveyor who did the homebuyers & he assured me the house is sound and that the structural engineer report was worth goig ahead with, and that it was just to see if movement was continuing. I called a recommended local firm who are able to send an engineer out later this week, and called the EA to ask them to inform the vendor of the cost. Good guess Doozergirl :T

This afternoon, the EA called back to say the vendor had bought in a copy of a structural report they had carried out 12 months ago which invg the same problems raised by our Homebuyers report. The report was done by the same company that are going out later this week. It said that there was a few grands worth of work needed to be done.

Does anyone know if the mortgage company would accept a structural report that was 12 months old ? If not, I guess that I'll have to let the company go out again to do another report - hopefully the problems won't have got worse. Is it worth paying for the report for peace of mind ? I guess the mortgage company will decide this for me :rolleyes:

I've left a message for the surveyor to call me back again tomorrow to discuss it with him. Hopefully, if he will accept it then the ball will start rolling again.

Has anyone got any suggestions/ideas about the best way to go with this ?

thanks for the advice received so far

Doozergirl

I'd be happy with the existing report - the cause of the problem won't have changed inthat time, so even if the house has comtinued to move, the solution will still be the same. I also think your mortgage company will take the advice given in the year old report, but they may hold back some of the funds until the work is carried out

I wouldn't spend any more on structural engineers tbh. I'd be waiting for the verdict from the mortgage company and then contacting builders for quotes....
and then renegotiating the price!

What needs doing?

Fuji

I won't see the report until tomorrow but the EA mentioned work needs to be done on the cavity walls and also securing the side wall of the house :eek:

courtjester

I would take the comments on the original surveyors report far more seriously than is being suggested here - "severe distortions to the roof and elevations" sounds to me pretty unusual for a property (verbally) stated by the surveyor informally as 'sound'.

Without knowing anything more about, it, this sounds like a case of subsidence (of the foundations) or potentially roof spread due to inadequate support or botched roofing work, both of which could be quite difficult and expensive to resolve.

Subsidence can be very long-winded to investigate the cause properly (up to 18 months in some cases) before implementing a repair solution. No-one can take just one look at a property with subsidence and ascertain from that single inspection that movement is not ongoing - only monitoring over a period of time will establish this.

Distortion to the roof could be the result of replacing an old slate covering with new concrete tiles (which are much heavier). Without strengthening the roof supports, this is a common result of 'cheap' re-roofing - the only solution to which is to remove, and completely renew the roof properly. If the flank or gable end walls are distorted, this may mean installing internal wall ties to arrest the 'spread' or in worse cases, taking down and re-building the gable end.

There is also the question of potential blight following such repairs - some buyers just won't look at a property that has (unresolved) subsidence or wall ties in place and unless the repair is carried out under full professional supervision and certificated, this could lead to the property being unnmortgageable.

So I would tread very carefully and not let your emotions over-ride common sense and an objective approach to this very substantial investment.