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Just bought a house and found structural problems

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Comments

  • dancingfairy
    dancingfairy Posts: 9,069 Forumite
    O.K so first they need to establish what the problem is and how easy/cheap it is to fix. I would assume a competent builder and structural engineer would help with this.
    Then they can decide whether they have enough evidence to claim against the structural engineer. Given stories I have heard the answer is probably not :( What type of survey did they get done? and what did it say?
    Then they've got to get the problem remedied. I imagine if it happened some time ago that the house is not in danger of falling down any time soon but i'd want to get it fixed for peace of mind.
    Do you have house insurance? they may be able to advise? or maybe trading standards can recommend an independent serveyor (I presume if there's a chance of taking action agianst the first surveyour that you'd need a second indpendent one).
    df
    Making my money go further with MSE :j
    How much can I save in 2012 challenge
    75/1200 :eek:
  • ruggedtoast
    ruggedtoast Posts: 9,819 Forumite
    I cant really get from your post when this happened, you seem to be saying that builders have already looked at it and said its longstanding, so I don't know what anyone on here can add.

    There is no point going to the estate agents.

    The external walls usually aren't load bearing, if they're the ones bowing outwards. Could be blown wall ties maybe.
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I believe they are asking the estate agents for advice as they have no idea who else to ask, can't blame them really - their new to this and the surveyer and solicitors etc we're all in-house .....- they're flapping a bit too much to get reliable responses at the minute,.
    Well if they're so worried, the answwr is to stop bl**dy 'flapping' and do something sensible!

    Estate agents are not building experts - why they think the EA will help is beyond me (and everyone else).

    So the surveyors and solicitor were 'in-house' (whatever that means : recommended? same company?). So what?

    If it is legal advice they want (eg whether they can sue someone) they should ask their solicitor. EA won't know squat!

    If it is structural advice (eg will the house fall down), they should ask their surveyor (or another one). Again - EA won't know squat!

    But if all they want is a shoulder to cry on, someone to pat them on the back and say "there there - no need to flap" maybe the EA is ideal!
  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

    Next time spend money on having a survey done pre purchase.

    No point in scrimping when spending thousands of £'s.

    As your friends have now found out. There's no comeback on anyone else.
  • fudgecat
    fudgecat Posts: 289 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    In reply to previous reply, external walls often ARE load bearing (although it depends on the construction of the house, obviously). A cause of a bulging external wall may be replaced roof tiles that are too heavy for the original design - only likely to be the problem if the property has been reroofed since construction and perhaps used concrete tiles (often a source of this type of problem). Another source of the problem is if any sort of conversion has happened to the loft. There could be subsidence, causing one wall to pull away from the rest. Either way it is all speculation until a builder has a look - and it is fixable, although at a price. If the survey was a full structural one, first port of call is the surveyor. If the survey was a t fault there could be money to fix it, but only after insurance company of the surveyor stumps up. You would need another independent surveyor`s report to help achieve this.
    I am not in any way a surveyor, but we have renovated a few properties over the years!
    Good luck to your friends - everything is fixable apart from location.
    Debt September 2020 BIG FAT ZERO!
    Now mortgage free, sort of retired, reducing and reusing and putting money away for grandchildren...
  • pinkteapot
    pinkteapot Posts: 8,044 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 14 January 2013 at 12:40PM
    There is absolutely no point talking to the estate agent. They'll have no come-back at all on the sellers. It's up to the buyer of a house to check everything out. You can't complain to the sellers afterwards unless they lied in writing about anything.

    The only possible recourse (if they're looking for a contribution to the repair costs) would be with the surveyor. However, the crucial question (already asked) is what type of survey they had: Valuation, Homebuyers, or Building Survey (formerly known as Structural). If it was just a mortgage valuation, this wouldn't have been picked up. If it was a Homebuyers, it's very unlikely it would have been picked up unless the damage was obvious from the outside/other side of the wall. If it was hidden under wallpaper, a Homebuyers wouldn't catch it. They might possibly have some recourse if it was a Building Survey but again, if the only way to see any sign of a problem was after removing wallpaper and plaster, even with this survey it's unlikely it would have been spotted.

    If (as it sounds from your first post??) the external wall of the house is bowing outwards, a Building Survey definitely should have commented on it and I would have expected a Homebuyers to as well. Again though, if all they had done was the mortgage valuation then it wouldn't mention it unless it was a major problem. My brother used to work as an estate agent and said that sometimes mortgage valuation surveys were just done with a drive-by!

    Unfortunately this can happen with house-buying. Once you start pulling decor/fittings down you can uncover issues. :(
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