Survey reports damp - how bad is it really?

freckles-86

Hi All.

I am a first time buyer so have very little experience of surveyors etc.

My survey has just been returned with "Category 3" damp issues (meaning that work must be carried out immeadiately apparently!)

I'm struggling to decide whether the issues reported are really a deal breaker? My personal circumstances are such that I cannot afford to pull out and try and find another property - with my Maternity Leave starting on 1st December, this is pretty much my only shot at buying a property within the next two years, hense my reluctance to get too worked up about it.

The report is as follows:

"There is evidence of penetrating dampness (e.g front bedroom chimney breast, section of wall below the boiler in the occasional bedroom).

There is evidence of some rising damp (e.g party wall to the understairs area).

There is evidence of woodboring beetle infestation (e.g understairs timber).

Sub floor air ventilation is inadequate to the rear kitchen sections and additional airbricks should be provided. This may have allowed defects to occur in concealed areas.

You now need to instruct a damp and timber treatment contractor to carry out an investigation to identify the full extent of the problames and the necessary repairs required, together with an estimate of the cost."

At first, upon reading this my heart sank but as I read and re-read it, to me it doesn't appear to be as bad as it first seems.

My scepticism is this:

When we viewed the property I did smell what I thought could be damp (I used to be an estate agent so know a little about what to look for) however, on my first visit to the property (that is currently rented) my initial gut reaction was "wow, the tenants aren't particularly cleanly!" Damp didn't enter my mind at all until we viewed it for a second time. I'm still in two minds as to whether the musty smell is damp, or just the tenants.

In the understairs cupboard is a washer/dryer - could it really be rising damp or just condensation from the washing machine/dryer? It strikes me that the tenants switch it on and close the door on it. I know surveyors have a bit of a reputation for flashing around a damp meter and claiming rising damp wherever possible to cover their backsides.

The damp under the boiler - could that just be a problem with how the boiler was fitted? It looks relitively new but bodgly done - pipes are all down the walls and is quite frankly an eye sore.

Could the damp on the Chimney Breast in the bedroom be related to the fact that the Chimney Stack needs re-pointing? I can't remember whether the fireplace is open - I'm pretty sure the original fireplace is there but it may have been vented?

The airbricks in the Kitchen I'm not too worried about as we can sort this out over a period of time - my partner is one of these lucky people who has a friend/colleague/contact in pretty much every profession going so I'm sure we could get this sorted out cheaply, maybe even for a pizza and a pack of beers! ;-)

Also the woodboring beetle, I'm not too worried about. My partner entered the loft with his Dad and said the timbers up their looked brand new, absolutely spotless. If there is a bit of woodworm under the stairs I'm fairly confident that this shouldn't be too costly to sort out (providing no timbers need to be replaced of course!), please correct me if I'm wrong!

Does anyone have any experience with this? Any idea on how much these things are likely to cost to get sorted? Do you think the surveyor is just covering his backside or should I take his report as gospel? With our first baby on the way we're not really going to have oodles of spare cash floating around so it would be rather counter productive to take on a property that could potentially cost us thousands to sort out - to be fair my main concern is the resale of the property.

A couple of other things to note - when my partner viewed the property with his Dad (with dampness in mind) they found a patch of damp by the bay window to the front of the house and also a patch on the party wall at the bottom of the stairs, yet the surveyor didn't pick up on this!?!?

They noticed that there are no ventilation points (can't remember what he called them) on any of the double glazed windows which can apparently cause condensation issues.

I didn't notice any signs of condensation on/around the windows when I viewed and certainly didn't see any damp patches. The house does need some updating, the lounge looked fairly freshly painted but thats it - perhaps done when the tenants moved in.

Any thoughts? Am I nuts to take on this house, or am I likely to get in there and find it really isn't as bad as it sounds?

Really don't know what to do...

Thank you!!! :-)

ormus

sounds like looking for another house would be the best deal of all.
otherwise ask the vendor for a 5k discount and hope that covers all the treatment costs.
do you like gambling?

Doozergirl

I'd get uotes to fix what is apparently there and renegotiate.

Party walls are usual suspects for damp. They often didn't have damp proof courses and in the past companies that injected the outside walls often didn't do the interior party walls. Having a washer/dryer in the cupboard is not going to help at all though! I'd live with it for a while, vent the cupboard and don't pack it full of stuff. You could have that wall treated with an injection, but I'd definitely wait to see if it is genuinely a problem. Old houses were always designed to breathe and things like dodgy vinyl wallpaper can upset the balance. Lack of trickle vents too will cause condensation on areas that are a bit susceptible.

Has the chimney been capped? That would be my first instinct when talking about penetrating damp on a chimney breast. Below the boiler, I'm thinking the same - there's possibly water getting in where they've drilled through for the vent or the condensing pipe, or the boiler could be leaking! - have a look on the wall outside and a feel of the pipes inside, there will almost certainly be evidence of the cause. Or indeed, there's some re-pointing needs doing.

The surveyor doesn't say whether the beetle attack is recent? You can have it sprayed if there are any worries, doesn't take long - do it before the baby arrives though

There's nothing that can't be fixed. I'd renegotiate and get on with it. You're very unlikely to find a perfect old house. If you get a perfect survey, it's either clear how much love has gone into maintaining the house or you've simply landed yourself a bit of a lazy surveyor. Houses always need maintaining, you'll never escape that.