How do I check if its rotten before buying?

buppy

We viewed a house last week and apart from being pretty shabby and needing a compete referb decoration wise it looks pretty sound.

However I noticed where the washing machine and dishwasher have been taken out the floorboards are black does this mean rotten#?

Its the only real thing worrying me as everything else just needs time and a bit of work to bring it up to standard.

There are about 2 exposed floorboards not covered by lino, I cant see what the rest of the floor looks like without ripping up the lino. How do I check / can I check if these are rotten and if they are how likely is it to have damaged more major parts of the floor?

It has been rented out so I guess it was a leak the tenants didnt care about and the landlord is no longer wanting to rent it out so its up for sale.

Would it take a structural survey to find out the damage ? Would even they be allowed to lift floor boards? I know basic homebuyers they cant do anything really but I dont want to be walking into something huge that we cant afford to put right.

Any advice?

oh also a random thing, any ideas why someone might have all the double glazing done apart from the (double)bathroom window? seemed odd to me.

G_M

Black does not necessarily mean rotten. Though it might.

Is the property occupied? It sounds like it's derelict. Why not go round at same time as the surveyor and 'release' some of the lino - then the surveyor can see what's underneath.

buppy

Hi, thanks for the reply,
Its not derelict just neglected, its been rented out so every carpet is beyond cleaning, woodwork grubby, toilet well might just rip that out rather than stick my hand down it.

Sadly its what houses are generally like for the size (3 bed not a mansion) and area we want in our budget so its something we have just had to accept. At least this one has heating

The land lord is 'doing it up' for an open day but we pushed for early viewings. I guess if we had gone to the open day he would have just covered it with more lino and we would be none the wiser.

We would get a survey but is it likely to have caused such a problem that it warrants a structural one? we have already had one purchase fall through so are a grand down on our tight budget and want to cover bases before wasting everyones time.
x

irishjohn

buppy wrote: »

oh also a random thing, any ideas why someone might have all the double glazing done apart from the (double)bathroom window? seemed odd to me.

There was probably a special offer for a specific number of windows any size for a set price - and they went for it but had one window more than the offer - i bet the bathroom window is the smallest in the house?

duchy

Surely the tighter your budget the more vital a survey is as you have no financial cushion to pay for structural problems if something comes up ?

elsien

Or it didn't need doing at the time? Had all mine done on the back of the house bar one small one which is absolutely fine - the others were fairly rotten, so I'm leaving the last one till it needs it. Which will probably be a few years time.

buppy

Ah yes quite possible John. It is indeed the smallest

buppy

Duchy We will have a survey just wondering which level to go for. Its a 1930's terrace house and seems pretty sound to someone who knows nothing so I wouldnt automatically just for a structural one if its a case of rotten floor boards thats easy enough to put right, joists not so but I have no idea how to check in advance of an offer or if a structural survey would be able to check anyway even if we paid for it. I guess thats the question in my head.

I was hoping someone might say it would smell a certain way or feel a certain way if I prodded at the floor boards. They could of course just be dark floor boards or have been leaked on briefly making them discolour.

No idea myself house maintenance stuff is new to me having rented before. x

G_M

buppy wrote: »

Hi, thanks for the reply,
Its not derelict just neglected, x

The point I was trying to establish was that if it is
a) empty - unoccupied and]
b) needs doing up
then lifting a bit more line is not really going to upset anyone.

If on the other hand someone was living there or the lino was in good nick, then lifting it to see what's underneath is a definate no-no!

ronmiel

When we bought a house many years ago that had lots of bare wood round the windows etc., it hadn't been painted for years, I asked my FIL, who was a joiner, to check for rot. He had a small penknife with a sharp blade and he prodded the woodwork with that. It didn't sink in so he advised that the wood was sound, and it was.

Ivana_Tinkle

buppy wrote: »

seems pretty sound to someone who knows nothing

Now, this is exactly why you need a survey! If you don't know much, what makes you think you'd recognise a major problem if there was one?

I don't think that a full buildings survey is always essential if you've got the experience to recognise problems and enough leeway in your budget to cope with anything unexpected that comes up when you start renovating. It doesn't sound like you have either of those, though!

If you decide not to have a full survey, in answer to your question about the floorboards, go and have another viewing, poke about a bit and see for yourself if they're rotten. If you don't know, then you really, really need that survey!